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full time airstream

Meet Mr. and Mrs. TCP – Airstream Style

With nine months of tiny living under our belt, we feel like it’s finally time to reveal who exactly Mr. and Mrs. TCP really are. Considering the people who read this blog already know our real identity, this won’t come as a huge surprise.

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Our real names are Brandon (Mr. TCP) and Liz (Mrs. TCP) and we hail from the great state of Texas. Well, we thought it was the greatest state in the entire country, until we visited Montana. And let me tell you, Texas has some competition.

Brandon is the brains of this operation, just don’t ask him to do any math equations. He is the website builder, the graphic designer, the videographer, the photographer, the dump station extraordinaire, and the “roll up his sleeves to fix all of the things that break” guy. He is also the pilot of this adventure and has mastered maneuvering the Airstream in and out of some very (very) tight situations.

Something people might not know about Brandon is that he is quite the musician. He was in a band before we hit the road so he had a real chance on rock stardom at one point. Not only can play a ditty, he writes some pretty fun songs. His topics range anywhere from his affection for the dogs to songs about living in a trailer park. Watch out Nashville!

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Brandon’s favorite form of outdoor activity usually includes pedaling or paddling. Hiking isn’t something that really excites him, however, most of the awesome hikes we went on really did light a fire in him.

Liz really is just along for the ride. She doesn’t really have much to offer in the skill department, wait, she is the one who keeps the blog updated. But if it wasn’t for Brandon, the misspellings would be even more rampant than they already are on this thing.

Her greatest skill is just convincing Brandon to do things he isn’t usually 100% on board with. Such as to live full time in an Airstream and convincing him that we just “have to save this dog or else it will die”. But in the end, he really ends up loving the decision he is forced to live with.

Liz is the “worker outer” between the two. She is the reason they have a rower jammed in the back of the truck, along with other various workout gear rolling around that could potentially knock one of us out if we ever get into a wreck.

In reality, she is just a 90 year old lady in a 28 year old’s body. She is in bed by 8PM most nights, loves to quilt, and is constantly yelling at people to get off the lawn.

Oh and she is also the reason we have four dogs. The first one was inherited, then second one was a trick, the third one was another trick and then the last one was a “life or death situation”, so another trick.

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We are just two people living and loving (life) in less than 200SQFT trying to figure out the best life for us. Together, we love our wonderful families, our entertaining friends, and the endless adventures we encounter together.

December 4, 2017

Our Top 5 Favorite Places in the First 6 Months

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

I’ve had some people, mainly my sister, ask what our top 10 favorite places were in our six months of travel. If I were to list my 10 favorite places, the first 5 would be in Montana, so I am going to condense the list to our top 5 favorite places.

There are a few different criteria I am going to consider when making this list which include size of the town, things to do in said town, chances of finding a good grocery store, and the likelihood of finding some solid outdoor activities.

1. Glacier National Park. This is a tough one because Glacier National Park isn’t one particular town but rather an amazing park that spans multiple little towns. GNP was amazing for so many different reasons. The first being, the scenery. Just wow. We had the opportunity to hike some of the most amazing trails we had yet to see. Along with the scenery, we were lucky enough to see a few Grizzly bears frolicking from afar! We stayed in two different small towns when visiting, St. Mary’s and West Glacier. Both towns were tiny and did not have any stellar grocery shopping options, but who cares when there is one of nature’s wonders so close?! One mistake we did make, was not stocking up on groceries before we arrived in St. Mary’s so when we return we will know to come fully prepared.
2. Bend, OR. I know many of y’all are shocked it didn’t make the number 1 slot but Glacier is just too amazing to not be our top choice. We do love Bend for so many reasons. There is a plethora of outdoor activities to participate in which will never leave any outdoor enthusiast bored. There is GREAT boondocking 3 miles from the center of town. There was ZERO traffic for such a popular town. There are great little places to eat that you wouldn’t find anywhere else, meaning, they weren’t chain restaurants. The people are so very friendly. The weather was PERFECT. I don’t remember breaking a sweat the entire 27 days we were in Bend. The dogs could go on hikes with us since the weather was so nice and the trails allowed leashed pets. We weren’t far from Smith Rock State park which offers challenging hiking and climbing. All in all, it hit all of our tops requests when visiting a new place. We even tried things we haven’t done in years such as practicing our rock wall climbing skills. We are still head over heels in love with all that Bend, OR has to offer and we will be back!
3. Moose, WY. How could you not love a town called Moose? Of all of our boondocking locations, the one in Moose was hands down the most amazing place on earth to park our home on wheels. We had an unobstructed view of the gorgeous Grand Teton mountains with easy access to Grand Teton National Park which we visited each day after work. What a great way to unwind. In Moose, there is a cute little row of shops and restaurants where you can fill up on homemade pizza and craft beer. Moose is also just north of Jackson Hole which is another adorable town with plenty of things to do such as shop, dine, and hike at the resort in town.
4. Tucson, AZ. Catalina State Park is a lovely park located right outside of Tucson. The park itself was fantastic in terms of accommodations, distance to town, and the variety of trails it has. We experienced our first hike of our adventure when we hit the trail headed to 7 Falls in Coronado National Forest. In the beginning, we had planned to only stay through the weekend, but as we begin to hitch up to head out, Mr. TCP noticed one of our tires was separating so we decided to cool the brakes. It was a semi relief because I really just wanted to kick back and relax, which we did for seven days. It is a lot of fun to look back at the very beginning of our journey and think of the challenges we faced which only makes the memories much more fun.
5. Big Bear Mountain, CA. We snuck away from the coast for a weekend in the mountains and couldn’t have been more pleased with what awaited us when we arrived in San Bernardino National Forest. We had one campground in mind when we headed to Big Bear Mountain and quickly realized that we might just be the only people in our little nook of this amazing campground. Heart Bar campground has zero hookups, meaning, we were essentially dry camping. We didn’t realize that in the middle of May, it was still getting down to 28 degrees at night so we spent two very very cold nights sleeping in the forest. There were plenty of trails that were worth exploring that lead to some amazingly rewarding views. Oh, and Big Bear was when Mr. TCP started to get super serious about his bear spray obsession.

While we only listed five of our top favorite places, we truly enjoyed each and every place we parked our Airstream. Looking back at the pictures, and memories made, makes me even more motivated to figure out how to get back out there. It was the adventure of a lifetime and one I am not ready to quite put to bed, just yet.

August 14, 2017

A Year in Review – Airstream Style

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Holy moly! What an amazingly awesome ride 2016 has been. When we rang in the new year (I was asleep by 10PM) I had NO IDEA we’d be packing up all of our things, buying a (newer) Airstream and hitting the road. It’s stuff dreams are made of, y’all. Lets take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

At the beginning of April is when this great journey began. We spent one of our last nights in our sticks and bricks house scrambling to get everything in storage (including the old Airstream) and out of the house. Our tenants were moving in to the house in just eight short hours.

We spent a few nights parked in a friends driveway where we learned that we would need an alternate transportation option for the generator. Thankfully we had time to grab a Thule rack while we were still in our hometown.

Once we left Austin for our maiden voyage, we spent a few nights parked in Dad’s driveway. Little did he know this was about to become a trend. We’ve spent many nights parked in that very comfortable driveway, utilizing his fancy washer and dryer, and even washing our house on wheels in his driveway. Thanks, Dad!

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Junction, TX

White Sands National Monument

May is when we really started to learn the ropes. We had replaced all four of the tires on the Airstream at this point, changed the (broken but not really broken) converter, and realized that this GIANT TIN TUBE gets really really hot when the temperature rises.

We experienced our first national park in May. It was overwhelming, awesome, and fueled a fire we didn’t know existed. We hit our first milestone of tiny living for 30 full days, without any accidental deaths. All in all, May was a great month!

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Yosemite National Park

June is when we were introduced to Bend, “real” boondocking, and when we determined we really did need a more powerful tow vehicle. What an expensive discovery that turned out to be, but we do love the power behind the diesel.

We also visited our second National Park which turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and not busy, at all. Crater Lake National Park was partially closed in certain areas due to snow still on the ground, in June, so we were only able to explore on foot and bike.

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Crater Lake National Park

Come July we were needing to move on from Bend, so we ventured to the Oregon coast. While it was lovely, we weren’t a huge fan of the dreary weather so we turned our rig back around to make our way back to Bend for the fourth of July weekend.

At this point I wasn’t real sure we were going to make it any further in our journey and I was completely fine with it. However, we insisted we move on, so we did and boy am I glad we did! Our next stop was Seattle to visit friends and family.

We spent our evenings taking the ferry from Bainbridge Island into Seattle to dine in great company. Our first ferry experience was, um, not our brightest moment. We just got on a random ferry that was leaving the port in Bainbridge Island, and I quickly realized we might not have gotten on the right ferry. Thankfully, after asking a couple, we were informed that we were in fact on the right ferry. We loved spending time with Aunt Leta and seeing the sites of a big ol’ city.

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Bandon, OR

Smith Rock State Park

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Ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle

August was when things really started to get interesting, as if they weren’t already. At this point, I was adamant that Bend, OR was going to be our favorite place but here comes Montana and Glacier National Park. Wow. What an amazingly gorgeous, friendly state.

Glacier National Park is where we encountered our first Grizzly bear, mountain goat, and weird giant beaver looking animal. It’s where we fell even more in love with the life we were leading. It’s where we acquired our first National Parks Pass. It’s where we dusted off our passports and headed into another country, aka, Canada.

As we made our way south, we spent some time on the outskirts of an adorable little town on the border of Montana and Wyoming. We were able to boondock right on the Yellowstone River all while being just fifteen miles from Yellowstone National Park. At this point, we are just knocking National Parks off of our list. After work, we’d venture into Yellowstone National Park and partake in some mini hikes. We saved a good ol’ mountain biking trip for a weekend and it nearly killed me. Fortunately, I survived and we headed onto Grand Teton National Park.

There is this awesome little boondocking spot right outside of the park that over looks the Tetons. And holy moly, it was hands down the most gorgeous spot we had yet to stay. Needless to say, we were starting to love Wyoming as much as we loved Montana.

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Yellowstone River

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Grand Teton National Park

September is when we started to really head back south. After leaving Wyoming, our next big stop was Colorado. This is where I really started to feel the affects of the altitude. You’d think I would be used to it at this point, but for some reason it became even harder for me to breathe.

Anyway, we spent some time in various towns throughout Colorado with our favorite being Pagosa Springs. We had visited a few years ago to ski and loved the fun, vibrant little town so we were excited to be back in the summer.

After leaving Pagosa Springs, we headed to Taos, NM to visit some friends from college. They were kind enough to let us moochdock in their driveway and then take us downhill mountain biking. We had just acquired some new sweet mountain bikes so we were excited to put them to the test. And wow. They aren’t the type of mountain bikes made for downhill mountain biking, but they got the job done and we had a blast. Taos is an adorable little town and we hope to visit during ski season!

At this point we were wrapping up our journey and hadn’t been swimming ALL summer. Which is unheard of for a couple of Texans so I begged to turn our rig southbound straight for the beach. Given a love for the white sandy beaches of Florida, we didn’t object. We spent a few days driving a ridiculous distance to get to our favorite little campground in the Southern United States, Grayton Beach State Park.

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Pagosa Spring, CO

Angel Fire, NM

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Grayton Beach, FL

October was the month that we were expected to arrive back in Austin, TX so we tried to make the most of our final days on the road. We made our way to Tennessee because I really wanted to visit Nashville. We found a great campground right outside of Nashville to spend the week. The spots were GIANT and the leaves were starting to change which was gorgeous.

After leaving Nashville, we made our way to Arkansas which is such a beautiful state that I believe is underrated. One of my favorite little towns in Arkansas sits right in the Ozark Mountains with a fun little downtown area and great hiking all around.

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Eureka Springs, AR

We are incredibly grateful for the time we spent exploring the beautiful western United States and cannot wait to see what the eastern portion has to offer. It’s fun to think up all of the places we can (and will) go. One major adventure I have in mind, includes turning this adventure south and heading through Mexico into South America.

One of my favorite things about our journey is sharing adventures with our family and friends. Our parents have been nothing but supportive and I’d have to say my Dad is our number one promoter. I mean, he is the reason we have so many subscribers.

December 21, 2016

Working Remotely While Traveling Full Time

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

When I first started my career, just six years ago, I quickly came to love my job and my office environment. While the jobs I had didn’t last longer than a couple of years before I jumped onto the next best thing, I came to enjoy my colleagues as well as our working environment.

Over the years, my priorities have changed in terms of what I find a “healthy work environment”. A lot of that has to do with the nature of which Austin is moving, which is overcrowded in return jamming the few highways through the city. I have quickly learned to love working from home.

Initially, I started out just working remotely Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. Each of those were days I spent early mornings with my run crew or getting killed in the gym. Either way, they were early mornings, but not early enough for me to get home, shower, and then make it to Slopac before the traitorous traffic set in.

The days I worked from home were some of my most productive as well as my most calming. Mr. TCP didn’t come home to an angry commuter cussing about how ridiculous traffic was that particular day. Instead, he came home to a happy, calm wife.

Enough about that nonsense, here are a few ways I make working remotely work, for me, at least:

Have a schedule. When you work remotely, it’s easy to always be working. You’re always connected in a way so it’s hard to delineate how you’re going to separate work from your home life.
Reliable internet connectivity. We use Verizon for our internet which allows us to be connected practically anywhere in the United States. I check the coverage map before we move to a new location to make sure we will have coverage, and sometimes there isn’t so we have to change our plans. The western United States has a few more “white” spaces which means no coverage, so you just have to navigate which areas you can stay. When we are somewhere with a weak signal we use a WeBoost to boost our signal. In order to get an even better signal, we will put the antenna on a pole and beam it into the sky, in which ever direction we see a cell tower. We also have an antenna that we put on the truck so I can work while Mr. TCP drives.
Designated work space. Working remotely from the Airstream means we have multiple uses for each space, meaning, my desk is also our dining table. During the day, I try my best to keep it uncluttered which keeps me from getting distracted. Some days this is a success and others, it is not.

Aside from the points listed above, the number one thing is to just do your work. Remote workers can get a bad reputation due to one rotten apple who spoils it for everyone. I will say, that I work more efficiently from the road knowing that if I don’t perform, I will get canned. It’s sometimes easier to just “scoot by” when you show your face in the office, but when you are remote, you have to show your worth 10 times over. Working remotely isn’t f0r everyone. There are some people who could never imagine such a thing and truly enjoy an office environment. You have to determine what is right for you and your family.

October 27, 2016

Six Months of Living Tiny – Airstream Style

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Well, here we are. At the six month milestone. It’s a bittersweet one, that is for sure. The sadness of our journey coming to a halt (for the time being) is intense. There have been times we look at each other knowing we will soon be thrusted back into the “real world” and I can’t say we are ready. On the flip side, we are so very excited to see our friends and family. I’ve already met with my Tuesday run group and was overwhelmed with excitement along with a very warm welcome.

As many of you already know, we extended the lease on our house so therefore, we really don’t have anywhere to come “home” to. Fortunately, we already have a home, just no where to park it.

About a month ago we realized we were nearing our arrival date back to Austin and we started to panic. We looked at a few different RV parks around town but they were all far from the city, and somewhat booked. We had considered buying some land and parking the Airstream on the land, but good golly, things are EXPENSIVE in dear ol’ Austin.

We’d always heard that the RV park downtown doesn’t take new monthly rentals, but by the grace of God we were able to squeeze in. I won’t go into too much detail, but we have to be on our best behavior or I think we will find ourselves without a parking spot in the coming days.

As shocking as it might be, I have commitment issues. I don’t like committing to “locations” for long periods of time. This can be exhibited by looking at how often we move or acquire a new property. I guess you could say I get antsy.

For the first time, maybe ever, I have finally felt a sense of calm. The decision to travel full time isn’t one I second guess or spend sleepless nights examining all of the things that could go wrong. Because, the last month has encompassed many sleepless nights as we started to examine how we were going to live our life “back home”.

We’ve been INCREDIBLY grateful for the last six months. And let me tell you, I count our lucky stars every single day. Our support system has been even more fantastic and the people we have met on the road have been just a delight.

If I can toot our own horn for a second, we have had FOUR couples reach out to let us know we have inspired them to make a life change. A seriously awesome life change. Such as hitting the road full time. And that right there is reason enough to keep on keepin’ on.

We do have some exciting plans for the future, we just really have to put our heads down, work hard, and make sure we don’t get distracted. Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I am, um, quite scattered brained.

In the coming days, since we won’t be traveling to new exciting places extensively, I am going to try to cover a variety of topics that hopefully keep our blog fun and full of new information.

Also, I know some are interested to know how my first day back in the “real world” went, and I can say that I made it through.

October 21, 2016

The Extraordinary Escape – Eureka Springs, AR

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As we approached Eureka Springs, we were greeted by an overwhelming amount of corvettes. At first, we thought it might just be a cluster of vet enthusiasts, but we quickly learned there was an annual corvette meet up happening in this lovely little town.

Our first evening there, we ventured into downtown Eureka Springs to grab some dinner and check out the adorable town. The downtown area is set right in the foothills of the Ozark mountains with winding roads that leads up to adorable cottages. We sat up on the balcony of an old hotel and watched the corvettes, and motorcyclists cruise through the narrow downtown streets. Next door, was an open amphitheater with a live band playing cover songs from the 80s. People were singing along and clapping from the balcony. What fun!

downtown eureka springs

Sunday, we woke up with no set plans. After doing a little research I quickly learned there are a plethora of hiking trails within in a 60 mile radius of Eureka Springs. I had wanted to hike to some waterfalls in the Buffalo River National Park but learned that it isn’t much of a waterfall if it hasn’t rained recently. Instead, we hiked from Centerpoint to Goat Trail which spit us out right on a cliff overlooking the Buffalo River.

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As we were hiking along the goat trail, we noticed that there are some really neat little nooks perched right in the rocks in which you could tent camp, for free! The views of the river and bluffs were enough to make the hike in worth it. Actually, I guess, the hike out was a bit more challenging since it was up hill all the way.

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An older gentleman had stopped us on our way back to the truck to ask if we had spotted the giant rattlesnake everyone was talking about. Well, no, we sure haven’t and thankfully so. I couldn’t figure out whether the gentleman was pulling our leg or serious about the “giant rattlesnake”, either way, I high tailed it out of there.

buffalo national river arkansas

A few years ago, I was pursuing Pinterest and came across this amazing chapel in the Ozarks. I’ve always wanted to visit and since we were so close I’d asked Mr. TCP if he’d dust off the tripod and put on his fanciest clothes for a quick photo shoot at the Thorncrown Chapel. He rarely objects to my ridiculous requests anymore.

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It really is a stunning piece of architecture. One that should be seen in person.

After we made our way from the chapel, we went back to the downtown area to walk around and visit the neighborhoods that sit behind the quaint downtown streets. There is art work every where you turn. It’s hanging on the cement walls and it’s even part of the stair cases.

downtown eureka springs

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At this point, I figured we could take a headshot or two of me so I could update my LinkedIn profile. Just in case I need to dust off that ol’ resume. Also, I had washed and dried my hair so why the heck not.

The one on the right really sells how I feel about working and the one on the left just makes me look like a delight. Either way, Mr. TCP had to edit out some wrinkles. HOW DO I HAVE WRINKLES AT 28?!

We’ve already started planning our next trip to Eureka Springs, maybe even plotting a way to live there part time. It’s a gorgeous little town with minimal traffic so it’s right up my alley!

Just a fun, old school motel, that sits on the main street running through Eureka Springs.

October 12, 2016

Grayton Beach State Park – Grayton Beach, FL

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Everyone that knows us, knows we love the beach. However, it’s a bit of a struggle because one of us doesn’t sit still very well so kicking back and relaxing at the beach usually lasts for about 15 minutes before boredom sets in. I, on the other hand, can kick back and read a book for hours while sitting on the beach. Potato potato.

When we first arrived at the campground we pulled around to our spot and quickly realized it was the exact same spot we had last year when we visited in our 1966 Globetrotter. It took a little more finesse getting the longer Airstream into this spot but it all worked out.

1966 globetrotter

The minute we unhitched in Grayton Beach, we made our way right to the white sugary sand and jumped right into the crystal clear water. After about 30 minutes of swimming, we decided we would head back up to the beach. As we were settling in, we were quickly deterred due to the insane amount of biting flies. When we got back to the Airstream, we learned a little more about these tiny little devils. They are apparently pretty bad on the Florida beaches in late August and early September. If the wind is blowing to the south you can expect them to be on the beach with you, but if the wind changes to the north they disappear.

Fortunately, the wind spent most of it’s time blowing north which meant we were able to spend our afternoons enjoying the beach.

grayton beach

It’s amazing how gorgeous the beaches are in the Florida panhandle. After having visited many lovely crystal clear beaches in my lifetime, I was shocked the first time we visited the Santa Rosa area. Pleasantly surprised.

We even were able to catch a couple of awesome sunsets which is usually a stretch for me, considering I am in bed by 7:30PM most nights.

sunset grayton beach

George even went on little bike ride to enjoy one of the sunsets.

We have a little athlete on our hands. #beachin #bulldog #frenchbulldog #roadtripdog

A video posted by The Tin Can Plan (@tincanplan) on Sep 23, 2016 at 7:31am PDT

Right down the road from Grayton Beach is the cute little town of Seaside. They have a row of Airstreams that have been converted into food trucks. It always breaks Mr. TCP’s heart when he sees the really small Airstreams turned into anything other than being restored to it’s natural state.

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We spent two glorious weeks soaking up the sun and humidity but it’s time to move on.

September 27, 2016

Downhill Mountain Biking – Angel Fire, NM

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As you may already know, we’ve started our journey to the beach! There were a few different ways we could get there but first, I wanted to make a little detour to visit some friends. We have some very adventurous and awesome friends who live in Taos, NM so we stopped by to visit them and they were kind enough to let us “moochdock” in their driveway.

moochdocking taos new mexico

After months of battling our old broken down bikes we finally pulled the trigger and bought a pair of, matching, mountain bikes. I really feel like a grown up now. And what better way to really put them to the test than to go down hill mountain biking?

We did just that. We loaded up the bikes and headed to Angel Fire, NM. Angel Fire’s downhill trails make all of the important “top down bike trails in the USA” lists every year. They have a ton of professional races each summer and their trails are top notch.

Kaitlyn and Michael are what you would consider professional downhill mountain bikers. Well, it is what we would consider them. They both were kind enough to show us the ropes and wait patiently as we slowly rolled down the mountain on our first attempt. They gave pointers and were very encouraging. After we started to gain some confidence we really started to enjoy ourselves. It’s crazy the amount of control it takes to keep your bike up right and your body from flying all over the place.

angel fire new mexico

We definitely stood out in a crowd of professional downhillers. We had on our regular ol’ biking helmets with our hardtail mountain bikes. HA! What a joke. The professionals had on full face helmets, body armor and were cruising down the mountain in a sweet full suspension “downhill” mountain bike. We managed with our mediocre “gear” and had the time of our life!

The trails works similar to how they do when you are snow skiing. They have greens, blues, blacks, double blacks, and then “you’re nuts if you go down this”. Don’t worry mom and dad, we stuck to the greens and blues which were challenging enough. You ride the ski lift up to the top but instead of carrying your bike with you like you do your ski equipment, you put your bike on a special “bike” ski lift. The people working the top of the ski lift take them off for you and it’s waiting for you at the top when you arrive.

downhill mountain biking

We couldn’t be more grateful for sweet friends like Kaitlyn and Michael who graciously opened their home (and driveway) to us all while taking us on one of the craziest adventures we’ve been on yet.

See you when the snow falls guys!

September 13, 2016

Why Don’t You Stay Places Longer?

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

One question we get quite often is, “why don’t you guys stay places longer?”. This is a great question and there are a plethora of reasons why we move on. But, let’s not forget the 27 days we spent in Bend, OR.

boondocking colorado

Internet connectivity. This is the number one reason we move on. If we are somewhere that doesn’t have any connection or a weak one, we have to move on. Unfortunately, we have found some AWESOME spots to call home for a week or so but they didn’t have internet, and someone has to pay the bills.
Safety. Of all the places we have stayed over the months, we haven’t ever really been in fear for our safety. However, there have been some moments when we weren’t real sure what was around us or under us. For example, we found a great little spot in Twin Lakes, CO but the ground rumbled/vibrated so intensely that we decided it best we move on. We couldn’t figure out what was causing the rumbling but figured better safe than sorry. Oh, and one of us has been practicing our marksmanship every day for the last two months, so watch out world!
Uncle Eddy?! Is that you?
Very small town. I love a good ol’ small American town but when there isn’t much to do, we get bored (and hungry) and decide it’s time to move on. Remember how I love a good grocery store? Well, those are hard to come by in very very very small towns. It’s usually just a large gas station that will have a few extra items. None of which are in any way good for you. And remember, we live in a small space, so we can’t just stock up when we are in bigger cities.
Very big city. We try to avoid big cities at all costs for many reasons, but when we do end up near one we don’t stay for long. It’s usually very expensive and the RV parks are cramped.
Because we can. This right here is the whole reason we are mobile. We can make a move whenever we want. As a kid I would ask my dad if I could do something and occasionally he would respond with a “No.”. When I would ask why, his response would always be “Because I can.” He’s a hoot.

In reality, we spend on average six days in one place. In the last month we spent ten nights in field outside of Yellowstone park and ten nights in the Tetons with a few nights in between. We plan to be in our current neighborhood for at least eight days.

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September 2, 2016

Four Months of Living Tiny – Airstream Style

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

We are closing in on our fourth month of living tiny in our Airstream and things have definitely started to feel “normal”. In the beginning, the quirks of living in such a small space with another person plus four dogs was a bit overwhelming. At this point, we have worked through most of those kinks and barely remember what it is like to live in a normal sticks and stones house. I don’t even remember what it was like to take a shower with the water running continuously or what a normal size stove looks like.

We have come to LOVE boondocking. We have gotten very lucky in the places we have found to stay for free in that they have been some of the most beautiful, less trafficked, neighborhoods. It makes the days of staying in cramped RV parks worth it. In order to make the boondocking experience a little more enjoyable we will need to up our solar power game, but at this point, our little generator does just fine.

boondocking montana

We have visited some of the most amazing places in all of the world. Really. Over the last four months we have visited multiple state parks plus a few different national parks and Glacier National Park is hands down the most amazing place on earth. It has some of the most gorgeous lakes, mountains, glaciers, and wildlife we have yet to witness. And some of the friendliest folks! It is where we saw those three adorable grizzlies after all.

highline trail glacier

There really are some AWESOME grocery stores out there. Mr. TCP jokes that this should be called the Grand Grocery Store Tour. He doesn’t get as amped up about a good grocery store like I do. We have visited some of the most amazing, to me, grocery stores in the Western United States. About a year ago, I was following a family on Instagram who lives full time in their 30ft Airstream and they had posted about this great little locally owned grocery store in Missoula Montana called Good Food. All I could think about was, “Gee, I will probably never get to visit that grocery store.” But guess what, my dreams came true, and we visited Good Food in Missoula Montana just last week. I wish I had gone alone because Mr. TCP made a quite the scene in the middle of the grocery store regarding the cost of some bread. Granted, he has done very well up until this point, he hasn’t yelped at the cost of anything so I wasn’t too embarrassed when I heard from across the store, “SIX DOLLARS! FOR A LOAF OF BREAD! GET OUT OF HERE!” I immediately knew it was him because A. it sounded like him and B. he is known for yelling out the price of something when it finds it ridiculous. I agree, six dollars is a bit much so we didn’t buy the bread.

good food store

I have fallen in love with cows! In northern Montana their cows are “free range” and just roam all over the place. And they are everywhere. It’s just the cutest thing. One day, I’d love to have a little farm with farm animals such as cows. One thing that is growing amongst the hipsters and health nuts is buying a cow and having it proceeded so they have their very own “free range” beef. When I think of our little farmlet, I imagine raising cows for that purpose. However, I can see this getting out of hand quickly. As in, I’d never be able to let the cows go to the slaughterhouse and we would end up with a ton of old cows that have now become pets. Living in an Airstream, with no real place to park it, makes it a bit difficult to acquire farm animals, so I think Mr. TCP is going to push for our Airstream living as long as he can.

free range cattle

We have put ourselves in somewhat of a pickle. As some of you know, we have had some trouble leasing our duplex from afar but we FINALLY got it leased! Raise the roof. Before we were able to get the duplex leased, our tenants in the house asked if they could extend their lease through next year. We agreed to let them, I mean, why not? We had planned to just move back into the duplex when we got back, but fortunately (and maybe unfortunately) we found tenants. So at this point, we do not have anywhere to go “home” to. This should be interesting.

When we realized that we weren’t going to have anywhere to live when we got back to Texas, I thought I could start looking for a new property. Potentially another duplex, so I started to apply for a loan. Ha! Jokes on us. Apparently, my debt to income ratio is a bit much at the moment, which duh. It seems they are just giving home loans away so I figured I would qualify, but apparently, not. I feel like I make a great debt candidate. All of our properties are fully leased and generate a decent amount of income per month. So here we are, with our plan B no longer a viable plan at this point so we really are kind of up a creek without a paddle. Anyone have a nice driveway they want to lease out?? Joking aside, we will find a nice little trailer park in the Austin area to call home until we figure things out.

When I think about how this journey ends in just two months it makes me very sad. Knowing we will be going back to the hustle and bustle of Austin traffic, sitting in cubes, and living our old life gives me a small panic attack. This just means we will have to put it into high gear and figure out how to get back on the road!

August 11, 2016

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