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I Sold Everything, Bought An Airstream And Travel America With My Family Indefinitely
I Sold Everything, Bought An Airstream And Travel America With My Family Indefinitely
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I Sold Everything, Bought An Airstream And Travel America With My Family Indefinitely

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I’ve always been the person to tell people to chase their dreams, so I decided to take my own advice. My dream is to make a living as a professional photographer while travelling America and this is how I’m making it happen!

We sold our house, cars, most of our possessions and bought a 30ft Airstream that we could all live in comfortably. It wasn’t an easy decision and we were faced with a lot of doubts, but when we told other people what we were doing, their eyes lit up and I could see we were doing the right thing.

We’ve been permanently in the Airstream for a little over 3 months now and life has been an adventure!

Life on the road is not for everyone, but I wish someone would have told me when I was 21 years old, that you could buy an Airstream and live in it while seeing America! So, here I am now, telling you it’s possible. If I’m doing it with my wife and 4 year old son, you can definitely do it as a younger single person looking for adventure in your life!

More info: joehendricks.photography

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    I’ve always been the person to tell people to chase their dreams, so I decided to take my own advice

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    My dream is to make a living as a professional landscape photographer while travelling America and this is how I’m making it happen!

    We sold our house, cars, most of our possessions and bought a 30ft Airstream that we could all live in comfortably

    But when we told other people what we were doing, their eyes lit up and I could see we were doing the right thing

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    What most people want to know, is how do I make money on the road?

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    Well, I’m an established professional wedding photographer in Nashville TN and I make enough to stay out on the road and live this Airstream lifestyle of ours

    I hope to eventually make all my income from landscape photography, selling prints and traveling America

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    But it’s going to take some time to make that transition

    For now, I do what I need to pay our bills and make it happen

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    We’ve been permanently in the Airstream for a little over 3 months now and life has been an adventure

    Yes, there were some tough times in the beginning as we adjusted to this new lifestyle, but we’re getting use to it now

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    We spend a lot of time boondocking (camping in the middle of nowhere) and it’s one of the coolest things you can experience in an Airstream

    Plus it doesn’t cost you anything

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    One of my favorite places so far has been Big Bend National Park in Texas

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    The night sky gets so dark that you can almost see every star in the sky

    If you let your eyes adjust long enough, you will eventually see the milky way, that’s how dark it is

    We charged our batteries every day by using our solar panels on top of the Airstream

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    We still had amazing internet service through our phones, so we were able to do Instagram and all that fun stuff

    We hiked some amazing locations that challenged our endurance as a family hiking together

    But one of the most amazing thing we did was spend time in a natural hot spring that sat on the side of the Rio Grande river

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    Life on the road is not for everyone

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    But I wish someone would have told me when I was 21 years old, that you could buy an Airstream and live in it while seeing America

    So, here I am now, telling you it’s possible

    If I’m doing it with my wife and 4 year old son

    ADVERTISEMENT

    You can definitely do it as a younger single person looking for adventure in your life

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    Everyday is a new adventure

    And I hope it continues for along time

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    Joe Hendricks

    Joe Hendricks

    Author, Community member

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    I'm a professional photographer traveling America in an Airstream with my family for an entire year.

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    Joe Hendricks

    Joe Hendricks

    Author, Community member

    I'm a professional photographer traveling America in an Airstream with my family for an entire year.

    What do you think ?
    Evelyn Pantel
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My husband and I 'abandoned' the house (in good care), and traveled in our RV for four full-time years...never returning to the house. We were going to do ALL the Nat'l. Parks and stay as long as we wanted anywhere we wanted... He got gravely ill, was in ICU for three MONTHS, we left the RV in good hands in another state, came home for him to die at home. It was the very BEST time of our lives, and, of course, the very worst. I HIGHLY recommend this adventure. Of course this comes with a very strong caveat: You'd better really love and know each other very, very well. Being together 24/7 might be trying for some... Not for us, compatibility and understanding like ours was rare.

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Evelyn, sorry to hear about your husband, but I'm glad you got to have that amazing experience with him. We are loving and can see why you loved it too :)

    Load More Replies...
    Manish Lakhani
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nice concept, I enjoyed being on road for 6 months with my bicycle in India and it was wow experience I must say

    Anna Salerno
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kudos to this family for chasing their dreams... these pictures are absolutely amazing. This country has so much to offer... I especially liked Big Bend National Park in Texas! I'm wondering if you will home school your son and do you have pets with you too. I am in so much envy of ya'll right now.

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Anna, we are thinking about it. We have another year before we have to make that decision, but we are hoping it works out.

    Load More Replies...
    Kalikst Kałnawardze
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Selling expensive home to buy expensive trailer and SUV - first world problem solved...

    Peggy Bradley
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Been fulltime rv living for almost 6 years. Welcome to the good life. But your statement, "It doesn't cost you anything." has me puzzled. Granted, it's relatively "cheap" living, but nothing is free. Have a great time. Perhaps our paths will cross!

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Actually Peggy, it's more expensive to live this lifestyle. The quote "it doesn't cost you anything" was referring to boondocking on BLM land.

    Load More Replies...
    Shar Mila
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How will you do this when your child needs to go to school?

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We have a year and a half to figure out if we want to homeschool or not.

    Load More Replies...
    Alec Pruitt
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Once I graduate high school I'm planning on taking a year off to travel in a van for at least a year, this was really inspiring.

    Yanlin Zhu
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thank you! You inspired me a lot!!

    Load More Comments
    Evelyn Pantel
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My husband and I 'abandoned' the house (in good care), and traveled in our RV for four full-time years...never returning to the house. We were going to do ALL the Nat'l. Parks and stay as long as we wanted anywhere we wanted... He got gravely ill, was in ICU for three MONTHS, we left the RV in good hands in another state, came home for him to die at home. It was the very BEST time of our lives, and, of course, the very worst. I HIGHLY recommend this adventure. Of course this comes with a very strong caveat: You'd better really love and know each other very, very well. Being together 24/7 might be trying for some... Not for us, compatibility and understanding like ours was rare.

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Evelyn, sorry to hear about your husband, but I'm glad you got to have that amazing experience with him. We are loving and can see why you loved it too :)

    Load More Replies...
    Manish Lakhani
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nice concept, I enjoyed being on road for 6 months with my bicycle in India and it was wow experience I must say

    Anna Salerno
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kudos to this family for chasing their dreams... these pictures are absolutely amazing. This country has so much to offer... I especially liked Big Bend National Park in Texas! I'm wondering if you will home school your son and do you have pets with you too. I am in so much envy of ya'll right now.

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Anna, we are thinking about it. We have another year before we have to make that decision, but we are hoping it works out.

    Load More Replies...
    Kalikst Kałnawardze
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Selling expensive home to buy expensive trailer and SUV - first world problem solved...

    Peggy Bradley
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Been fulltime rv living for almost 6 years. Welcome to the good life. But your statement, "It doesn't cost you anything." has me puzzled. Granted, it's relatively "cheap" living, but nothing is free. Have a great time. Perhaps our paths will cross!

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Actually Peggy, it's more expensive to live this lifestyle. The quote "it doesn't cost you anything" was referring to boondocking on BLM land.

    Load More Replies...
    Shar Mila
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How will you do this when your child needs to go to school?

    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We have a year and a half to figure out if we want to homeschool or not.

    Load More Replies...
    Alec Pruitt
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Once I graduate high school I'm planning on taking a year off to travel in a van for at least a year, this was really inspiring.

    Yanlin Zhu
    Community Member
    9 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thank you! You inspired me a lot!!

    Load More Comments
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