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Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go on a short camping trip in an Airstream! I’ve always wanted to try RV/Trailer camping so I really couldn’t say no to a weekend road trip in this baby. We had the 16ft Airstream Sport Bambi which is perfect for 1-2 people but can sleep up to 4 if needed. 

Being someone who has never operated or used an RV/trailer before, this weekend was definitely a huge learning opportunity. So I thought I would share some tips I picked up this weekend from trying to figure out how this “glamping” stuff works!

 1. Find a water fill-up spot/dump site near your destination

We realized very quickly that towing the Airstream with a full tank of fresh water was a struggle and a half. Thankfully we were smart enough at least to go most of our trip with an empty water tank. But the short hour-long drive we endured with the water tank at 60% full felt like a nightmare. With every bump in the road came the fear of something horrible happening as the trailer swayed much more than usual and almost moved the back of our truck with it. 

2. Make sure you know how to operate EVERY part of the RV before you hit the road

I’m not proud to say we actually didn’t know how to operate ANY part of our Airstream before we started our road trip. Thankfully most of it was easy to figure out. The only we couldn’t figure out how to use the entire trip was our plumbing. We had a tank full of water, a working water pump, all the open valves, yet for some reason, we could not for the life of us get our water running to our faucets and toilet. 

I swear we spent probably hours reading material on the internet trying to figure out what was wrong. In the end, we just decided we’ve already wasted enough time trying to figure it out, and went without the plumbing for our weekend trip. 

3. Bring a WARM blanket

Even though it was quite warm during the day, it still really instantly chilly after dark. We didn’t want to leave the generator running overnight in fear that it would bother others’ sleep. I only brought one fleece blanket for the trip so thankfully there was one in the trailer already. 

Ultra important to bring a large blanket as well, especially if you’re planning to share it with someone else. That way there’s much less of a chance of you waking up in the middle of the night freezing, with half the blankets off your body!

4. Make sure you bring ALL the kitchen utensils

We ended up purchasing most of our kitchen utensils and tools at Walmart just because neither of us had extra kitchenware at home to bring. But I highly recommend just bringing whatever kitchenware that you can so that you can save the money! 

We ended up buying a pan, utensils, spatulas, plates, and cups. Although it’s not much, we only had two small meals planned in the Airstream so it wasn’t the biggest deal. 

5.  Open all the windows and then some when you cook!

Especially if you’re going to be making bacon and eggs in the morning ? The smoke from bacon set off our alarm even with all of the windows and doors open. Thankfully the alarm is easily silenced at the touch of a button. But after the second or third time, it does get a little bit annoying. 

I absolutely loved staying in the Airstream, and hope that there will be at least a couple more adventure opportunities in this pretty baby this summer. If you ever get the chance to travel in one of these, take it up! I promise you won’t regret it.

More soon, 

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