Did you read Nomadland by Jessica Bruder, the book on which the 2020 Oscar winning film was based? The book is great and way more in depth. There's a whole section on Earthships and building homes from reclaimed materials & trash. Also ... we lived in an Airstream for three years while planning and building our home. It was a new 2016 Flying Cloud model. It was a great tiny home, and held almost all its value when we sold it, BUT, little things broke down all the time. It required a lot of fixer-upper know-how (thank god for online discussion boards & YouTubes devoted to Airstream repair). It surprised us that something so expensive was so finicky and prone to breakdowns.
I haven't read the book, or even seen the film yet as it's not available on Netflix here. The book sounds great, though. Interesting to hear that about the Airstream. They sound a bit like Volkswagens in that regard. Have you written about your time living in the Airstream? That would make for some interesting reading, I bet. As always, thank you for reading, Sarah.
Charles, I second Sarah's recommendation. The book and movie is quite accurate in portraying the nomad life (I know some of the real life people in the movie!) because it's not all sun and fun.
On a side note, I've been living full time in a tiny camper, a Scamp fiberglass camper, and absolutely love it (some details on it: https://alongtheray.com/scamp-camper/). Airstreams are sweet but way above my means plus I need something light like the Scamp so I can go more places where people don't go ; )
yes, exactly, in fact I used to compare it to my VW! I had a 2003 pop-top Westfalia Eurovan for several years (the last year VW made them before switching production to Tourags, so mine was in good shape and relatively low mileage), until I had to sell it to buy a truck. The Eurovan was so cool ... but also, such a pain, with pieces of the interior frequently breaking off for no good reason and needing repair. I blogged a fair amount about Airstream tiny-house living on my old blog. It wasn't the same as camping; we had it parked as a tiny home. Given its long size, it would've been a pain to drive around. It was romantic, but challenging. We had to use the shower as a storage closet for broom, mop, dog food, etc, so taking a shower was a major production to empty then re-organize that space. But living in a unit where every inch of space matters is a healthy exercise for sure.
i have dreamed of having an earthship since I was a teen. I think the lalour involved is what defeats would be builders. I have been thinking about a containearthship lately, no tire pounding just bermed sea cans.
I have dreamed of having an earthship since I saw a doc about Dennis Weaver's house in my teens. I think the failures are due to the monumental amount of labour involved. Lately I've been thinking about a containearthship to avoid pounding tires for months on end
Did you read Nomadland by Jessica Bruder, the book on which the 2020 Oscar winning film was based? The book is great and way more in depth. There's a whole section on Earthships and building homes from reclaimed materials & trash. Also ... we lived in an Airstream for three years while planning and building our home. It was a new 2016 Flying Cloud model. It was a great tiny home, and held almost all its value when we sold it, BUT, little things broke down all the time. It required a lot of fixer-upper know-how (thank god for online discussion boards & YouTubes devoted to Airstream repair). It surprised us that something so expensive was so finicky and prone to breakdowns.
I haven't read the book, or even seen the film yet as it's not available on Netflix here. The book sounds great, though. Interesting to hear that about the Airstream. They sound a bit like Volkswagens in that regard. Have you written about your time living in the Airstream? That would make for some interesting reading, I bet. As always, thank you for reading, Sarah.
Charles, I second Sarah's recommendation. The book and movie is quite accurate in portraying the nomad life (I know some of the real life people in the movie!) because it's not all sun and fun.
On a side note, I've been living full time in a tiny camper, a Scamp fiberglass camper, and absolutely love it (some details on it: https://alongtheray.com/scamp-camper/). Airstreams are sweet but way above my means plus I need something light like the Scamp so I can go more places where people don't go ; )
I enjoy your writing, glad you are resuming it.
Ray
Hi Ray: I will have to give it a read. Thank you. Thanks as well for reading. I appreciate it.
yes, exactly, in fact I used to compare it to my VW! I had a 2003 pop-top Westfalia Eurovan for several years (the last year VW made them before switching production to Tourags, so mine was in good shape and relatively low mileage), until I had to sell it to buy a truck. The Eurovan was so cool ... but also, such a pain, with pieces of the interior frequently breaking off for no good reason and needing repair. I blogged a fair amount about Airstream tiny-house living on my old blog. It wasn't the same as camping; we had it parked as a tiny home. Given its long size, it would've been a pain to drive around. It was romantic, but challenging. We had to use the shower as a storage closet for broom, mop, dog food, etc, so taking a shower was a major production to empty then re-organize that space. But living in a unit where every inch of space matters is a healthy exercise for sure.
An Off-Grid store !
I know! Maybe they'll be like MEC in a few years. Thanks for reading, Cynthia.
i have dreamed of having an earthship since I was a teen. I think the lalour involved is what defeats would be builders. I have been thinking about a containearthship lately, no tire pounding just bermed sea cans.
I have dreamed of having an earthship since I saw a doc about Dennis Weaver's house in my teens. I think the failures are due to the monumental amount of labour involved. Lately I've been thinking about a containearthship to avoid pounding tires for months on end
I've seen some pretty cool earthships. A containearthship is an interesting concept, for sure. Thank you for reading.