The Summer That Should’ve Been: Adventures Before Our Airstream Life

campsidephotos
Aug 13
2 min read

Updated: Aug 14

The thing about deciding to add an RV into our lives is… we already had a full calendar of travel. Our big trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with friends had been locked in for ages. Then, of course, our wedding got pushed back another year—first in 2020 due to COVID, then again in 2021 because of lingering restrictions and the fact that our wedding was supposed to be in Canada in Banff National Park. That left us staring at a summer-shaped hole in our plans, which were already filled with travel plans.

We bought the Airstream after shuffling the wedding plans, but here’s the funny part—we didn’t even take it on this trip. Nope. Our lineup of adventures was already booked before our shiny new home-on-wheels even rolled into the driveway. So, the “summer that should’ve been the wedding” turned into:

The Upper Peninsula, complete with long lake views, cozy cabins, and friends in full vacation mode. Click here for a view from our cabin! See if you can find the chipmunk!
West Palm Beach, Florida, where we got a little sunburned and a lot of beach & pool time.
Tybee Island in Georgia, which feels like it runs on its happy little clock.
A wander through The Biltmore in North Carolina, where we pretended for a minute we were rich enough to have our own library wing.
Congaree National Park, because nothing says “reset your brain” like giant trees and boardwalk trails in the middle of nowhere while slapping mosquitoes.

The Airstream sat at home the whole time, practically tapping its aluminum foot, waiting for its turn to be the star of the show. But in a way, that made it even better—we got to daydream about all these same stops, and the ones we haven’t made yet, imagining ourselves already rolling down the highway in it.

During this trip, we also decided to take on a challenge: only bring the amount of clothes and shoes that could fit in the Airstream. It was a test run for minimalist living on the road, and while it forced some careful packing decisions, we were still nervous to tow the Airstream to all these destinations—so we stuck with hotels & Airbnbs instead. This summer was supposed to be different. Turns out, it was. And I’m not even a little mad about it.