As our six months in Idaho drew to a close, we asked ourselves “what’s next?”. We knew by now that we loved live in the west, and that one day we might return permanently, but we also knew that we were not yet ready to settle down. A lot of people ask us why we continue to move to new spots after we find a place we love and connect with the people there. The best answer we can give is “but there’s more to see!”. It’s true, we have been given the gift of being able to travel. With a job that can go anywhere, and no kids, we are not bound to any one particular spot. We love meeting new people and seeing the new areas that each job brings us. This time also gives us the opportunity to make a informed decision about where we would like to settle down one day (if we ever do), rather then just settling somewhere because its all we know.

Rent in Idaho was also draining our bank account just as quickly as we put the money in. Idaho was in a housing crisis when we arrived there. The houses we found on Zillow we either unwilling to accept short term rentals, or did not allow pets. Everything else was already taken. We finally found a lovely house in nearby Buhl with a great yard for Ares and secured it, only after offering the owner one and a half times the asked rent so that she would accept a short term rental. While this was a great six month stay and had enough room for us to host both our families for Christmas (which was so much fun), we knew that renting was not something we wanted to do forever.

The most logical next step for us since we knew we wanted to continue to travel, was to find a camper we could purchase. It would be something we could call our own, and while we would still have to pay for campgrounds, it would be less than rent prices. So we both started researching. We had already noticed the full-time travelers on social media with Airstreams all had great things to say about them. They seemed to be reliable, renovatable, and also very aesthetically pleasing. With our focus narrowed down to Airstream campers we quickly came to realize that these qualities came with a certain price tag, and that price tag was not very affordable.

Mere weeks away from the end of our rental agreement in Idaho we were both feeling a little desperate. Everything we had inquired on either needed a lot of work, or had already sold. One morning I had woken up a little earlier than usual and happened to look at a Airstream page that I had recently joined when I saw it!! It was a 2006 Airstream Safari only a few hours away from where my parents lived, and the icing on the cake, it had a slide out!!! The post was made recently that morning but was already being inundated with comments about how rare of an item this was. I read that the owner had posted it to Facebook marketplace with no response, and was now trying this page with hopes of more bites. His efforts certainly paid off, more comments were added by the minute. My heart sank when I saw this and I figured this would be another camper I would call about only to find it had been sold already, but something made me send a message anyways.

To my shock I got a kind reply back almost immediately saying that several people were now interested but no one had been able to see the camper in person yet. Without even showing Stephan I immediately called my dad and asked him if he could go see the camper for us. He agreed to do so and when I got off the phone I excitedly told Stephan that I thought God was providing a camper. Last minute miracles have been the story of my life, and this proved to be nothing less then that.

Long story short the camper was in great shape, just a little outdated, and just within our price range. The couple who owned her actually got an offer for twenty thousand dollars over their asking price while we were negotiating with her, but because the individual who made the offer didn’t pick up when they tried to call him back, they amazingly agreed to sell Shirley (more on this later) to us for the price they initially listed her for. Speaking to them via FaceTime, as my dad held the camera up, both Stephan, I, and the couple selling the Airstream had tears in our eyes. We know this was how things were meant to be, and we were so excited to start on this next chapter of our about to be ever more adventurous lives!