Wanderlust: April 2015

Meet Wanda

Meet Wanderlust. I call her Wanda for short. She may not be a vintage Shasta or a shiny Airstream, but she is all mine. She's a 1981 Sunline, and when we're finished with her, she's going to be fabulous. She'll be the coolest vintage pop-up shop/mobile weekend retreat any girl could ask for. If you're reading this, I'm going to assume you are interested in hearing Wanda's story. So, let me take you back to where it all began.

How It All Began

You see, I've always had a strong desire to travel and experience new things, but four kids and a husband who prefers staying close to home kind of waylaid my plans for many years. That is, until last August. That's when I bought myself this wallet, and I got up the courage to start badgering my other half to look at campers so we could at least do a little traveling here in the states. Much to my surprise, he caved, and we actually did begin to look at trailers. It might have only been a handful of campers, but we did look. However, before I knew it, it was September, and I was back at school. Sadly, the looking stopped. (But, don't despair. The story obviously has a happy ending.)

Fast forward to December, 2014 and an invitation to my niece's 21st birthday party - a prom themed party on New Year's Eve. Sounds fun, right? Sure, as long as you can find the right dress. At 47 years old, I was not about to spend a lot of money on a prom gown, so I hit the thrift store circuit with another mom who was invited to the party. We visited every thrift store in a 10 mile radius, but it turned out that finding a dress was harder than we thought it would be. That is until my aunt reminded me that my cousin might have gowns at her thrift store. I know you're wondering why I'm doing all this talking about dress shopping, but, as you'll see, this is a very pivotal part of the story.

I took my godmother's advice, and called my cousin. It turned out she had a lot of gowns at her warehouse, and she very graciously invited us to come and take a look at them. Not only did I find the most fun gown for my niece's party, but I also had a very brilliant idea while I was rifling through the dresses. You see, I'm always looking for ways to supplement my teacher's salary, and while I was looking for a gown, I thought to myself, "Why not ask Sue if she's looking for help at the thrift shop?"

As luck would have it, Sue agreed to give my Saturday hours at her thrift store. For someone whose hobby is yard saling, working at a thrift shop is the equivalent of getting paid to play. Needless to say, I love the new job. The regular Saturday customers are the nicest people, and arranging the items on display behind the counter is therapeutic after a long week of teaching 81 ten year olds how to write essays and narratives.

Are you still asking yourself what all this has to do with Wanda? Well, let me explain. As if the fates had not been kind enough to me already, it turned out Sue had a vintage shop on Etsy, and she was looking for some help getting items listed online. I jumped at the chance. You see, I have been obsessed with the idea of online vintage selling for some time. I got right to photographing, researching, and listing some of the coolest stuff you can imagine. I was having the time of my life! May not be everybody's idea of a good time, but it floats my boat quite nicely.

Then came the moment you've all been waiting for. One Saturday, Sue and I were having a conversation and discovered that we've both tossed around the idea of using a camper as a vintage pop up shop. You can imagine my delight. Now, I had a reason to start looking at campers again. I could finally act on my plan to purchase a camper, travel to vintage fairs, and parlay the fairs into weekend camping jaunts. It took a little persuasion, but I got my husband on board with the plan, and the camper search was on again in earnest.

I think we must have looked at campers online for a month straight. We looked until we started going cross-eyed, our wrists cramped up from typing, and the listings began to blur together. We traveled as far as Columbia, PA, (150 miles round trip) to look at what turned out to be a bug infested disaster. Then, ironically, we found a decent possibility less than a mile from home. But, it was in between these two trailer inspections that the magic happened. It's funny how sometimes you just know something is right. You don't have words to explain it. Other people question your reasoning, but you just KNOW. That's how it was when I first laid eyes on Wanda in person. I knew she was the camper I wanted. She wasn't as old as the Shastas and Prowlers we had been looking at, and one of her fender skirts was held on with duct tape. But, I didn't care. It was love at first sight.

It took a little more convincing of the hubby, a couple of inspections with the mechanically inclined brother-in-law, and a little haggling over the asking price, but Wanda is mine now. She got the bath of a lifetime last Saturday. I think we were out there for seven hours wiping and scrubbing, and there is still so much more to do. I have a car detailer coming this week to mock up some plans for signage on the exterior. Sue, you know, the kind-hearted cousin who has so graciously included me in her vintage resale business, also happens to dabble in interior design. She's coming over this week to help draw up some plans for the interior of the camper, as well. Naturally, my husband and I have a To Do List that's already a mile long and growing every time we talk, but I am feeling energized by the challenge.

All this brings me back to the message on that wallet I purchased last summer, "Do more of what makes you happy." I've taken those words to heart. I'm sleeping less and working more, but I am not complaining. My mind is always racing and I am wondering how I am ever going to fit exercising back into my daily routine, but I am loving every minute of it.

I hope you'll continue to follow this blog, and join me on my adventure. I guarantee you'll be entertained, because that's just the way things happen around here. Maybe you'll even learn something useful or, better yet, be inspired to do more of what you love.

Thanks for sticking with me to hear all of Wanda's arrival story. Enjoy these "before" pictures from bath day. I'll be back again soon with some rehab war stories.