
Ask HN: How to Be a Tech Nomad in an Airstream? - modoc
I am thinking about buying a used Airstream and setting up the interior to have a dedicated workspace and as many of the high tech features I&#x27;m used to in my home as I can.  I&#x27;m thinking solar, lithium batteries, LED lighting, etc...<p>I would love any advice folks may have either about specifics (use these solar panels not those) or general (living in an airstream will make you hate XXXX).  Thanks!
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mchannon
The trailer culture is still solidly lead-acid, for which most airstreams will
support the weight. Lithiums are definitely better in theory, but they aren't
that much better volumetrically, and they're considerably less forgiving-
you'll either pay through the nose for the intelligent battery management
circuitry or end up with a ticking time bomb. I'd plan on sticking with lead
acid to start. It's forgiving, good in the cold, and heat. With a 99+%
recycling rate, it's not like you'll be killing the environment by doing so.
Stick with AGM or gel lead-acids to eliminate the risk of acid spillover and
failure from lack of maintenance.

Since airstreams are shiny and curved, flat rigid solar panels are probably
not going to be what you want. There are a number of thin film panels, and
although most of them are less area-efficient than commodity silicon PV
panels, you can compact them more easily and then deploy once parked. Thin
films can easily win on weight-efficiency too.

PV's are unfortunately, regardless of efficiency, not going to absorb enough
sunlight to do much more than charge your laptop and maybe keep your batteries
topped off and run a fan or minifridge. That is, unless, you have a
ridiculously large number of PV modules taking up half your interior space, or
you only camp in spots that are nice all year.

Living requires heating/cooling, food, water, toilet, and bath/shower. Those
are usually the hardest things to get right. Active climate control requires
wall or truck power, or a genset (yuck!).

Lastly, budget a lot for an airstream, and budget a lot of time and money for
the renovations you want to do. People in the know may tut-tut the upgrades
you want to do because they are purists when it comes to airstreams.

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Mz
A best practice for moving to any off-grid lifestyle is to start paring down
now and also start reducing your energy dependence. Back in the day when I was
reading such articles, your typical North American house had a clock on the
microwave, a clock on the VCR, etc and they all draw small amounts of power
continuously. It adds up. You need to go on an electricity diet and break
certain bad habits.

Passive solar approaches to keeping things a bearable temperature will
drastically reduce your energy dependence.

You need toilet facilities. If you are healthy and have clean habits, you do
not necessarily need to shower every single day. Carry hand sanitizer and use
it liberally. If your hands are kept clean, everything you touch will stay
cleaner.

A super short haircut can also help you stay adequately clean and decent-
looking when reliable bathing facilities are hard to come by.

You can live without a mini fridge. It isn't an absolute necessity. It does
require some lifestyle modifications. Only buy milk or other fresh items when
you are about to use them. Get hot meals at eateries or cook with mostly shelf
stable goods. You can also use a seed pot for preserving food without
electricity. It isn't as good as a fridge, but it may be an option that works
well for you to have some options while freeing up electrical load.

If it gets fairly cool at night, assuming you aren't in bear country, some
things can be stored outside overnight to keep them cool. I have become quite
fond of sodas cooled this way instead of being served over ice.

My experience: Cardboard, paper, cloth items and upholstery generate heat,
much like a compost heap does. Limit those items and keeping your place cool
in summer is much less challenging. You can reduce that amount of cardboard in
your space by removing cardboard boxes from food (crackers, snacks, etc) and
trashing them the minute you get groceries home.

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saluki
This covers some general information about Digital Nomad in an Airstream (with
kids)

[http://bootstrappedweb.com/80-brecht-palombo-on-longterm-
tra...](http://bootstrappedweb.com/80-brecht-palombo-on-longterm-travel-as-an-
entrepreneur/)

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marymkearney
Investor Paul Singh is currently doing a "tech tour" in an Airstream to
highlight tech opportunities and innovation in smaller US cities. It looks
like fun, and there are some sweet photos of meetings inside the Airstream!

[https://twitter.com/hashtag/RJTechTour](https://twitter.com/hashtag/RJTechTour)

[https://twitter.com/paulsingh](https://twitter.com/paulsingh)

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ChuckMcM
This is an excellent idea, I've often looked longingly at used Airstreams and
thought about reconfiguring one for a mobile tech workspace.

A typical RV park (or many of the campgrounds in Oregon) will have sewer and
electricity hookups for RVs. That takes care of your two major consumables
(water and power). I've done a lot of "dry" camping (no hookups) in my class B
motorhome (basically van sized) that we tow a small utility trailer behind (we
use a Space trailers
([http://www.spacetrailers.com/](http://www.spacetrailers.com/)), they work
well for us in that role). We also have an 85W solar panel which we use to top
off our battery during the day (12V AGM 45Ahr lead/acid). There is a small 1kw
honda generator (quiet) which we can use if we want to use the microwave or AC
when we're not connected to power. Fridge and stove run on propane. We have
two battery boxes (basically an ice chest holding an AGM lead-acid battery and
a power inverter) which we can use in camp to run lights or fans away from the
camper. The solar panel set up lets us use it to charge any of the batteries.

Ok, so there some meta considerations. One is that most trailers and RVs are
designed to be compact "living" spaces, and are not set up for "working." In
my sketches I've got the dinette changed to be convertable between dinette and
workspace (giving up the extra bed). With my current camper I have been known
to write code with my macbook in my lap or on a picnic table. What I don't
have is good network connectivity.

You can make a lot of progress by making a log of your typical "work" day for
a week or so, in both good weather and bad, and then going back over that log
and taking each day and describing how you would spend that day if you're
living space were this trailer. What things would you need the trailer to
provide, what things would you substitute.

If you're primary goal is to avoid the "high cost of housing" then you
probably need to scope out where and for how long you can park your trailer
while you live/work in it. Camp sites will often have continuous day limits
(like 14 days in California state parks) RV parks you can go longer but you
have to figure that cost into your 'burn rate' as well. That said, one of the
features of 'trailer park living' has been the low overhead.

Feel free to contact me offline if you have more questions (mail is in my
profile)

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modoc
Thanks Chuck! My thought is to have one end of the Airstream be the bedroom,
and convert the other end into a workspace with a U shaped desk, big displays,
Aeron chair, etc... And then leave the middle for the kitchen and dinette.

It's less about saving money than it is about minimizing a bit, and seeing
more of the country.

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caw
If you don't get a lot of responses here, I'd search reddit r/diy. Motor
home/trailer renovations show up periodically. In the comments they'll share
why they setup things in a particular way or what they might change.

