An ad for a small camper I spotted on Facebook in October 2018 ended up changing everything. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days, even as I tried to convince myself it was impractical. Eventually, I talked my friend at the time—now my boyfriend—Victor into taking the leap with me. With zero experience and neither of us ever having towed a trailer, we flew to Utah, rented a U-Haul, and went to see it in person.
In Lehi, we found Eloise—a beautiful 1956 Shasta 1500—and she was everything I had hoped for. We towed her all the way back to Massachusetts over five days, making stops across Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, and New York. What started as a spontaneous decision quickly turned into something much bigger.
Since then, we’ve joined local groups, attended rallies throughout New England, and built lasting friendships within the vintage trailer community. Eloise has been at the center of countless adventures and even played a role in growing our relationship. She’s also helped me connect my passion for camping with my work, sharing these experiences with people with disabilities. Looking back, taking that chance was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made—proof that sometimes the “crazy” ideas are the ones worth following.
