It takes all kinds to make the Airstream / RV camping world go ’round. Over the course of our travels, we’ve met the gamut. From young families with kids, to retired married couples, to solo travelers. Some folks just camp on weekends. Others go at it full time. Falling in the latter category (aka “fulltimers”) is Michael Depraida.

An artist, Michael works from the road. He hasn’t always pursued this lifestyle. He was once fully engaged in the New York rat race, plugging away at commercial art for an advertising firm. He was racking up a collection of all the material possessions we’re taught to desire.

“I had the house… the car … the boat. Heck, I even had a motorcycle,” he said.

But one day, he decided that his relentless pursuit of stuff wasn’t delivering satisfaction. So he hit the reset button on his career. He rebooted his life.

He sold everything, traded his cubicle for an Airstream, and hit the road. Ten years later, the “Artstream” is still going strong.

Liberated from most material possessions and their collective financial weight, he was free to create the art he wanted to create. He started creating it in places he wanted to visit. He’s spent the last decade exploring North America.

The New Yorker who had never experienced the American West now professes a love of the desert. Like many full-timers, he’s technically a resident of South Dakota – – simply because that state has the most favorable tax and residency regulations. He’s constantly on the go, exploring what lies beyond the next horizon.

He’s become a favorite on the Airstream scene. A few years ago he started creating art inspired by the iconic silver trailers. It has been well received. Order artwork from Michael (CampstreamUSA.com), and he’ll create it in his Airstream . He’ll even customize it to your wishes. Then he’ll drop it in the mailbox, wherever he may be.

We all have vastly different and equally valid reasons for camping. The full-time lifestyle appeals to a select few RV owners whose wanderlust is not satisfied by the occasional trip or two weeks of vacation. For these people, the journey truly is the destination. The “trip” is their lifestyle, as career seamlessly dovetails with travel.

“This life is not for everyone,” Michael concedes.

But for one artist, it’s just what the doctor ordered.