Welcome to Living in Beauty
We’re Carmen and Jim Beaubeaux from Coronado, California. We’ve been together since high school.
On July 18, 2016, we left San Diego County to begin living full-time on the road in Beauty, our 2001 Airstream Excella.
What started as a bold change became the life that suits us best.
We love the freedom of long, open-ended escapes into the wilderness, but just as much, we value the flexibility this life gives us to spend time with family and friends scattered across the country.
Along the way, we’ve discovered a wider sense of home than we ever expected.
We know this lifestyle is not for everyone, but for us it has been practical, joyful, and deeply rewarding.
We’re fully retired, fairly healthy, and more interested now in experiences than possessions.
After decades of home ownership, we chose to let go of the weight and worry that comes with property, storage, and too much stuff.
Everything we need is with us in our truck and trailer.
Our towing vehicle is The Beast, a 2014 Ram 2500 Crew Cab Laramie 4×4 Cummins Diesel.
Together, Beauty and The Beast have carried us through deserts, mountains, coastlines, islands, forests, small towns, and cities all across North America.
Over the years, we’ve met many other full-timers and long-term travelers.
Some are drawn by adventure, some by affordability, some by practicality, and some by life circumstances that changed everything.
For us, living mobile has become a way to stay supple, live lightly, and make the most of the years ahead.
Our travel style is simple: every two weeks, after morning rush hour, we move on. We call it our 4-3-2 rule: drive for 4 hours, arrive by 3 PM, stay for 2 weeks.
Along the way we make room for breweries, gardens, hot springs, farmers’ markets, and whatever beauty happens to be nearby.
Living this way has also reduced our footprint.
We use far less water and power than we once did, drive fewer miles than many commuters, and live with less consumption, less maintenance, and less stress.
We’ve already had much of what people spend a lifetime chasing. These years, for us, are about doing rather than having. About staying curious and waking up every couple of weeks to the same home with a different backyard.
And yes, we’re having fun.
Our Family on the Road
No story of Living in Beauty would be complete without the companions who have shared the journey.
Pico de Gallo
Great Explorer of the Universe
May 25, 2008 – May 15, 2024
Pico spent 2,858 days traveling with us in Beauty. He was our road dog, our little explorer, and a beloved part of this life. We miss him every day.
In November 2025, we welcomed Stellaluna as the newest member of the Living in Beauty adventure.
A Little More About Living in Beauty
Since January 2016 we have published 224 posts posts. These days we publish about once a month as life continues to slow into a rhythm that feels right for us.
Our motto is: No Fake Deadlines.
Watch and Explore
Below is a 2-minute documentary produced by VML for Best Buy about Living in Beauty.
Watch a short video of Beauty’s interior from the day we started full-time travel
What Beauty looked like in 2020
What Beauty looked like as of 2024
If you are interested, you can read a bit more about Jim’s career before retiring in July 2016.