Lindsey Kszos was sitting in the Philadelphia airport, celebrating the sale of her Airstream and half-ton GMC with a glass of wine and a lobster roll, when she received an unexpected call. Months earlier, Lindsey found a build thread on Expedition Portal congratulating “Kevin,” the first owner of a 2016 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) X10 camper prototype. “I messaged this Kevin guy like, ‘Hey, do you still have this camper? Would you be willing to sell it?’” She didn’t hear anything back for months. But as she sipped her glass of wine and enjoyed her lobster roll, Kevin called, offering the camper for sale.
Lindsay knew there were only five X10 campers made, so she was eager to proceed with the purchase. “I’m not an impulsive person. I normally do my due diligence and think things through. It just felt right.”
After founding a logistics brokerage nearly a decade ago, Lindsey lived in New York City and Chicago and was looking for a change. A trip to visit a friend in Austin, Texas, gave her an out. “If you’ve ever been to Austin, there are Airstreams everywhere,” she says. “I knew a bit about them as my family grew up camping. I wondered if I could live in one. I was traveling a lot to visit friends and working remotely anyways.” On the return flight to Chicago, Kszos created a master plan, considering her must-haves, budget, safety considerations, and how she would work on the road. “I remember an ex-boyfriend of mine was like, ‘You’re going to hate it. You won’t last two months,’” she laughs.
Lindsey spent the next three years living in an Airstream, and although she loved it, there were some downsides. “In the winter, I would put it in storage and rent, and it’s just terrible towing a trailer in the winter.” An avid skier, she wanted a vehicle that could withstand cold winter temperatures and provide comfort during weeks spent at various ski hills. After renting an EarthRoamer one winter, Lindsey was sold on the flexibility of the setup but sought something more budget-friendly. Some online research eventually led her to the OEV X10 thread on Expedition Portal and the call from Kevin.
“I flew home to Buffalo for a wedding and took my dad out for a beer,” she says. “I said to him, ‘I want to tell you my plan. I’m not asking for your approval. I’m telling you this is what I’m doing.’ He was really quiet. Then he said, ‘That’s fantastic! I want to do that when I retire. It’s amazing you are going to do that in your thirties.’ I was so happy because he’s an engineer and welder, and I knew I would need to ask him questions about [things like] lithium versus lead acid, or AGM house batteries.”
With that, she picked up the X10 camper and drove back to Buffalo, New York, to begin the modification process.
Girl Gone Glamping’s 2014 Ram 3500 Overland Modifications
Additional leaf springs, Timbren bump stops, and a Dana 60 rear axle were added by Kevin prior to Lindsey’s ownership of the 2014 Ram 3500. She swapped in a set of LT295/70R18 Yokohama Geolandar AT tires and took the truck to a suspension shop in Buffalo (Buffalo Spring) to assess the weight. “They looked everything over and said they wouldn’t change anything,” Lindsey says. “It doesn’t sag at all. I’ve towed a motorcycle and motorcycle trailer with it. I’m not flying up any hills, but that’s fine.” She also re-did the front grille, using Plasti Dip spray to create a matte black effect, and added a TrailFX bumper guard and front fender flares.
Kszos says she gets a good amount of flack because the truck isn’t diesel-powered, but gasoline works better for her way of life. “I’ve been in cold temperatures, and diesel trucks are just a pain in the cold. You get longer longevity and more miles out of it, but diesel is not cheaper all the time and isn’t readily available in every town.”
2016 OEV X10 Camper and Modifications
When Lindsey picked up the truck and camper in Salt Lake City, there were only 19,000 miles on the odometer, and although the camper felt brand-new, it was an early version that required a few adjustments to complement her lifestyle. “I love this camper. I don’t know if there’s another camper out there that suits my needs, but because it was a bare-bones prototype, there wasn’t an easy way to get in and out of the camper, and it had these massive fold-out stairs that sat 45 inches off the ground.”
Kszos and her father worked together to engineer a new folding step and ski box, and added a hot water system, solar, new batteries, an air conditioner, installed two large windows, and a table that converts to a standing desk.
She chose a Van Life Tech hot water system for the build. “With my Airstream, I had to wait 30 minutes for the water to heat up if I wanted to do dishes or take a shower. [In the X10] you actually step up into the shower because it’s not gravity-drained. I can take as long of a hot shower as I have water supply. I have a 42-gallon freshwater tank, and it’s a recirculating water pump, so it’s constantly hot, which, if you’re in a town where there isn’t a Planet Fitness, it’s nice, especially after skiing.”
Ample living space was important to Kszos for several reasons. The height of the camper is around six-foot-eight, and at five-foot-ten with a propensity for claustrophobia, Lindsey feels comfortable working and living inside. Two large Tern Overland windows, one located on the front of the camper, and one on the side wall, allow plenty of natural light inside.
The camper is equipped with three 330-watt solar panels, four Lion Energy 100-amp-hour lithium batteries, and a Victron solar charger. “I went oversize with my battery bank and solar,” Lindsey says. “I have never had to plug this rig in, and it’s my third winter [living in the camper].” To keep her laptop, tablet, and Verizon hotspot charged, several 110-volt outlets were added. Sufficient power is also required to charge her ski boots and gloves, which are all lithium-battery heated. “Skiing is a big passion of mine. I try to get out on the mountain 50 days a year, which, while working full-time, is harder to do than it sounds. So that is a big component.”
The custom-made standing desk adds a much-needed ergonomic benefit to Lindsey’s lifestyle. “The biggest physical change for me is all the driving. I’m on a pretty regiment stretching routine now, but that’s after having lower back and hip problems. I’m more active in a sense of being outside, like I’ll take a 30-minute work break during the day and go for a walk or hike, but I’m also more sedentary at the same time.”
With the camper modification complete, and an invoice from her father in hand, Kszos hit the road. “You know, people see these big expensive trucks, and they think you must be a trust fund kid. ‘It must be nice.’ I hear that all the time. I worked for myself for 11 years. I grew up in a poverty-stricken small town and my parents worked hard. My dad charged me for everything he did, and I wouldn’t expect anything less. He did amazing work.”
Over the past few years, Lindsey has learned a lot about the realities of living full-time on the road. “I thought I had to know everything before I got on the road,” she says. “I thought everything had to be completed and done, but you learn so much more from the process of building or when something goes wrong and needs a repair.” She says that waiting until everything is finished or re-done can delay actually living the lifestyle.
“The highs are really high, and the lows can be really low,” she says. Solo travel can be isolating, especially during a breakup, after a bad day at work, a fight with a friend, or illness. “When I’ve been sick on the road, it can be so hard. You learn that you can rely on yourself. But on the other side, I was in southern Utah last Monday, and [I saw] the most gorgeous sunrise I’ve ever seen in my life.” The sky looked like it was on fire, she says, and at 37, it still doesn’t get old. “I’ve been doing this for five years, and I love it just as much every time. It’s how I feel about skiing on a powder day. It’s still as fun as it was when I was 12 years old.”
Specifications
2014 Ram 3500 Tradesmen SRW 4WD
2016 Overland Explorer Vehicles flatbed X10 camper
Power
Hemi, 6.4-liter
Six-speed automatic transmission
Suspension and Drive
3.73:1 rear axle ratio
Open front differential
Full-floating rear Dana 60
Custom leaf spring pack
Timbren rear bump stops
1.25-inch sway bar
Wheels and Tires
Steel wheels
LT295/70R18 Yokohama Geolandar AT tires
Recovery and Armor
TrailFX front bumper and guard
Hi-Lift jack
Accessories
In-cab Bluetooth
Backup camera
Cruise N Comfort USA air conditioner, 12-volt
Custom-fabricated ski box
Custom-fabricated folding step
Custom-made standing desk
Van Life Tech recirculating hot water system
Three 330-watt solar panels
Four Lion Energy 100-amp-hour lithium batteries
Tern Overland windows
Victron solar charger
Espar diesel air heater
Wallas diesel cooktop
Freshwater tank, 42-gallon
To learn more about Lindsey or her 2014 Ram 3500 and 2016 OEV X10 Camper, visit @girlgoneglamping on Instagram.
Our No Compromise Clause: We carefully screen all contributors to ensure they are independent and impartial. We never have and never will accept advertorial, and we do not allow advertising to influence our product or destination reviews.
