‘Vintage Trailer Voyeur’ takes readers along on Ocken’s whimsical trip

It wasn’t always easy getting people to open up, talk to her and show off their vintage trailers, but Vicki Ocken kept her camera handy and her eyes peeled for four years, piecing together “Vintage Trailer Voyeur: A Peek Inside the Unique Custom Trailer Culture” one encounter at a time.
    It was her first experience writing a book, but her passion for vintage trailers and determination to adhere to a New Year’s resolution resulted in a beautiful composition, released just this year.
    Reading her book or having a conversation with Ocken, one wouldn’t guess her vintage trailer hobby is a mere six years old. To be fair, she grew up with a connection to trailers and spent summers camping in a converted school bus, as she explained in the introduction to her book. However, it was six years ago that she and her husband, Jim, bought the trailer that started their collection: a 2006 Airstream. The purchase was inspired by an uncomfortable night spent camping on the ground. Since then they’ve gravitated toward older vintage trailers and caught what Ocken calls a “disease.”
    Most of the trailer enthusiasts she meets don’t have just one, she explained. Once someone buys their first, they tend to keep the collection growing, and the Ockens are no exception. With 10 now, it’s been two years since their last addition, and they’re itching to find the next gem.
    Collecting the trailers is really only part of the hobby that seems almost like a lifestyle. There’s also restoration, gatherings and, yes, even camping.
    While the Ockens aren’t alone in their commitment to restore their vintage trailers back to original, that certainly isn’t the norm. It’s much more common for people to modernize when they make repairs, she said. Depending on the condition of a trailer when they acquire it, some have been as simple as cleaning them, but some have been complete redos. Regardless, Ocken likes her trailers to look like they did when they rolled off the line.
    As for the gatherings, Ocken said they travel regularly to meet other trailer-lovers. Like with other aspects of the hobby, gatherings can vary greatly. Some are specific to Airstreams; others require the trailers be at least 25 years old. There’s a gathering for women only its only rule is, “no men, no kids, be nice, have fun!”
    Ocken enjoys all types of gatherings and takes different trailers depending on where she’s headed. There’s one she owns that is small enough to pull behind her car, making it a convenient option when she travels solo. During the summer she uses one trailer or another almost every week. They go out less often during the winter, but each New Year’s Eve they camp in the mountains.
    It was primarily through the gatherings that Ocken found the content for her book. After two different photographers fell through, she resigned herself to the fact that she would be picking up a camera herself. Part of what made the book what it is are the photos that truly show what Ocken saw.
    While finding interesting and unique trailers at trailer gatherings may seem like the obvious choice, Ocken noted that many contained in her book are beauties that she stumbled upon elsewhere. Traveling for work, for example, a Chinook RV caught her eye in Alaska. A few entries in the book even came from northeastern Colorado.
    Ocken is no stranger to Holyoke, a place she called home twice, living here for a total of 20 years, but it was not where she was expecting to find book material.
    It was word of mouth that brought her to a Cardinal owned by Mary Fulscher. Ocken described the adorable trailer as a “life-sized playhouse ripe with possibilities.”
    Another book entry, “Emily,” describes a Spartan that serves as an on-the-road home to a custom harvest crew Ocken stumbled upon at the Phillips County fairgrounds.
    Of the many pictured in “Vintage Trailer Voyeur,” there is one masterpiece that stands out as Ocken’s favorite. Listed under “Harry,” the Airstream is like a time machine. The trailer was inspired by steampunk, and she views it as a flight of fancy, a piece of imagination come true. It’s difficult to describe, but the photos offer a glimpse into its magic, and Ocken said it’s even more incredible in person.
    With these trailers — and many others — making up her first publication, Ocken is keeping an open mind about future endeavors. Maybe there will be another trailer added to her personal collection, and maybe there will be another book written, but in both instances she seems to be patiently waiting.
    The next trailer will have to be quite special or rare to make the cut, she explained, and the next book will need to be something she is truly enthused about writing. It might be another about trailers or perhaps one about tiny living, but if her first book is any indication, once she is struck by inspiration, she won’t stop until she’s finished.
    In writing and in vintage trailers, Ocken has the support of her family. All four of her children, Curtis, Misty, Tony and Charlie, as well as her husband, enjoy camping themselves.
    “Vintage Trailer Voyeur” is available at major online retailers.