Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/1174218
Ta k e 5 a n d t r y A B M P F i v e - M i n u t e M u s c l e s a t w w w. a b m p . c o m / f i v e - m i n u t e - m u s c l e s . 85 decision came when a touring artist hired McLaughlin for two shows in two different venues, and she didn't know what kind of space they had for her. "I'd always felt that ambience is extremely important to the entire massage experience, so I'd bring a lot of gear with me to on-site massage gigs, like towel warmers, salt lamps, aromatherapy diffusers, music, bodyCushions, white noise machines. I even had a custom road case built to house all my gear in an attempt to make it easier to set up in different locations." McLaughlin was tired of lugging gear from gig to gig. It was finally time to step into her dream. "I woke up one day," she says, "and I just couldn't deny the reality of 'It's now or never.' I am getting older, life is not promised to us, and my dream of an Airstream mobile studio would not get out of my head. It just started to make more and more sense for me to use my energy doing what I love versus hauling gear around." McLaughlin sits dreaming under the iconic St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon, where she lives and works. BUILDING THE DREAM: PEACE POD LAUNCHES McLaughlin's original sketches and blueprints were for a vintage-style trailer, so when she decided on the smaller Airstream Basecamp model, she had to rearrange her ideas on how to make her mobile studio work. "The other Airstreams I owned were 23 feet and 31 feet long," she says, "allowing for a deluxe-size studio. The Basecamp is only 16 feet long with 96 square feet of interior space." A big difference, but the flow of the Basecamp gave McLaughlin instant confidence that she could finally make her dream come true. "It's