Why Did We Choose An Airstream?

First of all, to say that Airstream Travel Trailers are “iconic” would be an understatement. Second, it is true that they are very expensive. Since we live in Canada you can add 35% (writing this in 2019) to the dealer pricing found in the USA (love those Canadian dollars, Eh!)

It’s really hard to pin down the idea of owning and travelling with an Airstream, call it, “What dreams are made of”. There is something about the sleek, aerodynamic, shiny aluminium structure that cries out “Travel With Me”. It just inspires dreams of “glamping” across North America.  How does that song go?  “I’m leaving with my Airstream don’t know when I’ll be back again…””

Our first encounter with Airstream was at my brother-in-law’s place in the mid 1980s. He had a vintage Classic in his backyard. Not sure if it was towable, it was sort of used/lived in by his son at the time. We just found it to be like nothing we had ever seen before – in a trailer! After that we just began to look for them on the road. However, in our limited journey of life on Vancouver Island, British Columbia Canada, Airstreams were few and far between!

We had been tent campers for years and found our old bones wanted to get off the ground. So we began to look for a small travel trailer. We started to go to RV shows and looked at those “white boxes” which did nothing for us. When we went camping all we ever did see were the typical “white boxes,” these were never part of our on-going dream.

One day while camping at Rathtrevor Provincial Park we spotted this small trailer called a T@B – we liked it. My dear Mona did her Internet thing and found “Fire Ball” a 2007 T@B trailer on Craigs List.  Fire Ball became our first “off the ground hard tent on wheels”. We really loved that little Fire Ball and it met all our basic needs for boondock camping. The biggest drawback with this 16 foot T@B trailer was that we wanted a bit more comfort for travelling (and were tired of the port-a-potty).

When we moved to Parksville in 2010 and were walking in the neighbourhood, we came across an Airstream basically rotting away in someone’s backyard (no, we did not buy it). This however, reignited that “Airstream Dream”.

At the time we were driving (towing with) a 2006 Hummer H3 which we loved.  The problem the H3 presented us was a limited towing capacity (4500#). So the question was: 1) do we look for an Airstream that works with our existing H3 Tow Vehicle or 2) do we look for a better tow vehicle.

We began to look for both – that is, a lovingly used Airstream and a lovingly used tow vehicle. I should remind you, the reader, that Mona and I are retired and living on our meagre pension. In other words, a new Airstream such as the International Serenity is about $130,000 cdn and a new equipped F-150 is about $75,000 cdn, both of which are way beyond our ability financially.

One thing for sure an Internet search opened all sorts of possibilities. We first found “Red Dragon” our 2013 F-150HD 3.5L ecoboost FX4  SuperCrew Lariat complete with max towing package (11,300#), optional off road and 7700# GVWR – like a unicorn in the myst – puzzle solved beyond expectation – literally a “Heavy Duty F-150!” Then we found “Blue Streak” our 2004 International 25 CCD in excellent condition.  We really like the fresh modern Christopher C. Deam interior design.  So we traded in the H3, sold the T@B in one day and yes, Dreams do come true.

But back to the question. “Why Did We Choose An Airstream?” Well, that is simple to answer.  Because wanting an Airstream is like an itch you need to scratch to have satisfaction 😎 !