3-4 weeks of annual use - worth buying?

[phil1ben]

My wife and I are having trouble pulling the trigger. We have done all our research. We have rented the model we want (25Ft Front Bedroom) for a week and drove it 1000 miles and camped for a week. That was our first and only time camping or spending time in a trailer. We liked it but have seriously sat down and determined we will use it only about 3 - 4 weeks per year. We have a beach house where we spend the summers so it will be used hopefully in the fall, winter and spring. Also recently retired but we also spend a month per year abroad.

Has anyone bought an AS knowing they will only use it 3-4 weeks per year? We would buy new and are not interested in buying used. Money is not the issue but it would trouble me having the AS sit idle for so much of the year. Continued renting is an option but 4 weeks of rental runs about $10,000 and might as well buy and sell in two years if it doesn't get used. We have a TV.

Anyone else troubled by this issue? Thanks in advance.

[SeaLevel]

This would really be a personal decision based on your circumstances, but if we could only use ours 3-4 weeks a year, I would not have gotten the trailer. We do short 3-6 day trips, and we've also done 1 and 2 month trips. Now that we are both retired (me officially after this week), we will be planning more of the longer trips.

[maa]

If money is not an issue do it and sell in 2 years if it’s not working out. What’s the worst that can happen? [emoji4]

[GMFL]

It all comes down to priorities. My wife and I are not retired, live on a 47000 acre lake and spend at least 3 weeks a year out of the country doing international mission work. We love our Airstream and use it for week to 10 day trips and to go to the beach in the summer. There are things you can do and see in an Airstream/ camping that you can not see any other way. We use our Airstream as an excuse to get away. Works for us. Good luck and enjoy life no matter what you decide.

[kendrick.l.j]

I have no doubt you will get lots of opinions for or against your idea of using the Airstream 3-4 weeks a year. In my opinion I would not spend money on anything I would only use 3 weeks a year. Even if you continue to rent one for a couple of weeks it is still cheaper than owning, no storage fees, maintenance issues, insurance, etc. to pay for. If you purchase new you will loose at lot of cash the minute you take it off the lot (20%) would be my guess.
It is your opinion that matters most but I wouldn't do it.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

We spend a lot of time on this topic. To me the magic number was around 9 to 12 weeks a year. To the wife it was closer to 6 to 9 weeks. One could just as easily use "trips" instead of weeks. What we have found so far is that we use the trailer more than we thought we would. All the hassle with numbers was fun, but it was not based on experience with this trailer. Yes, it could have gone the other way.

So not a lot of help .... sorry about that.

Bob

[djarrett]

If you own an airstream, you'll find that you will make more "3 day" weekends that you have in the past and find short destinations close to home.

We financed our AS and write the interest off as a vacation home. I know plenty of people who own time-shares or vacation homes. They use them 2 weeks a year and pay as much as your payment would be on an AS or even more. But what you get with an AS is the ability to change up the destination with every vacation and hot be forced to go to the same place with every vacation.

Additionally, if you can keep the AS at your home, it becomes a guest spot when you have visitors.

I guess it is easy to justify something you really want. We certainly did! (and do)

[AWCHIEF]

You stated money is no object. Sorry but I can not relate to that. Your money to spend as you wish of course. Personally if I was only planning on using such a short time I would buy a used trailer of any brand.

[Piggy Bank]

We are still working and will be for at least a decade.

That means that we get a few weeks of vacation per year.

Holidays with the family use about 1 week of those days. This means we get about 2 weeks plus weekends for camping.

It is certainly worth it to us.

We like National Parks, and those are best with the Airstream.

[Bob662]

Money is only a tool. Use yours as you wish. You can afford it; get one if it makes you happy. We use ours less than your plans. My wife wouldn't think of selling it because it makes her smile every time she looks at it.

[SteveSueMac]

Key point for you - money is no object. I say buy and enjoy. You may find you actually want to sell your beach house and hit the road instead. And that would fund a lot of TV fuel, propane and camping fees...

Or - if you find it just doesn't work for you, you could sell the trailer in a couple years - without losing your shirt - but even if you took a bath, money is not an object for your situation so no biggie. In fact, if you really don't like it, you could donate it to a hurricane relief effort or other worthy cause and write it off.

Really no downside as far as I can see.

Life is short. Go camping! Good luck!

[veratipton]

Buy yourself any sob, abuse it as much as you can for 2 years, throw it away on a trade in for an AS, live happily ever after.

[Daquenzer]

If it were me, I would probably just rent an AS if that’s an option. We never bought a second home. Instead we rented vacation homes. Worked out well. We got to see lots of different places. If you can rent an AS for a period of time that’s a great way to figure out when you do have the time to get into owning one and what you want to buy. I would have loved having that option.

Personal decision, but financially it would be wisest to rent if that’s a possibility. Of course you do have to have a good tow vehicle, etc. Also when you rent it’s not quite like having your own setup. But if you aren’t sure then I wouldn’t. Once you buy it’s a big financial decision.

We are finding though that having an AS opens up possibilities. My daughter lives about 4 hours from Nashville. We are thinking, it would be fun to go to Nashville for a few days when we are visiting out daughter in Indiana. We wouldn’t go there and stay in motels. I hate staying in Motels and eating at restaurants. We have some really nice bike trails around us in Wisconsin. We love to bike. Getting away for a few days month to just get outdoors and go biking sounds really fun. So you might find more possibilities.

But then again I’m self-employed and I can take time off as I wish. And financially I am well off that working like a mad man is not something I need to do. We are very blessed that way.

[gypsydad]

Not sure why your even considering this move?? You can rent when you want and if you decide to increase usage, you can always purchase...money is always a factor at some point. But, if you feel your not sure about use model, seems you can continue to live your life and rent when you want without all the worries or hassles of owning.

We travel a lot and get a lot of use out of ours...we try to see where we can find a great deal on camp grounds in areas where we want to travel...we meet lots of folks on the road and it helps shape our thinking about life on the road...where to go next, what to do different, etc.. I have always had a job where travel commercial was part of my profession, so we had the added luxury of great hotels, rental cars, and flying. We have owned 4 AS's, a Casita, a pop-up, a Class A motorhome, and found the AS life to be the perfect fit for us. We have a mountain cabin in Montana, and use it as a base for travel in our Airstream in the summers, but honestly, we use it less and less over past several years, since we use the Airstream weeks at a time in the summer while we are living there... If we want to go to the beach instead of the mountains, we just plan a trip.

[Argosy man]

I have to agree with Bob662's wife- We were not able to use our trailer for years because we were working opposite shifts and could not do any vacations. However; looking at it made us happy knowing that someday the situation would change.

Also, there is something to be said for sleeping in your own bed instead of a rented hotel room or trailer.

[m.hony]

You may find yourself using it way more often than you think.
We still work and I get 15 days vacation.
We manage to take the trailer out 20-something times per year and spend 80-something nights per year in the trailer.
That includes Friday afternoon-Sunday morning weekend camping and at least 3 long holiday weekends and 3-4 rallies per year.
So we're getting just over 12 weeks annual use.
We camp almost every week/weekend except the month of February, and we could camp in February because my wife gets President's Day off...
In 2 more years, I will get another 5 days vacation for a total of 20 days vacation.
I figure that will extend the number of trips and nights spent in the trailer by about 2 rallies.
My wife gets more vacation time than I do.
Our camping friend is retired.
My wife and our retired camping friend are going to a Mississippi Unit rally in the spring that I can't get off for... Boo hoo!

[crispyboy]

It seems that the rental fees could be much higher than depreciation on a new AS. I figure I will have to work another 16 years which gives us limited use of the trailer. Some years I can take a 2 week trip other years just some long weekends. Never the less it is worth every penny and the physical effort to maintain the trailer because of what it means - my own bed, toilet and freedom I have to go somewhere when I please.
Try a WBCCI rally or caravan - you may really like the activity and some of the people.
Good luck with your decision.

[VaTravelers]

Originally Posted by phil1ben

My wife and I are having trouble pulling the trigger. We have done all our research. We have rented the model we want (25Ft Front Bedroom) for a week and drove it 1000 miles and camped for a week. That was our first and only time camping or spending time in a trailer. We liked it but have seriously sat down and determined we will use it only about 3 - 4 weeks per year. We have a beach house where we spend the summers so it will be used hopefully in the fall, winter and spring. Also recently retired but we also spend a month per year abroad.

Has anyone bought an AS knowing they will only use it 3-4 weeks per year? We would buy new and are not interested in buying used. Money is not the issue but it would trouble me having the AS sit idle for so much of the year. Continued renting is an option but 4 weeks of rental runs about $10,000 and might as well buy and sell in two years if it doesn't get used. We have a TV.

Anyone else troubled by this issue? Thanks in advance.

Phil1ben, my wife and I were in a similar situation. Money really isn't an issue now at this point in our lives. We don't spend foolishly but we don't walk away from something if we want it or think it would be beneficial to our quality of life. We've worked hard, saved, raised and educated our children and now it's our turn. I'm still working but will retire in maybe the next year or so - just wrapping up some long term projects I wanted to see through to the end. We like to travel and have done a lot of that in our lives (Europe and Asia) and probably will continue to do some of that in our retirement. However, we love the outdoors and all it offers - biking, kayaking, hiking, birding, wildflowers and waking up by a lake in the mountains or by the seashore. We also like seeing new cities, meeting the people, eating in local hang-outs and have this desire to attend MLB games in as many ballparks across the country as we can. For us purchasing a new AS last August was the best decision. We had a F250 diesel that only towed our boat twice a year with no mileage on it so that expense was already made. We purchased a 2017 28' Serenity International and have gotten to use it 4 times so far and each was a great experience. It's a personal thing, but having the opportunity to bring all the things we enjoy together and pursue them in many different places is appealing to us. Plus we get to take our furry companions along with us - they love it as much as we do. Good luck with your decision.

[ejami5]

I bought my Airstream 3 years ago when I was 14 years from retirement. I had absolutely no idea on much I would be able to use it. I, too, figured I could sell it if it didn't work out. I travel for my job (domestically and internationally) so I'm always on a plane, staying in a hotel, renting a car, and eating in restaurants. What I love about having the Airstream is just knowing that I can hitch it up and go for a long weekend or take it on a vacation. No hotels, rental cars or restaurants. How much or little I use it is irrelevant to me. It's when I can use it and the amazing feeling I get sleeping in my own bed and preparing my own meals in a national forest or park, on a beach, or in the nearest RV park closest to friend's and family's homes. I love my Airstream and haven't for one second ever fretted about the cost, or the maintenance, insurance and covered shelter expenses.

[kwkelley]

This is strictly a personal choice but we have lived in three homes for almost twenty years; 2 in USA and 3rd in Europe. Do not be impressed. Our AS is used only when we want to do something different. Went to Western Mass this summer for 5 nites and that is it for the year. Last year did a Mississippi River tour with 2 other AS owners. Next spring scheduled for the Rocky Mountain Caravan. I will add this; we started out with a 25 foot trailer, kept it for 18 months and lost less then $2000 when we sold it because it was too small. We felt crowded in it so purchased a new 30 foot with a queen bed but now looking for a new 30 foot twin bed model.

Our number is #1939 if you have any questions.