Time you spend in your Airstream?

[Markj55]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

The 25' will be for road trips all over the US and Canada for the next 10-15 years (we hope). It will live alone in NC during the winter.

The 34' will live in FL. It will be our winter home from November through March. We plan to do short trips from our winter home as long as we are able. Then we plan to use it at one location after we are no longer able to tow.

Very nice.... You've got it covered.

[Markj55]

Originally Posted by coastal

This thread is somewhat surprising to me. I Did Not Realize The Bulk Of Owners Had This Kind Of time. We have estimated we will use ours roughly 25 to 40 nights a year depending on if we have extended travel in it. It will mostly be used for weekend travel and 1 week trip a year. Also I have been looking into the possibility of getting hookups at home for a guest house. I wouldn't be able to leave it out all the time but I would hook it up as needed.

It surprises me and my wife too. It may just be that we're hearing predominately from the users?
Chime in folks there's a lot more of you out there.
Thanks
Mark

[tony6373]

I have only rarely slept anywhere other than my Airstream trailer since retiring in 2001. I travel in the northern states during the warm months and southern states during cold months. Several months each year are spent at NTAC (North Texas Airstream Community) while I catch up on doctor, dentist visits and RV maintenance. I estimate that my trailer has over 120,000 miles on it.

I check Hunter's Airstream list and Air Forms usually ever day but only post when I feel I have something unique to say.

[m.hony]

For working people 40 nights is a lot. That is basically 20 weekend getaways. That is almost half of the weekends in the year.

[webspinner]

My husband is lucky enough to have a job that can sometimes be done solely over the internet and phone. So more than half of our 60+ nights were spent camped in one location with an internet hookup, with him working Monday to Friday and relaxing on weekends. It isn't actually vacationing, but it's a nice change to look out of your Airstream window from your desk and see a deer or a pileated woodpecker.

[m.hony]

We are looking at 3 week to week and a half long trips and 4 four day holiday weekends and another 20 or so weekends. That's a lot for working folks. We go every chance we get.
I will keep a more accurate tally in 2014, with the first 4 nights spent at Canopener in January.
We find ourselves going more and more as the years go by. I get 3 weeks per year vacation. Five more years and I will get 4 weeks. I'm ready now.

[SeeMore]

Originally Posted by Markj55

I'm seriously jealous.... You must be retired?
Mark

I prefer to say, "Focused on my interests, not another's." That claimed, the wife and I have logged 40 continental states and 23,000 miles since 2010. We stopped the payroll check addiction a while ago.

Early on, we discovered our Great Danes are people magnets and make wandering a most pleasant affair. Regardless of where we stop, fuel pumps included, we are approached within minutes. There is something addictive about the welcome feeling we encounter country-wide.

[AWCHIEF]

I spent all day yesterday and half the evening cleaning out my trailer in anticipation of selling it today. Guy shows up this morning and of course he wants something for nothing. I do not have to sell so am not prepared to give it away.
I did manage to spend about 90 days in the trailer this past year. Plan on spending more next year in either this trailer or my new to me one.

[Globie64]

We spent 18-20 nights in ours this year and are planning more for 2014. One trick is getting the trailer outfitted and ready to go quickly, so it's easier to do weekend trips without feeling like the set up and break down takes a ton of time.

[A W Warn]

Back in the 90's I set up my Airstream at a campground near the beach 3 hours from home, and left it there for years. That was a lot easier to use on weekend trips while I was working, and I found myself using it a lot more. Later when I started storing it at home, and I used it less. That loading and unloading for every trip is a hassle. Back then I camped weekends and holidays Apr-Dec and stored all winter. Since I retired I use my Airstream more during the winter.

[HiHoAgRV]

2013, around 40 nights and 4400 miles
2012, 52 nights, 8261 miles
2011, 50 nights, 5652 miles
2010, 57 nights, 8152 miles
2009, 37 nights, 5847 miles
2008, 37 nights, 7252 miles
2007, 23 nights, 5230 miles
2006 blah blah blah
Geez, 300+ nights and 45,000 miles later...

[m.hony]

Storing at home is not bad. There is not a whole lot of loading and unloading. We leave summer clothes, winter clothes, and non perishable groceries and dry goods and sundries in the trailer forever to prevent loading and unloading. We even leave cases of soft drinks and bottled water in there. We leave groceries with really long dates in there- macaroni, ramen, ravioli, chicken soup, grits, oatmeal- All we have to do when we go is go. We will think about what perishable groceries we need and buy them along the way after the refrigerator has started cooling. There are even books, magazines, puzzles, movies- everything- ready to roll. Every once in a while I inventory what's in there and restock socks and underwear. When it comes time to go to Canopener we will just go- we will hit a grocery store on the way- even some ingredients for my tamales are always in there- spices, hot sauce, corn meal- all dishes, toiletries, paper goods, foil, charcoal- everything-

[ricks-vt]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Six to seven months a year touring about the country on the way to destinations in the south for winter. This is our fifth year with Airstreams, sure beats the many years with VW Camper vans for comfort but not for touring.

I have enjoyed this thread as my wife and I plan our airstream travels. Looking to travel from cold north to AZ next fall and spend the winter. Can't wait😏

[BAB]

Have had SilverLeaf for just two years, but this year I spent 67 nights in it, and enjoyed every single one. Granted, one trip was 4 full weeks. Oh, I will spend Christmas eve in it as well. (My son, daughter-in-law and grandkids live in Charlotte....and her folks will be visiting them for a couple of weeks and they'll have the guest room.....I tow my trailer and sleep in my OWN bed...and I have NO issues with dewinterizing and rewinterizing, either....as I'm fortunate enough to have had a shed built for my trailer in my backyard....with full hookups so I can sleep out there if I want!)

[VioLey]

We got our AS on Nov 6th this year and have spent 7 nights in it. We were hoping to go somewhere over Christmas but may stay around home. We anticipate traveling many weekends when spring comes and the month of July, maybe a week or so in August. Being a teacher helps with the summer travel schedule! I'd like to shoot for 50-60 nights a year.

[weirdstuff]

Purchased Fiona on November 2, 2013. So far, spent 13 nights in her.

[SeeMore]

Originally Posted by m.hony

.... We leave summer clothes, winter clothes, and non-perishable groceries and dry goods and sundries in the trailer forever to prevent loading and unloading. We even leave cases of soft drinks and bottled water in there. We leave groceries with really long dates in there- macaroni, ramen, ravioli, chicken soup, grits, oatmeal.. Every once in a while I inventory what's in there and restock socks and underwear. When it comes time to go...we will hit a grocery store on the way

Does anybody else do otherwise?

We found various size plastic storage bins at Wally World that fit the drawers and overhead cabinets perfectly so moisture (humidity) and bugs are thwarted during storage periods.

We do a top to bottom cleaning/restock at each trip conclusion so we are ready on a whim for another outing. Our trailer is stored about 15 miles away so we grab meds, computers, etc., and take a cooler full of frozen water bottles to jump start the reefer on our way out the door.

It has allowed us to maximise our outings as only a minimal lead time has us mobile again. I guess you could say we are evacuation prepped although we aren't pessimists. I'd rather be labeled a "travel optimist!"

[m.hony]

I thought maybe some people do otherwise because they seem to think loading/unloading is a big deal.
We basically have a bag of dirty clothes to unload. We even have Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes in there.
That is another reason I don't understand tire threads and tongue weight threads- we have under 7,500# on our trailer axle and maybe 1,000# tongue weight as loaded as we'll ever be.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by SeeMore

Does anybody else do otherwise?

We found various size plastic storage bins at Wally World that fit the drawers and overhead cabinets perfectly so moisture (humidity) and bugs are thwarted during storage periods.

We do a top to bottom cleaning/restock at each trip conclusion so we are ready on a whim for another outing. Our trailer is stored about 15 miles away so we grab meds, computers, etc., and take a cooler full of frozen water bottles to jump start the reefer on our way out the door.

It has allowed us to maximise our outings as only a minimal lead time has us mobile again. I guess you could say we are evacuation prepped although we aren't pessimists. I'd rather be labeled a "travel optimist!"

During hurricane season, my Airstream is kept fully prepped for evacuation. Full freshwater tank, empty holding tanks, full propane tank, full diesel tank, closet with at least three days' worth of clean clothing, one set of clean bedding, cabinets stocked with at least three days' worth of canned goods with a six-month or greater shelf life but empty refrigerator, a couple of unread books, a couple of DVDs. When I decide to evacuate, personal electronics, medications, and the contents of my home refrigerator (at least whatever will fit in my Airstream's dinky 3.1cf fridge) get loaded up and I hit the road. Only three days of food and clothing because I'm evacuating to someplace civilized, where I can do laundry or buy groceries. If I wanted to boondock for a hurricane, there would be no need to evacuate, just stay home, and when municipal services are interrupted, then bam, instant boondocking, even if I never leave the apartment.

Outside of hurricane season, it's a bit different. I don't store clothes or clean bedding, canned goods, books, DVDs, or fresh water inside the Airstream. It doesn't take me all that long to load these things up for a trip, and given space restrictions, I much prefer to take only what I expect to need. I don't have enough room in my Airstream Interstate to carry any food that I'm not going to eat on the current trip, or any clothes I'm not going to wear on the current trip. If I plan the trip just right, I arrive back home at the end of the trip with one laundry basket of dirty clothes, with no leftover clean ones, and no food at all left over to unload.

I have separate cookware and dinnerware for my Airstream that resides in it year-round so I don't have to transfer that stuff back and forth, at least. Plus a separate tool kit for the Airstream, that's actually a bit more complete than my home kit (I'm an apartment dweller, so there aren't a whole lot of fix-it-yourself projects around home).

[nvestysly]

For the first 10 years or so of Airstreaming (our first and only RV to date) we spent in the range of 30 - 40 nights in the trailer. Mostly long weekends and periodically a 10 day trip.

Now that we have more time on our hands, we left our jobs voluntarily two years ago, we are averaging 180 nights - and it's been great.

Next year we have some home projects to catch up on so it will probably be under 100 nights.