Before I Airstreamed...

[DEO]

Started out camping out under the stars(no tent) with friends in High School..

Camped in the back of my Datsun pickup truck while in college (had a cap on the back of it)

Moved to Tents for many years as my three sons grew up.

Purchased our first Airstream in 2004 ( 19' Bambi)
Paired up with a Toyota Tundra

About 4-6 months later ugraded to a 25' Safari

This year upgraded the truck to a GMC Sierra 2500

Thinking of upgrading the trailer ... but this madness needs to stop somewhere..

[claybags]

Spent a few weekends with in-laws in an SOB. Did a few boat charters, then moved onto a 37' sailboat for 13 years. 10 Of those years spent sailing around the world covering some 40K nautical miles. Now on our second AS and waiying for the snow to go away.
Cheers, Jeff

[audiobox]

A high school "Hi-Y" camping trip on the AT got me hooked on camping. "Full Timed" for a while in my VW microbus in '67-'68. Got seriously into backpacking in the early '80's and still use almost all the gear I invested in then. Segued into bike camping for several years while I had a Norton. My wife and I enjoyed backpacking into our fifties, although after our last big trip in 2001 she told me, "I want to keep you, but I want a separation from that 50 lb. pack!"

I'd REALLY wanted an Airstream in the mid-seventies, but even the price of a vintage unit was way out of reach. When we moved to the Northwest from Chicago in 2003, I started seeing them around and got interested again, found this forum, found our '70 GT, "Blimpy" and then, ah... found ouselves with "Stella the Excella" too. We're Streamin' up to the tops of our waders now!

[safari57]

My dad was really into fishing the creeks and streams along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies so we'd go camping in tents into some pretty rugged territory. Our family travelled a lot as we travelled to various places to perform (family singing group ) so a trailer made sense early on to carry the instruments and costumes. A TeePee was the first, then a Scotty and as the family continued to grow the trailers got bigger. When my wife and I started camping it was with a very abused Sears pop up tent trailer with more holes in the canvas than we had thought - they would just appear in new places every time we opened it. We thought we had it made when we went to a truck camper (without the cab over - a home built that was so small we moved up pretty quickly), then a sears hardtop pop up, a Coleman truck camper pop up; Travelaire 17' trailer, 17' Boler fiberglass trailer, a Silver Streak Chico 17', and then the Flying Cloud. For well over 15 years we looked for just the right Airstream - it had to be vintage, it had to be lightweight but decent size, and we found that a few years ago. My parents always wanted an Airstream and other family members are always asking to sleep in it when they come out to visit from the prairies. There have been very few years that we have not camped and since until recently my career had me living in hotels 100+ nights a year motel/hotel holidays have always been dreaded.
Barry

[S C Streamer]

My first camping trip was at the ripe old age of 6 months. Camped all through childhood with Mom,Dad and 5 siblings (3 boys-3 girls ), under the stars, or in numerous tents, and finally in a 1960 16' Aristocrat trailer.

Tent camped through my 20's and 30's.

In '92 bought a Coleman tent trailer...

that I still use today.

In '99 I bought a Northern Lite camper for my '96 Dakota...

great for roadtrips with lots of miles driving every day, went to 11 National Parks with that rig. Also great for boondocking off-road...

just sold that rig when I bought my new truck.

I'm currently working on my Bambi II, and will probably buy another camper for the PowerWagon.

[overlander63]

We started with a 1968 VW Kombi in 1967, then a 16' travel trailer in 1969, followed by a VW Campmobile in 1971.
Following that, we got a Coleman pop-up in 1974, then an Apache hard-sided pop-up in 1976.
I then got a Holiday Rambler trailer in 1982, then nothing until we got our Starcraft pop-up in 2002. Sold it after a miserable rainy weekend trying to camp in it in 2003, and got the Argosy 20, and last our Overlander.

[nvestysly]

Sometimes when I tell somebody we're going camping it seems as though I'm telling a white lie. An Airstream (or any modern RV with power/water/etc.) is not what many people consider camping (i.e. sleeping bags).

When I was a youngster my mother and father had a small late 50's AS. So I grew up with aluminum to some extent. As a teenager, camping meant grabbing a sleeping bag, building a campfire and carousing around all night with my friends in the local woods. There are plenty of woods where I grew up in rural FLA.

My wife and her parents had pop-up trailers. She was born in NJ and took trips with her mom and dad down to FLA several times - towing the pop up behind the family auto. Later, when her parents moved to FLA they bought an old school bus that doulbled as camper and moving van.

After my wife and I married, camping consisted of sleeping bags and poorly equipped tents. Some people call this trunk camping since you simply stuff everything into the trunk of your car.

For several years we did not do any camping. Hotels became the normal means of staying overnight wherever we found ourselves traveling.

Now that we have the AS, camping is once again in our blood and I can't believe we waited this long to take up traveling in this manner. I love having my own bed and bathroom - all the germs are ours - and we know when we last used disinfectant. I can go to bed when I want, get up when I want, and have a hot cup of tea when I want. It does not get any better than this!

[herrgirdner]

Many interesting tales of seduction thus far.
Ours started with a Rambler American station wagon. Slept in the back and had a grub box. In 1966 we bought and used for 5 years a 19 foot trailer. In 1971 with an overseas transfer came the first VW camper, and we kept using VW's along with a Herntrei tent until 2005, through many camping trips in Europe and the USA. Then we started feeling too old to erect the tent for one night, and saw the Interstate. Love at first sight, as it is really just a grown up VW camper, with a toilet and shower. We plan on driving the wheels off it and into the sunset.
regards

[jcanavera]

Hmmm...lots of VW bus folks. We also started in a regular 66 VW bus. I took out the middle seat and we slept on the floor. Then we migrated to a 20' x 10' Coleman tent. The front 10x10 area was a screen room with the back 10x10 the sleeping area.

From there we went to a small Coleman pop up camper, then to a bigger Coleman pop up, then to a 21' Hi-Lo trailer, then to a 30' Thor Electra travel trailer, then a 27' '01 Safari, and now to the current 30' Classic Slide out.

Quite a progression over the last 34 years.

Jack

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by Sugarfoot

The older I got, the smaller and lighter the tents got, and the ultralight backpack, and high loft down sleeping bag, and the stove, and titanium cooking gear, and toothbrush with the handle cut off. The backpackers know what I'm talking about.

I hear ya! Do you remember the little packets of Folgers ground coffee that managed to taste worse than instant?

Originally Posted by Janet

When I started camping the ground was softer and the earth was flat. My REI member number was/is 127, the catalog was a mimeographed list on four pieces of paper and there was NO logo wear!

And I think the young clerks at REI look at me funny for having #466738. Janet, I'm impressed! I was a mail order customer from early 1975 when they still had just the one store. Do I have enough fingers and toes to figure out when you joined?

I did Boy Scouts in Texas and Susie Boundary Watered in high school. Her folks camped with half the citizens of their very small town. They pulled their Starcraft popup down to Interstate State Park on the Dalles of the St. Croix River for our honeymooning in 1973. Years of backpacking, car camping, but mostly canoe voyaging in Boundary Waters Canoe Area followed -- that was last century. It's a new age and we started looking at Airstreaming in the new millenium. A mattress sure feels good!

[JimGolden]

In high school, me and my buds would walk out into the woods with a Bowie knife. That was it. We built our shelters out of sticks and leaves. Drink water from the streams, etc.

Well fast forward a few years. Wifey's idea of camping is the Hilton. Did that for years. Finally talked her into trying out a travel trailer. Borrowed my dad's 26' Terry with slideout and took it to the beach. We had a blast. Dad traded the Terry and got himself a giant Holiday Rambler 5er. So now what could I do? (I had a big SUV at the time). Well, started looking for an Airstream. Finally found the 31 footer I'd always wanted. Bought it right (so I thought) and brought it home. Well, a year later, I find all kinds of things wrong with it. But I still like it. Our only camping in it so far has been in the back yard hooked to shore power, but its been fun. I'm getting ready to do the total shell off new frame beyond full monty monster make over. When it's done, I want to take it everywhere I can.

I've always liked the art deco vision of the future from the past styling. They're just cool!

[gparker]

I started off as a Boy Scout. Did that until I was 18. My wife went on an occasional tent camping trip with her family in High School... We married when I was 29. A few vacations where we spent one or two nights in a tent on the way to our destination. Then my Aunt and Uncle got a motor home and told us at every holiday get-together how much fun it was. Several years later, Dad's sister, who had been a girl scout sponsor and tent camped, got a coleman pop-up. Next, my parents bought a 38 foot motor home. My wife and I had two girls who are now old enough to enjoy camping, so last year we took them camping in my aunt's pop-up and in my parents motor home, and they love it. I started thinking about an old short Shasta or something similar, began appreciating the shiny ones, and came across a 1970 31 foot Sovereign within 15 miles of home. Bought it, gettting it in shape for spring. Sort of a round-about journey back to camping for me, but there it is.
Greg

[Sugarfoot]

Originally Posted by Canoe stream

I hear ya! Do you remember the little packets of Folgers ground coffee that managed to taste worse than instant?

Yes, I do!

[enduroryda]

Here's a blast from the past! I think this was the first year we were married...going on 20 years this year! We started out with the VW buses also..this was the first..next was an 84' Vanagon...then once the kid's came along and the family grew we tented it. This year we've gone Aluminum...There's no turning back!

[2airishuman]

yea i noticed the vdub linkage too...

lots of us 'camped' in bugs b4 buses...

along with my 2 room mates from college daz, we 'camped' in the bug one week...

in colorado at a ski site....in december

also the reference to 'frostline' kits take takes me back, and makes me laugh,
i've still got the patterns for some of my old frostline stuff...

having such an odd body and liking 2 sew...

i made shells and coats and gators and mitts with those kits...

i still use the gators 30 years later...

my ankle size hasn't changed

cheers
2air'

and hey mods' what are the new features i'm seeing at the bottom of each post...

is adding these things the source of glitches and the slow down this week?

ok, never mind i see andyR has posted info on this...neat, i think.

[gryphon]

My BF, before I married, camped in his 71 VW bus almost every weekend. He had a nice setup and we were always comfortable. The major trip was a 3 week adventure in the southwest. We slept in our sleeping bags under the sky. When I married my husband had a 60 something VW bus and we camped in that a few times. Not as good a setup as the bf had. Camped a few times in a large tent. family reunions were held in a State Park in North Georgia. One by one family members purchased SOBS and we tent camped in a 2 man pup tent. As we grew older that would not work anymore. Our older bones could not handle the cold ground. We started looking for an airstream and bought our first one for 500 bucks. Just to see if we liked it. We did. But this 76 airstream had a lot of plastic in it and as we traveled things started breaking. We decided to move up and bought our 96 Classic 3 years ago. We love it. I like to say that when we travel it is like we have a huge suitcase behind us holding everything we need. 30 years later he still has the 60s something VW bus!!

[Condoluminum]

For me, parents had no interest in camping of any kind, so it was motels for the 6 of us when traveling in the big Olds, or beach houses in southern RI for annual vacations.

Parents loaned money to buy a VW Westfalia Camper Bus and picked up at factory in Germany in 1968, as part of 10 week post-graduation trip with fraternity brother.. (Icelandic Airlines, "Europe on $5 a Day, chaotic politics...) We lived in it and drove it over 9,000 miles on it from southern Italy to northern Scotland, had a blast, and sold it for $150 loss upon return total..

Mom acquired old Newport/Dodge Class C which we used a couple times in the '70's, and we acquired a 6 person dome tent for girl scouts and cub scouts for the children.. Upgraded to a Nomad Weekender Bunkhouse model in '89 (Casa De Cardboard..) which we took across the US and into British Columbia over 14 years.

Bought the Airstream in '03 after wanting one for 13 of 14 years we owned the Nomad, after children declared they were pretty much done camping with us... Lots more places to go and things to do...

[Goin camping]

Well this will be a long list..starting in 1975.

Started out backpacking. Found out about beer and..
Moved to VW vans. 1st was a 59 followed by a 65. The kind with all the windows and a cloth slide open top.
Then truck camping. Truck got too small soooo a 2 1/2 ton 10 wheel drive Army truck. Too big. Traded the truck and got married.
For a wedding gift we got a tent that fits the bed of the truck.
Cool beans new Wife likes to camp. Unfortunately the truck was a Ford Ranger. 1 trip in a cramped bed and resulting backaches. Preacious decides we want a tent. Too bad she picked a three bedroom w/ screened porch.
First trip the tent was shredded by Gale force winds. Soooo a really cool Starcraft Off-Road Pop-Up. What a great deal! Went everywhere and we had a ball. The perfect Boondockers trailer. Except for the need for an F150 to tow it. That is until the Mrs. decided indoor plumbing was the thing. I was able to steer her away from a 5th wheel into a 19 Safari. Looked great on paper. Cramped bed and really cramped W.C. So we got the 25 Safari FB. Everybody was happy except the truck. So the F150 went and was replaced by a F250PSD. Both of which we will keep and use until buried.

You know the SOB (NOT some other brand) who gave us that truck tent has cost me a fortune!

[Jacob D.]

My parents lived in a converted moving truck before I was born, and then a different truck, at some point pulling a trailer with one of those. Around the time I was born we moved into a converted open-top double-decker bus. We were what they call New Age Travellers in the UK, which was a pretty diverse group although you could summarize as "hippies in old trucks". After 2 years of the bus (in 1979) we moved into a house though, which was probably good as the 80s were a pretty hard time for travellers in the UK.

Later, we camped in a VW bus or tents variously in Scotland, Wales, the South of France, and the Lake District, and we also had an old trailer semi-permanently kept at a campsite on the North Norfolk coast, where we spent a lot of happy summers:

It had no electricity and gas lighting. During the winters it was trucked off to a storage place, it didn't really tow. About 15 years ago, it went to its probably-final home, as an artist's studio in the back yard of a friend of the family.

I've done a certain amount of tent camping as an adult - Brittany in France, lots of music festivals in the UK - and a little bit here in the US - parks right here in Oakland, and Burning Man - and I love to travel and get outdoors, but I'm also extremely lazy when it comes to putting up tents. And I don't like to get cold. And I like having a shower. And a computer. And a TV. And maybe a couch, bathroom, wide assortment of clothes, books, real dishes & cutlery, nice warm duvet, my cats, rugs on the floor, heating, cooling, running water and refrigeration. Um, I guess what I'm saying is that I like being at home. Hopefully once it's all put together, my Airstream will be able to be all those things and I can still travel as much as I'd like though.

[clancy_boy]

As a kid - two piece Army tent on the ground.
Parents had a Layton 16 footer until I was 16
On my own - slept on the ground with a sleeping bag - the best way
My wife and I - 12X12 canvas walled tent for 10 years


The Airstream makes life so much more enjoyable - and that's what it's all about.