3-4 weeks of annual use - worth buying?

[4riveteers]

Well put Ejami5! "I love my Airstream and haven't for one second ever fretted about the cost, or the maintenance, insurance".

We are still working and will be for the next 5 years or so. I work a 4-10 hour shift so I have three day weekends every week with 4 weeks of vacation a year. So for us, weekender outings have been the norm. Why we only use it an average of one weekend out of the month is something we need to readdress.

Nothing makes me happier than the sound of the hitch latch "click" as I lock it on to the ball of my TV! For us, it is kind of like Jack Sparrow puts it in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie when he is explaining his fascination of "The Black Pearl". It's not a shiny aluminum riveted together trailer with wheels. That's what an Airstream needs, but what our Airstream is to us is "freedom". We are free to cruise the open roads, to go where we want to go, when we want to go there.
My wife and I always play this game when we are on an outing, who can spot another AS first and we keep score. She always has her phone camera on and ready to try and get a pic for the "Sightings" thread.

A couple of quotes we have read on other threads we live by.
"You buy an Airstream with your hart, not your wallet.
and "Airstreams just make you smile".

[franklyfrank]

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.

We were in the same situation and frame of mind in trying to make a decision 5 years ago. We pulled the trigger anyway thinking if it doesn't work we will sell it. What has happened the last 5 years is that seeing it sit on the driveway urges us to hit the road more and more at random simply revisiting places we have discovered along the way. So we are hanging on to it and enjoying it as much we dare.
From the financial perspective purchasing a new Airstream is no different than buying a boat the only difference being the AS will depreciate slower. Neither is a wise investment choice, they are toys.
There is an old German saying "The last shirt has no pockets".

[Rgentum]

Something that's fairly common in the boating community is boat partnerships, where several families go together to buy a boat & then parcel out among themselves periods in which each family gets to use the boat. That seems like an obvious thing to do with Airstream ownership, but as long as I've been reading comments on this forum, I've not heard that discussed. Given your proposed scant usage of an Airstream, joint ownership would seem to work for you. Do you know anyone whom you trust & who might like to go into buying an Airstream with you?

[dmbecke]

Buy a preowned unit where you can make the math work out
Then you can upgrade at retirement

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by Rgentum

Something that's fairly common in the boating community is boat partnerships, where several families go together to buy a boat & then parcel out among themselves periods in which each family gets to use the boat. That seems like an obvious thing to do with Airstream ownership, but as long as I've been reading comments on this forum, I've not heard that discussed. Given your proposed scant usage of an Airstream, joint ownership would seem to work for you. Do you know anyone whom you trust & who might like to go into buying an Airstream with you?

Airplanes work the same way- 2 or more joint owners who share the expense of storage, maintenance, and insurance.

[cstevecook]

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.

We purchased a 2017 23FB last October and have been out on about 14 long weekends to explore places within half a days drive from the Washington DC area. We both have 3 weeks paid leave, but have spent 40+ nights in our AS since last October making 2.5-3 day weekends and do not regret it. We also have children in Charleston SC and have been down 3 times to visit with our AS.

[m.hony]

Once you have the trailer, you'll find more and more opportunities to use it...
Doesn't take much arm twisting or coercion...

[simspt]

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.

Don't buy unless you don't have any doubts......if $ isn't an issue just rent one for 10 k a year like you said without having any ownership headaches......Its like having a summer house or mountain cabin...better to rent than own IMO (no ownership headaches and better investments elsewhere). On the flip side like others have already mentioned and in our case having one parked at our house motivates us to use it more than we thought we would instead of the other way around. Having one and not using it however is as about as insane as spending 75 k on a new ford raptor or 100k range rover and never taking them in the dirt or building a 100k pool and not using it or living at the beach and never stepping foot in the sand or on and on and on.....

[PatLee]

You've got so much going on in your life - my impression is that you're not ready yet. Why not wait?

[B00merang]

Only YOU can make that decision...balancing the money (and remember, its not just the purchase price but also storage, maintenance, etc) with the amount of use (read satisfaction). Even when not being used, a lot of us get joy just out of ownership...looking at our ASs and dreaming of trips. Ass are also great for putting up visiting ,other-in-laws or, conversely, sleeping in them while the latter is in the house. Otherwise I'm with the Chief. jon

[369goose]

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.

If money is not an issue then go ahead and DO IT. Whether you rent or purchase you won't know until you go for it. You might find out you don't need the beach house once you learn you can wander anyplace your hearts desire. Why not take advantage of all the choices you can have being mobile? Life is so short. Get out there!

[SilverHouseDreams]

$10k/week rental, no...don't buy one, just rent my 22FB! After renting it to you for 4 years I can own it for "free" until I too am read to retire and want something bigger

[Wingeezer]

Not sure how to answer this - seems to me if money is not an issue (and you don't care how you might better use it) then even if you only use it one weekend a year then why wouldn't you just go for it!

In our case, we don't use ours a while a whole lot - maybe 7-8 weeks in the winter to go south (the main reason we bought it) and than usually another couple of weeks in the summer closer to home.

It would not have been a problem for us to have paid cash for a new Airstream, but I couldn't see the sense in spending that amount of $$ for something that would not get more use than we would make of it, so we bought what at the time was a three year old trailer.

Nine years on, and annual winter trips to Californian, Arizona, Florida, etc., as well as quite few shorter trips each year, it has been a good compromise.

Also I didn't have to worry about getting the first scratch in it - that would really have ticked me off!

I think we could still sell it for a fairly good % of what we paid also. When we bought it in the US, our Canadian dollar was above par with the US $ - not so now of course!

[Protagonist]

Any purchase made with discretionary income boils down to two questions:
(1) Can I afford it? And if the answer is yes, then;
(2) Do I want it badly enough to pay for it?

No one ever needs any kind of RV, Airstream or other brand. It's not an essential item for life. That puts it in the same category as yachts or bass boats, country club memberships, season tickets for your favorite team, summer homes, etc. Nice to have, but you can do without if you really have to.

But while not essential for life, an RV can be essential for lifestyle.

I bought my Airstream 3 years before I retired, so that I could get in plenty of practice using it during vacation weeks and long weekends. My main reason for buying was that I wanted a retirement hobby that could keep me alive and active. I've known too many coworkers who died within 2 years of retiring, because they had no clue what to do with themselves when there wasn't as job to go to. I didn't want to be one of those people.

RV camping is a hobby that you can do as much of or as little of as you desire. The most I've used my Airstream in one year (so far) was 16 weeks. The least in one year was just 16 days, after my cardiac bypass surgery, cataract removal surgery from both eyes, and foot surgery after getting an infection from stepping on broken glass, all in the span of one year. That one year, various surgeries, convalescence, and doctor's appointments dominated my schedule, leaving very little time for fun stuff.

I don't regret only using my Airstream for 16 days that one year. Better than not using it at all! Every day I use my Airstream is a day in the plus column of my life.

My goal is to spend half my time RV camping, and the other half of my time planning where to go RV camping. I may never achieve that goal in any given year, but if I don't, it won't be for lack of trying!

[cflietstra]

What a great thread! We've only been able to take a few trips in our Airstream this year, but this conversation reminds me how much we love it and why we would never give it up. Like other posters, we love having our own familiar surroundings and home on the road no matter where we are camped. We are Airstreamers since 1992, and some years just have more camping opportunity than others. Here's to more Airstream adventures next year! I would go for it.

[LiveStreamn]

We recently purchased a 2018 Sport 22 FB. In our mid-forties and a 7 year old. We get about three weeks a year of leave, but have already had it our three times in 5 weeks of ownership. Our theory is the weekend trips will add up to way more than our leave. This is our 2-3 year test on if we want to go bigger.

Another idea depending on where you live and if you have the space. Airbnb. If you could set it up on your property, maybe with a little deck and firepit surrounded by shrubs, you could make a killing on rentals. A guy in Arlington, VA has a 25' and rents it out about 250 nights a year at $150 per night.

[HiJoeSilver]

Consider buying an 8-10 year old trailer that's been well taken care of. These things can last a lot longer than an sob, so you should be able to years more out of it. Plus you save a bunch of money.

[tbashin]

Rent one. Not worth it.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Without having "full financial disclosure" this is never an easy thing to guess at. Even with that, to some twenty million in the bank "isn't enough". That side of things, we really can't help with.

Do you wait until you have no doubts? Well, just as with money, some people always have doubts. We spend 40 years doubting this basic decision. What finally tipped the scales was not the doubts going away.

One of the great things about an AS is that it is "pre packed". You don't have 100% of your stuff in it. You do have all the camping gear there and probably all the extras (extra socks, can of mushrooms, umbrella ...). That makes the get up and go part a lot easier. It also makes it harder to share your trailer with others. On the flip side, the unpack side is much less intense. You have laundry, but you don't have a big wet bunch of tents and sleeping bags to dry out ....

It's not an easy decision .....math is not what is going to make or break it.

Bob

[FCStreamer]

I wouldn’t do it. When we sold our boat we looked back at over 15 years of boat ownership and usage, and had I known then what I know now, I would have rented one the 2-3 times a year I actually used it. It became our little “apartment” away from home.

So when we bought the Airstream we were determined not to repeat that same mistake. We bought a lot at a very nice RV park and that’s where we “store” it. We use it every single weekend. We don’t take it out often, but at least we enjoy it as our little apartment away from our condo.

If money is not an issue then sure, go for it. What the heck. But if money is an issue, I would reconsider.