Making Our Dream a Reality

[Bullzeye]

When my wife and I first started dating we talked about how much we envied those that had RVs and how we would love to have one...someday. As our relationship progressed so did our dream. We realized our dream by purchasing a 5th wheel, a caravan in the UK and then a couple TTs when we came back to the states. Airstreams were always there in the back of our minds, but we never thought we could afford one. Fast forward 20 years and 5 kids, we have our Airstream. And of course we jumped into the deep end and bought a 1973, 23ft project, which we are currently completely rebuilding. We wanted to be able to build out our floorplan and be in control of the quality going into it. It has been a learning experience thus far, but it is so rewarding and therapeutic for me. This is outside my wife's wheelhouse but she is jumping in and tackling projects like a champ.

[Hans627]

Well dreams do come true! Congrats on your AS and on joining the forum. As you already know it is a good place to glean information.

You might want to look up a local unit of the AS Club. You will find a great source of knowledge there and perhaps willing minds and hands to help with your restoration.

Best regards!

[Bubba L]

Congratulations and welcome to the Airstream world. Like y’all, we always talked about having an RV. We tent camped for decades and thought about how comfortable it would be inside a controlled environment while enjoying the outdoors. We both retired on the same day in 2014. A few months before that, I started looking into vintage Airstreams as a renovation project. Soon after retirement, we both agreed on a 66 from Ca. We knew nothing about Airstreams or renovating one. But we agreed it would be a neat challenge. We both got into it and having fun. At the end of that project we found a 55 which we renovated. We’ve learned a lot. I’m sure you will too. Start a reno thread and post some pictures. Good luck and have fun.

[dbj216]

Hello from Colorado from a vintage Airstream enthusiast. Bring a tent as you will have a hard time with 5 kids in a 73 Safari 23'. But it is a nice place to be out of the rain.

You might consider a U shaped dinette that will seat you all. Then it collapses into a big sleeping surface. We built one in my son's 69 Globe Trotter 21', see photo. You can also consider bunk beds, although you would lose quite a bit of storage room.

Research the Knowledgebase near the bottom of the Forums page. Find your model and year range, then start reading. You can learn how others have renovated these vintage trailers and all that's involved. You can also learn how others modified the floor layout to suit their travel needs.

David