From 16 feet to 23.
The current Airstream sits at the top. The trailer before it sits in the middle. The first one sits at the bottom. Newest to oldest, the way the fleet actually grew.
2024 Airstream International 23FBT
"Smugglers Escape" · BRN 31619
Front-bedroom, dual-axle, the biggest of the three. The International trim adds the panoramic windows and the leather dinette that show up in just about every interior frame.
The math was simple. The biggest trailer we could go and still store at home was 23 feet, and the International came as a dual-axle 23-footer. Perfect.
The twin beds are more comfortable because nobody has to climb over anybody. It is big enough to bring one of the big German Shepherds along without him taking up half the camper, and still small enough to fit national park sites, smaller RV parks, and our storage spot at home. Heat pump, lithium batteries, a JL Audio stereo, and a list of upgrades we have already worked through, below.
23 ft · twin axle · ~5,000 lb dry, ~6,000 loaded · polished aluminum · panoramic glass
Modifications
- Upgraded 16" wheels
- 3" lift kit
- Upgraded electrical system (PD power) with USB-C outlets throughout the cabin
- AirKrafters door mats
- Chrome locks
- Stainless-steel exterior trim (replaces factory plastic on the vent hood and AirKrafters water inlets)
- JL Stereo system remotes in the bunk area
- In-cabin air-quality monitoring
- Touch-screen climate controls
- Decorative metal outlet trim (replaces factory plastic)
- Rear 2" hitch, frame-reinforced
- Apple TV
- Starlink internet
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San Marcos, CA 
San Marcos, CA 
San Diego, CA 
Pine Cove, CA 
Pine Cove, CA 
Pine Cove, CA
2020 Airstream Caravel 20FB
Front-Bed layout · single axle
A full year-plus of polished aluminum with a single axle and a tighter footprint. The Caravel taught us what we wanted out of the next trailer, and what we already loved.
We found the Caravel used, one owner, except every tag was still attached to everything inside. It did not look like it had ever been used. Two years old and almost $30,000 off sticker. A great deal.
In the Caravel we finally slept well. It was comfortable. A little small, and the single axle was something that always sat in the back of my mind, but for a full year it was exactly enough. We camped constantly: the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, local state parks, almost every weekend.
20 ft · single axle · ~4,500 lb dry · polished aluminum · the gateway rig
Kingman, AZ 
Sedona, AZ 
Kingman, AZ 
Irvine, CA 
San Diego County, CA 
Casa de Oro, CA
2018 Airstream Basecamp 16
The first one
A capsule-shaped little Airstream with wraparound kitchenette glass, a different breed of trailer entirely. Where we figured out that we wanted to live in the polished-aluminum world full-time.
We aged out of tent camping but still wanted the national parks, the forest, and a reason to get out of the house. The Airstream Basecamp was the thing we kept coming back to. As COVID was starting to hit we even put a deposit on an upcoming REI edition, then watched the delivery date slip, and slip again.
So we bought used, a 2018 16-footer with a story behind it. A young guy in the Bay Area had bought it to live in during lockdown, parked in his family's driveway, because payments on a Basecamp beat Silicon Valley rent. By the time COVID faded he had moved into a neighborhood with an HOA and was about to start paying for storage on a trailer he no longer used. He sold it to us for the balance left on the loan. We paid it off and got to work.
The repairs were not expensive, and I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I learned to maintain and fix the things that had broken over the years: new windows and window treatments, some trim, a few mechanical issues. It even doubled as a small office.
We camped in it, but we never loved it. Converting the sitting area into a bed every night was a pain, and it was never that comfortable. The full wet bath, shower and toilet sharing one space, always felt strange. The dinette and those big windows were the real highlight. What we wanted was a permanent bed and a dining area we were not tearing down and building back up every single night.
16 ft · single axle · ~3,500 lb dry · wraparound kitchenette glass · the first one
Riverside County, CA 
Lawrence Welk Resort Village, CA 
Apache County, AZ