and he's going for the scratch
yeah getting ready for the camera Dougal
but my recent Q&A with Dan Trudgian, I
was asked a question by John and Dawn
Coulson, and it's a question I'm asked
very often that is: Why did I buy an
Airstream?
it all started in the early part of the
2,000s when I was at the caravan show in
Earls Court in London and the Caravan
Club, as a I think perception exercise, had
an Airstream on it stand. It was the
first time i've ever seen one in the
flesh in real life and it absolutely
blew my socks off. To me it was the
absolute bee's knees cat's whiskers the
dog's chops. I couldn't wait till they
started producing that for the UK market.
That happened in 2006 and i was writing
for caravan magazines then and reviewing
caravans, and I was lucky enough to take
one of the first production European air
streams on a roadtrip, a bit of a
proving tour, and we took that round
Wales - absolutely fell in love with it
The only thing that i didn't fall in love with
it was the price tag. There was absolutely
no way I could have afforded to buy one.
However I'm also a huge believer that if
you truly want something and you're
prepared to work and sacrifice and do
whatever you can
you will eventually make that dream a
reality and that's exactly what I did.
For the next two years i scrimped saved
and I made a purchase of a beach house
on the south coast of England the idea
was that I could live in the Airstream
during the summer and rent out the beach
house to holidaymakers, and that would
pay for the airstream and then I could
just live there in the winter when no-one
wanted to rent it out. So that's what I
did; I put all my time effort energy
resources into buying this beach house,
setting up this holiday rental business,
and it was the only way really i could
afford a a beautiful house on the beach
on the south coast and be able to afford an
Airstream and I made that Airstream reality
in 2008. But why an Airstream? What was it
about that Airstream at the Earls Court
show that really grabbed my attention?
I think the main thing for me is
going to be the design,
the fantastic combination of both
retro and futuristic at the same time
that really caught my eye and I still
love it.
The next reason that I went for the
airstream is the construction of the
airstream. Now Airstreams have been built
the same way for about 80 years now with
an aluminium frame not wooden and then
aluminium cladding both sides with
insulation between. Tried, tested, proven.
Because of that an Airstream has
this fantastic longevity. The figures are
something between sixty and seventy
percent of all airstreams ever built
over the past 80 years are still on the
road with no other caravan manufacturer
can claim. For me it really is a case of
'Buy decent, buy once' and that's exactly
what I believe. I just like to have
one really nice thing and keep it rather
than just keep replacing things that I'm
okay with that I
don't really love every few years.
Because of this they hold their value
and what is great is the where I bought my
Airstream years ago it's still worth
pretty much the same as what i paid for
it,
whereas before i was wearing out
caravans every three years I was
replacing them every three years and I
was losing about 6,000 pounds every
three years on replacing my Caravan. I've
had my Airstream now nine years I
haven't lost any money on it
so in effect it's free but you just have
that big purchase tries to play so I
love that; buy decent buy once, it epitomizes
that, that i really like. Another reason i
love my Airstream is because it
challenges people's perceptions. Now I'm
not really talking about people who are
watching this now who are already
caravanners or motor homers but I mean
people who generally don't know much
about touring that caravans rvs &
motorhomes and they generally have this
preconception 'oh it's boring, their
caravans are dull, they're cold, and then they see an
Airstream they go 'Oh but not
that one, that's different'. Well it's not different, it just that it looks
slightly different to other caravans but
it's still a caravan. I love the fact
that when I'm towing it on the
road outside campsites people look and
it makes them think 'Oh,I'd like to do
that!' I think that Airstreams are great
ambassadorial vehicles to bring people
in to caravanning and motor caravanning
to enjoy the past time that we all
enjoy. It makes people look who don't
otherwise think about caravanning at our
hobby, so I think that is great.
Are there any downsides? I would say
there are two main downsides with an
Airstream. Number one is that high
purchase price i've already said about
the fact that it does hold that price
but you gotta find that money in the
first place and that is not easy. And the
second thing i find a downside with
owning an airstream is the fact that a
lot of people both caravanners and non-
caravanners will pre judge you on your
vehicle and I hate that because they
know nothing about you. But they have
these preconceived ideas that all you've
you've got more money than sense and you
bought this to be flashy. Well I've just
explained to you why I bought it and
have also explained to you that in
effect it's free. To give example I turned up at
Warwich Caravan Club site a little while
ago and as I got out the car a gentleman
was looking with his wife and said very
loudly so i could hear 'oh well he's
obviously a very affluent gentleman then'
and I thought 'How dare you! You're probably
going to go home to your three hundred
thousand pound house; my 37,000
pound house is on the back of my truck,
that's it, yet you have the audacity to
say what you just said'. I hate that and
another problem i find is that a lot of
people will not respect the fact it's my
home they won't respect my privacy
because they think because I've got an Airstream
they will just look in through
the... I mean people have done that through
the windows
I've had a camera lens through my
washroom window in a motorway service
area when i was using the toilet
Sometimes you can be talking outside the
door can be open and people
go 'Oh, I've always wanted to look at one of these
and they will just look in, they will
just come through the.. put their head
around the door and even come in and I think
'That's my home!' you would never do that
generally to to someone's home or even
someone's caravan. So that i find is a
bit of a downside but it's something
that I'm happy to live with to have an
Airstream So finally just a wrap-up i
would say the most important thing with
buying a caravan motorhome holiday home
anything like that it doesn't matter if
it's an Airstream if it's a Sprite if
it's a VW camper to me buying a leisure
vehicle is an emotional purchase as much
as it is a rational process. I think the
most important thing about any caravan
or motorhome you buy is that it has got
to put a smile on your face.
That's all. It's got to be a happy space, a
place you want to be, a vehicle that you
look at and you're in and you think 'I
love this, this is wonderful, this is
special, this is MY place,
I love it!' Now it could be the twee-est
fanciest most chintzy country cottage
interior in the world or it could be the
most streamlined modernist minimalist
space but as long as it makes you happy
to me that is the most important thing.
And i have to say nine years on I still
look at this Airstream and I can't help
but smile because I absolutely love it.
So there you have it that is why i went
for an Airstream i hope you enjoyed that
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