“Stella”
Narrowing it down to an Airstream is like saying you’ve narrowed a vehicle down to an SUV, there are so many different models and trims that your work is still cut out for you. Once we knew we wanted an Airstream, we went to our local dealer to look at a few.
We knew a couple things from staying in the Airstream in Florida, with the most important being that we wanted a lot of windows and light.
“Must have views”
Fortunately, lots of Airstreams come with large windows. In the wide-body, the front and rear in many floorplans have wrap-around windows and in the narrow-body there are a few with wrap-around windows in the front. Considering we back into most campsites, the rear wrap-around windows were very appealing.
These windows offer great views of the various places we’re staying and allow in a lot of light.
After looking at the floorplans and sitting in a few, we immediately fell in love with the 25FB (front bed). It offered the best of all worlds. A big queen bed in the front, separate shower and bathroom, and then a big rear lounge area with unparalleled views. Going bigger offered a lot too, but most National Parks limit the length to 27’, so the 25’ length was perfect.
The model at the Airstream showroom was a Globetrotter, which meant it had nicer finishes and more power options (powered awning, power jacks, etc.).
The Globetrotter had many nice-to-have options that would make life easier and was designed to be the higher-end Airstream.
We sat in the Airstream at the dealership for a full hour talking it over. Having spent countless hours doing research, we knew most of the pros and cons. We loved this model and trim, but it came with some drawbacks. For starters, these are $100,000+, which is a lot, especially considering we’ve never owned one and still don’t know for sure we’ll love it. More importantly though, with the extra 2’ in length comes an extra 6” in width and an extra 2000lbs in weight. This meant that we’d likely need to go with a 3/4 ton pickup, which brought even more size and cost.
“As we sat there, we had to make the first of many tradeoffs”
One of the main goals of the trip is mobility. Simply put, we want to be able to move around and often, enabling us to see as many places as possible. Going with a bigger Airstream and truck, while doable, would severely limit this, leading us to the narrow body Airstreams (23’ or smaller). While we loved the 25FB, we didn’t want the extra weight and size.
When we were in Florida, we stayed in a 23’, but it had the living space in the middle and the wrap-around windows were in the bedroom. While nice, we felt that was a waste of the views since when we’re in the bedroom we’re usually sleeping!
We did like the queen bed and the large bathroom, but we definitely wanted a bigger living space. We’re rarely in the bathroom, and we can sleep closer together (sorry Guinness!).
Many people love the 23FB floorplan, and we can see why. It’s a narrow body, tows easily behind an SUV, has a large kitchen and bed, and is generally a great use of space for most people.
We however have a very unique set of criteria. The 23FB wouldn’t give us much working space (we did it for 10-days in Florida), it has an obnoxiously small pantry, and while the queen bed is nice, the bedroom wastes valuable space that we need for storage.
“The perfect floorplan”
After sitting in the 25FB for an hour, we asked the salesmen to show us the 23CB (corner bed). We had seen the floorplan online, but didn’t know if it would be big enough for us for full-time living. As soon as we entered one we knew it was the perfect floorplan. The living and kitchen space was much better utilized, which sacrificed the size of the bedroom and bathroom, which was fine by us.
Now that we knew the floorplan, we cast a wide net to find the perfect one. It took us three months and looking at a few before we found a great deal. In October of 2022, Kevin flew to Reno, Nevada to tour a 2018 Flying Cloud 23CBB (corner bed + bunk). This was the first time we’d seen one with the bunk, but loved it for extra storage in an otherwise underutilized space. It didn’t feel claustrophobic and gave us a ton of extra room. It was perfect.
After testing everything and doing a thorough inspection, we signed the paperwork and then the prior owners were kind enough to tow it to a local storage facility for us where it stayed for the winter.
The reason we kept it in Reno was because prior to purchasing we had been in discussions with Ultimate Airstreams in Portland, Oregon for a bunch of custom work we wanted done to it, so buying one already on the West Coast worked out great.
