Why We Chose an Airstream Over a Fifth-Wheel RV
I spent months researching how to be a full-time travel family before we ever hit the road.
One of the biggest questions we faced: Airstream or Fifth-wheel RV?
Obviously we ended up choosing an Airstream, but not after some serious thought going into these two options.
These are the main things we considered when deciding between an RV and an Airstream:
Aesthetics
I’m just gonna be honest here. I care about how things look. I have never seen an RV that I thought looked objectively nice and pretty on the outside, whereas the classic Airstream look always feels sleek and cool. This may seem like a silly thing to consider, but it’s not! This is our home, y’all, and it’s okay to want to like how it looks!
I love that, inside and outside, I like our Airstream the best out of any vehicle in the RV park. I like that I’m excited when I see our home. No shame in my aesthetic game.
Ease of Travel
I like to think that the RV is a great option if you want to have a home that you can occasionally move from place to place, and an Airstream is a great option if you want to travel frequently, but still be able to have a cozy place to rest your head at night.
We sold our house (and most of what we owned) so that we could travel. Yes, RVs have larger interiors that look more like a traditional home. But we didn’t want to sell our home just to live in a home on wheels! We want this season as a full-time travel family of five to be spent seeing as many different places as possible. We want to be outside exploring for as many hours on as many days as possible, not hanging out in a cozy RV, watching movies and cooking five course dinners in our full-size kitchen and going to bed in separate rooms.
Airstreams are typically smaller than RVs, but they’re also easier to move from place to place. They don’t have bump-outs like most RVs, that need to be pulled in before leaving places, or pushed out before the home is fully set-up.
The whole airstream attaches to a hitch, not the bed of the truck, so we can still store items (like bikes, etc.) in the bed of the truck. This also makes physically driving the Airstream much easier than driving the RV. We even rented an RV for a weekend camping trip at the beginning of this whole process to test it out!
It takes us 20-30 minutes to get our whole camping area settled and set-up once we pull into an RV park, whereas an RV can be a whole half-day ordeal to pack up and get on the road. We knew that would mean I’d be entertaining the kids for hours while Brian packed up our vehicle. That’s not how we wanted to spend our days!
Size
This is really a continuation of the ease of travel consideration. Because Airstreams are more narrow (most these days are 8ft.) and shorter than RVs, it’s just more drive-able. You don’t need to worry about crushing cars when you’re making a left turn, and you don’t get tension headaches from searching Google maps, hoping you won’t come across a bridge too short for your rig. Airstreams are typically under 10’, while many RVs are over 12’.
Airstreams are also lighter, which makes speeding up and slowing down significantly easier, which, I’m no mechanic, but has to mean less wear and tear on the truck you’re using to tow your rig.
Value
There are two main ways the quality and the value of an airstream really pays off.
The first one is value retention. While RVs immediately depreciate in value like most vehicles, Airstreams hold much more of their value.
Secondly, Airstreams are incredible quality. RVs are made by several different companies, with parts and features being updated every few months or years. That means that when you have something that needs to be fixed in your RV, which happens often, you might not be able to access the parts or even a mechanic who is familiar with your specific RV.
Airstreams, on the other hand, are all made by the same company who has been making and improving this same product for years and years. There’s even an Airstream Care app where you can type in your model and the issue you’re having, and they tell you exactly what you need to do to fix it. There’s even a feature where they’ll send someone to come fix your Airstream. That’s been really reassuring for these newby full-time travelers.
And I don’t see us needing many repairs, considering the incredible quality of every screw, panel, and finish. Even the way the cabinets close speaks to the time-tested quality of the Airstream.
Boondock-ability
Most full-time travelers camp at RV parks where you pay a small nightly fee to hook up your RV or Airstream to things like power, sewage, and water.
But there’s a different way to travel, called Boondocking, that’s a lot more like camping. Instead of staying in a designated RV park, you camp in your Airstream on public land, which can feel more secluded and adventurous. We’re not quite ready to do this yet, but we want the ability to do it in the future, and Airstreams are better suited to Boondocking.
You can opt for your Airstream to have solar energy capabilities so that even without a water or power hookup, you can still use necessary facilities and make food.
Most RVs just have a 12v battery that lasts less than a day when away from an RV park.
When we have more experience, we’ll be ready to stay at RV parks and isolated public land alike.
After about a month on the road, we’re happier than ever that we chose an Airstream for our full-time travel vehicle, and we can’t wait for the adventures still to come!