As digital nomads who love to camp and hike, we've regularly imagined getting off the beaten path in an Airstream to travel around the country. Like most fantasies, we hadn't come close to making it happen (actually we hadn't spent a single night in an Airstream before!), but something changed when we heard about the new Airstream Basecamp®. Suddenly it didn't seem as scary or intimidating for us RV virgins. The Basecamp represented to us an opportunity to give RVing a go, but still feel connected to nature and our love of camping. We were excited to have the comfort of having an established home but also the flexibility to just leave and get out and go adventure with very little hassle.
We were super lucky to be selected as users of a pre-production prototype. We took the unit for four days to road test our fantasy and chase a couple more adventures.
We picked up the basecamp in Denver on a Wednesday and our first thoughts were how cool it looked. The typical Airstream sleek metallic look is enhanced by the large dark glass windows wrapping around its entirety. We were given a 30-minute rundown of how to operate everything inside and felt ready to go. Not being the biggest fans of towing things (especially on the right side of the road), and being more than a little nervous about driving it out of the garage and around the busy streets of Denver, we were pleasantly surprised to find it felt light and was quite easy to maneuver. Before we knew it we'd almost forgotten it was even there.
We'd planned a rough outline of what we wanted to do and see of Colorado over the next few days. However, we were also eager to simply see where our adventure would take us as we felt so flexible having everything we needed being towed behind us.
Our first stop was Salida and to our surprise we were easily able to park on the side of the main road! We were a little concerned that we may be doing the wrong thing or that the locals didn't appreciate out-of-towners as we had many people staring at us. Once we got out of the car we soon realized that they were not staring at us but rather admiring the Basecamp. This became a constant theme everywhere we went. There would be lots of nice comments, questions and observations made anywhere we pulled up.
After stocking up with supplies in Salida and also using the free wifi in a local cafe to conduct a business conference call, we made a move to a campsite on a lake that a friend had recommended we stay at. Our first little setback of the trip occurred when we drove up to a closed gate stating that the state park was closed for the season. For a split second we got frustrated and worried, but then we looked back and realized we had freedom right behind us. We could pull up anywhere and be fine.
We decided to get back on the road and drive to the Great Sand Dunes National Park so we could maximize the next day. We experienced an amazing sunset as we drove along the long straight road to the camp ground, the sky was alive in deep red and pink colours, I had my beautiful girl to my right with a drink in her hand singing along to tunes - life was pretty great.
We arrived at the campsite after dark and had our first task of maneuvering the Basecamp into a fixed location - easy. We cooked our first meal (some form of pasta) and then set up our bed and enjoyed a nice hot chocolate before getting cuddled up for the night.
Whoa!! What a dream place to wake up in. In the dark the night before, we had literally parked in the best spot in the camp ground and could see the Great Sand Dunes right out of the vast windows. We had a nice relaxing morning enjoying the comforts of the Basecamp. We do a lot of camping and normally are not fans of cold mornings. Let's just say it's a very different story in the Basecamp - you're as warm and toasty as you would be at home.
We rented some sandboards and drove to the sand dunes car park. We climbed the biggest one and then rode all the way back down. Sand was everywhere! I can’t tell you how good a feeling it was to be able to come back to the car park and have a hot shower to wash off all the sand and get changed into fresh clothes right away. The only problem was we had to take turns keeping guard outside as so many people were milling about asking for a look inside - thankful for the tinted windows!
We then drove to a campsite that was close to one of Colorado's 54 fourteeners (14,000 foot peaks), Mt Shavano. No luck again, but we didn't stress as we knew we were completely independent. Even after getting stuck in a tight road where we had to do multiple turns to get out, we discovered the Basecamp paired with our Jeep Cherokee was nimble enough to allow us to turn around. Before we knew it, we'd found a great RV park to settle in for the night.
Fire, sunset, beers and dinner ensued - another perfect night.
We woke up early in the morning and drove off in our Jeep leaving the Basecamp in place and ended up climbing two fourteeners (Mt Shavano and Mt Tabegauche). After a tiring 10-hour hike, we drove straight to Salida and had some celebratory pizza and beers before driving back to find our trusty Basecamp waiting ready for us to have a hot shower and crash. Literally heaven.
We realized that we hadn't actually paid at the RV site until we were leaving but the owner said they didn't care because no one in their right mind would leave such a beautiful structure if they weren't going to pay. They enjoyed just having it there!
Driving back to our place in Beaver Creek we took our time and dropped into places like Buena Vista and were reminded how magical this experience had been and how free and de-stressed we felt. One of the worst things about coming back from adventures is having to clean and pack everything up. It was a super quick process and not hard at all.
We're now so inspired to spend more time in the summer traveling around in a Basecamp and turning our fantasy into a reality.
We strongly encourage you to get your hands on one of these babies and start enjoying life.
Airstream Basecamp is the RV Business™ Magazine's 2017 RV of the Year. Read more blog posts about the award-winning Basecamp here.
