As a motoring correspondent, I am not entirely averse to the idea of giving up flying abroad for a while and spending more time driving around our fair isle. Neither, apparently, is Colin Firth. In his latest film, Supernova, out this month, his character, Sam, heads off in a camper van with his partner, Tusker (Stanley Tucci), on a countrywide tour to visit friends and family; something that millions of us are yearning to do. While their adventures are played out in an old camper van, if I had to attach any sort of mobile hotel to my car, it would be a piece of pure Americana: the Airstream.
Airstream mobile homes – or “travel trailers” as they are called in the US – are as American as baseball and apple pie. They have been a mainstayof the country’s popular culture and history for decades. When Nasa astronauts returned from the first trip to the moon they stayed in a “mobile quarantine facility”, which was, in reality, a converted airtight Airstream caravan. It was in this they isolated and spoke to President Nixon, emerging only when they were deemed to be free of any extraterrestrial germs.
The quarantine to which we’re being subjected today may be very different, but the Airstream’s distinctive “silver bullet” rounded aluminium body, reminiscent of an aircraft fuselage, has changed little since those first 1930s models were produced in California. Inside, however, they have advanced considerably, with several variations and sizes from which to choose. The latest to arrive in the UK is the International 25IB. With a 6.8m interior length, it sleeps two to four people comfortably, on an island double bed and banquette seating that converts into twin beds.
There is a something carefree and romantic about heading out on your travels with everything you need: not a suitcase to carry or security queue to dread, with your wardrobe and bathroom cabinet already stored in the hotel room you are pulling behind you. And a modern hotel room it is too. The 25IB features a pop-up TV, wifi, USB charging points and air conditioning, and the kitchenette has all the usual amenities, with Corian worktops and a dining area lit from its signature wraparound windows. The bathroom even has a ceramic WC and wet-room shower at the rear, and with storage for more than 100 litres of fresh and grey water, this isn’t a vehicle in which you are likely to run dry.
It is, rather, a vehicle whose green credentials you might drink to, as you swing into a national park, pull out the awning and pop open a bottle of organic chilled rosé. More than 70 per cent of Airstreams built are still on the road and, while travelling in them, their owners tend to use far less water and electricity (generated on some models from solar panels) than they would normally. A week’s holiday for four would generate far less CO2 than the short-haul flights to Europe alone.
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And the perfect car to pull this silver chariot? If you fancy unhitching your dwelling at the end of a day, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid offers some speedy kicks when hauling duties are over – and for the last 24 miles you could zip along in zero-emission fully electric mode to complement your holiday’s eco credentials. The new Land Rover Defender would be a natural choice if you want a no-nonsense workhorse that looks the part. Or a left-field option could be another new arrival: the rugged Ineos Grenadier, created by Jim Ratcliffe as a homage to the old Defender.
Whatever your choice of steed, 2021 is definitely the year to hitch your wagon and head into the sunset. As Firth discovered, the world is full of adventures, right on your doorstep.
Airstream International 25IB, £91,995, airstream-europe.com
