Two Superhosts find success sharing their Airstreams
Highlights
Two women, in two countries, host vintage trailers to support their growing families
A shared love for unique spaces led them to start hosting their trailers
Their trailers reflect different personalities, but similar successes hosting on Airbnb
Over the years, Hosts on Airbnb around the world have found creative ways to share their campers and RVs with guests while enjoying many perks made possible by hosting.
Meet Katie and Zoë. These two Superhosts live in different countries, have never met, and their trailers couldn’t be more different. Even so, their hosting journeys are uncannily similar.
Both young mothers lived in 32-foot vintage Airstreams before moving into larger homes as their families grew. And both turned to hosting to give their trailers—and their careers—a new purpose.
Meet Katie
In some ways, owning an Airstream felt like destiny for Superhost Katie and her husband Ryan.
Two years after traveling the world together, Katie, a professional sailor, and Ryan, a wilderness therapist who uses nature as a mental-health tool, bought a 1987 Airstream they named Alice after its previous owner. They drove across the United States and had their first child while still living in the trailer, then bought a cabin on a 35-acre property 7,500 feet above sea level near Durango, Colorado.
Katie had already had success hosting on Airbnb before she met Ryan. Hosting the trailer seemed like the logical next step. She could work from home and share their rich landscape while Ryan worked out of a tipi down the road—their dream lifestyle, made possible by hosting.
Meet Zoë
Fashion designer and Superhost Zoë, meanwhile, had been looking for a home she could afford while starting her own business selling sustainable products. The lover of minimalist design was thrilled to find a 1985 Airstream for sale right on Salt Spring Island, where she lives in British Columbia.
Zoë and her two kids lived happily in the trailer for more than two years before she moved into a house with her current partner, Dan, a carpenter who has three kids of his own. Not wanting to give up her Airstream, they renovated it and listed it on Airbnb, where several friends also enjoyed hosting.
Like Katie, Zoë had thought carefully about what hosting could make possible. She’d be able to keep the trailer, tap her design skills to provide a calming escape, and work from home while raising five kids, all while sharing her idyllic Pacific Northwest landscape.
From tiny living to full-time hosting
It took a year for Zoë and Dan to renovate the trailer, which they named August after the “most desirable month to visit the island.” They incorporated a full-size kitchen and couch, built a spa-like bath house next door, and erected a fence for privacy.
For Katie and Ryan in Colorado, the process was fast. They parked Airstream Alice 200 hundred feet from their cabin, built a privacy fence and small deck, and erected a fire pit overlooking Juniper and Pinyon pines to the snow-capped peaks beyond.
Once their trailers were ready, both young mothers were flooded with booking requests—most from couples looking for romantic retreats and wilderness getaways.
At Katie’s trailer in Colorado, guests can watch elk, foxes, black bears, and mountain lions roaming the sage brush. They can sip seasonal beers from local breweries beneath prayer flags, dreamcatchers, and stars scattered above the king bed.
“It’s a great place for people who want to get back to nature,” says Katie, who mentions the mountain views in her listing title. “We put it on Airbnb, and all of a sudden, it was just super popular.”
On Salt Spring Island, Zoë’s guests are drawn to the gnarled Arbutus trees, clutter-free interiors, and personal touches like cozy socks in the bedside drawer. They can spend slow mornings sipping local coffee, hiking scenic coastal paths, and catching glimpses of deer slipping quietly through the mist.
“When they stay here, people realize that it really makes a difference for their mind, if their space is calm and clean like this,” says Zoë, who highlights the “minimalistic/boho style” in her listing description. “I think that's such a beautiful gift to give.”Finding flexibility—and purpose
Katie hosts guests between the warmer months of May and October, and says she earns roughly $18,000 during those six months—income that, for Katie, who now has twin babies and a toddler, has proven crucial.
Salt Spring Island, which is accessible by ferry, can get wet and gloomy in the winter. Even so, Zoë says her trailer is booked year-round, bringing in roughly $20,000 annually. “Sharing with my guests has been the most amazing part of hosting,” Zoë says. “People come to experience this space—sustainable living, tiny living, and simplifying your lifestyle.”
And she’s able to host how she wants to—from a distance, helping with things like firewood but otherwise giving her guests space. “There’s always a connection, even without a big, long meetup,” she says.
Similarly for Katie, the trailer isn’t just a source of income. By keeping it, she can take her family on road trips while hosting their cabin. They’re even building a yurt so they can host another unique stay.
“A big part of it for us is letting others experience the beautiful part of the world that we live in,” Katie says. “Hosting guests who come, and then get it—and it’s just exactly what they need, and it refreshes them—it fills my cup.”
Interested in hosting your own camper or RV?
Highlights
Two women, in two countries, host vintage trailers to support their growing families
A shared love for unique spaces led them to start hosting their trailers
Their trailers reflect different personalities, but similar successes hosting on Airbnb