One thing that Trent Bell, 49, has learned several times over the last decade, is that change is good. Tough—especially when it comes unexpectedly—but ultimately good.
Trent has changed jobs more than once. He was a teacher, but decided to go back to school himself, for a degree in architecture. He tried his hand at the office gig, but it wasn’t his thing. So he changed again. This time to photography, and that one stuck. These days he runs his own architecture photography firm, and has clients around the world.
One part of Trent’s life that hasn’t changed is surfing. He grew up riding waves, and to this day will do just about anything to get more time in the surf. It’s the line that stitches his life together.
Trent and his wife Amber live in Biddeford, Maine, right on the Saco River. The Saco snakes through town and empties onto the rocky beaches around Saco Bay. Biddeford has that classic New England coastline and Colonial charm. Red brick buildings, old lighthouses, and trolly-car diners. The Bells have two sons, 13 and 15, and a family Globetrotter, which has come to be part of their identity. The Bells homeschool their boys, which means more opportunities for adventure and travel.
“Since my wife and I got married, we have always saved up so that we could take the month of February off and escape Maine winters.” They would often fly to warmer destinations, but when COVID hit, they realized the safer way to travel was on roads. So the Bells packed up and drove to California. At the time, they only had a Dodge truck, so they added a truck camper. “The freedom to go wherever, whenever, was really, really nice.” They loved being on the road, but needed more space.
The second year of traveling from Maine to California, they upgraded in a big way. “We were driving through the San Luis Obispo area, and went right by an Airstream dealer. I basically hit the brakes and went in and bought an Airstream, kind of impulsively. But we made the decision and it was a good one.”
The Globetrotter was instantly Trent’s pride and joy. “I justified the whole thing by saying we were going to Airbnb it, but I did not do that because it was too new and too precious and I didn't want to trust other people with it.” They did, eventually, start renting it out, perched on their beautiful property in Maine, and it has been an enormous success. But for a while, it was reserved just for the trips they’ve taken with their boys, and those times have been even more special than they could have imagined.
For Trent, there’s something about the Globetrotter that comforts anyone who spends time in it. “I find that people just stay and talk. Where folks might get tired of another space that size, for some reason with the Airstream, conversation keeps flowing. I think it’s the roundness and the brightness of it: the unique nature of it doesn’t get exhausting.”
Trent loves this particular model because of the space inside, but also because of the look. “The Globetrotter has a more refined architecture and European interior design feel. It’s still a camper, but the detail of the cabinetry and the details throughout, just make it so beautiful.”
For the last several years, the Bells have continued to travel from Maine to California, with tons of stops along the way. “A lot of it has been ill-planned, but we’ve almost always been pleasantly surprised.” They’ve seen rocket launches, museums, the Alamo, mountains, beaches, National Parks, and so many versions of “the largest” roadside objects.
But for Trent, of course, the best moments have been coming upon perfect surfing conditions. “We did a drive last year along a mountain ridge above Santa Barbara. If you keep driving that ridge, which is a really pretty drive, at the bottom is this beach. We were above the inversion, and when we drove down it was really foggy. But the clouds cleared, and when we got to the water, there was no one else around. It was all ours.”
The surf was perfect as the sun was setting. The whole family looked at each other, and without words, knew what they had to do. They grabbed their boards and ran to the water. “When that happens for a surfer, it’s an awesome and rare occurrence. Like if you're starving, and then food suddenly drops down in a parachute from the sky. One of those right time, right place, everything led us to this moments.
Looking forward, it’s time for things to change again. “I think the kids are tired of going across the country. It’s a lot to drive all the way from the east to the west. We’ve done it for the last four years in a row.” But that doesn’t mean they’re done adventuring. Not at all. “We've been able to see a lot of cool things, and moving forward I think we’ll use it for more regional weekends and shorter vacations.” And, of course, for friends and family to stay in when they visit Maine.
The Bells are moving forward, as always, and they hope to be Globetrotting together as long as possible.
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