It’s clear Dicky Riegel bleeds silver. After all, the former president & CEO of Airstream owns two of them, including a fully-restored 1953 Flying Cloud. But it runs deeper than that.
“Everybody should have the opportunity to experience the Airstream way of life,” he says.
Riegel, who’s also a noted auto enthusiast, developed an early love of Airstream when he’d go around the country with his father to classic and antique car shows. “I’d see these gleaming trailers at shows and think, I wonder where those people are going.” Now he's trying to share that love with new people in new ways.
In 2012 Riegel founded Airstream 2 Go, which offers not just Airstream travel trailer rentals but also custom itinerary planning. The business is centered around creating memorable travel experiences, says Riegel. “Everything we do has to make it special, and that includes the preparation, the sights, the activities, and the very way we interact with our customers.”
It was this passion for Airstream that led him to found Airstream 2 Go, but also feedback from enthusiasts he encountered during his days with the company. “Every day, someone would ask how do I rent one? I wanted people to be able to experience Airstream, the pinnacle of the RV lifestyle.”
He thinks of Airstream 2 Go as a travel business. Their four locations, in Los Angeles, El Paso, Las Vegas, and Bozeman, are perfect points of departure to tour America’s most scenic lands where adventurers and thrill-seekers can embark on “that bucket list type of trip.”
The company works with an exclusive partner, Off The Beaten Path, with the expertise to bring the Airstream 2 Go experience to life. Their custom itineraries are built to each client’s interests, so when you hitch up and go, you won’t have to deal with the hassle of planning your route or activities. It’s all done for you.
“Whether it’s a campsite or a private property along a river, or inside a National Park somewhere,” Riegel says, “you’ll know where you’re spending the night.”
Talk to Riegel about Airstream 2 Go and you’ll notice his extreme sense of pride in his satisfied customers. “Every person who’s done it has loved it,” he says, and adds that when his customers return from their trip, they have what he calls “bragging rights.”
“Their friends say they stayed at a nice hotel in Maui, and they say, you know what we did? We went to Yosemite, then down the California coastline, and we did it in our very own Airstream. And they’re amazed.”
He also mentions that through their extensive orientation process, they train novice customers how to operate and tow their Airstream, but that sense of trepidation is another point of attraction for most customers. “They feel this tremendous sense of accomplishment and achievement because they’ve embarked on this journey and returned experts. In doing so, they’ve had a truly authentic Airstream experience.”
You may still remember the first time you visited a national park, breathing in fresh air and hearing the sounds of nature within one of our nation’s historic and sacred cathedrals. What better way to see these spellbinding lands than in an Airstream?
“The first time I ever camped in an Airstream, it was a perfect experience. I was in a wonderful, scenic location and had a wonderful night of sleep inside the womb-like interior of the Airstream. In the morning, I pushed open the door and it was a peaceful, quite morning, with dew on the grass and a steaming cup of coffee in my hand. And it was so perfect, already being inside the park, just beyond my doorstep.”
For those who enjoy taking the road less traveled, check out Airstream 2 Go.
