The Modern Caravan: Stories of Love, Beauty, and Adventure on the Open Road

by Kate Oliver

A gorgeous book by celebrated Airstream builder and designer Kate Oliver that celebrates travel, adventure, and beautifully styled rolling homes.

The Modern Caravan is a warm invitation into rolling homes designed for life on the open road.

Brimming with evocative storytelling and hundreds of photographs showcasing modern living space and stunning landscapes, this book features more than 35 stories from solo travelers, couples, and families who traded the comforts of a rooted life for ever-changing vistas and eye-opening experiences.

Readers will meet a family exploring Australia in a cozy vintage camper filled with plants and natural wood finishes; a young couple designing a modern trailer inspired by the colors and textures of the high desert; and a couple who renovated their chic Airstream with green velvet seating, floral wallpaper, and herringbone wood floors.

Balancing style with function, each carefully crafted tiny home is the result of long-held dreams, ingenuity, and imagination.

EXPERT Kate Oliver is a celebrated Airstream builder and designer. Her work has been profiled in Dwell , Remodelista , Domino , Apartment Therapy , and Design*Sponge , among others. Here she draws on her experience as a designer, builder, storyteller, and photographer to create a one-of-a-kind book full of wanderlust and inspiration—the ultimate guide to beautiful small-space living.

SPEAKS TO WANDERLUST AND BOHEMIAN For anyone eager for experiences that offer an escape into a world of simple pleasures and exploration, this gorgeous volume filled with travel photography, engaging stories, and practical tips holds endless appeal.

BEAUTIFUL Perfect gift for anyone who loves road trips, outdoor adventure, or interior design. A thoughtful present to pair with any adventure accessory or décor object—a destination road guide, a flannel shirt, a ceramic bowl, or a beautiful blanket. The eye-catching package will add beauty whether displayed on a coffee table or love shack bookshelf.

Perfect

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2022

About the author

Kate Oliver is a woman of grit, determination, and intention. She has spent the last decade learning to come home to her true self, no matter the roadblocks. In 2014, she and her wife sold everything, including their house, and hit the road in a simple, self-renovated vintage Airstream with their daughter, dogs, and cat. Three years later, impassioned with Airstream renovation, travel, and tiny living, the pair opened a vintage Airstream design and renovation studio called The Modern Caravan.

Kate's honest storytelling and beautiful photographs of the pair's work and life on the road captured many and come to life in the pages in her first book, The Modern Caravan: Stories of Love, Beauty, and Adventure on the Open Road. After several years on the road, Kate settled down in a small, former artist's home and studio in the woods with her family, and when she's not designing an Airstream, she is writing a memoir.

Reviews

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MODERN CARAVAN showcases the life of trailer travelers in a stunning coffee book that features gorgeous photos and design. A great gift for road explorers of all kinds and an absolute blast to page through!

Thanks to author Kate Oliver, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.

#themoderncaravan #kateoliver #chroniclebooks #NetGalley #coffeetablebooks #tincanliving #trailortravelerbooks #bookstagramcommunity

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures make the book. Accompanied by the brief stories of the creators and renovators of the campers, vans, and buses, it’s a marvelous testimony to stoking one’s desire to live more independently and less encumbered.
Thanks to Edelweiss and Chronicle Books for the early copy.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography and lovely stories of those choosing a nomadic lifestyle. Many tips regarding restoration of various types of homes on wheels. This is an inspirational coffee table book sure to spark interesting conversations. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC temporary copy of this book.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Modern Caravan is a beautiful book for the adventurer at heart! The pictures alone are breathtaking, and the stories of different people's lives are incredible.

It definitely made me want to hit the open road and travel the beautiful land.

This book is a great coffee table book!

[Jay Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Modern Caravan: Stories of Love, Beauty, and Adventure on the Open Road is a book you'd find on a living room countertop, not for its content, but for its aesthetic as a decoration. Even perusing the pages seemed more like something I'd skim through words here and there if I was sitting on the host's couch in a time lack of conversation. Definitely something you'd find in a home that doesn't feel homey or during an open house tour of a desert mansion.

That being said, the short stories gave glimpses to the lives of Americans who prefer a nomadic lifestyle, how they make their homes work, and thensome. A good gateway to conversation and the topic at large at that.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Modern Caravan is a wonderfully romanticized look at campers and life on the road collected and curated by Kate Oliver. Due out 1st March 2022 from Chronicle Books, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is one of those gorgeous glossy hardcover books full of full-color inspiration and dedicated to the romance of a life of adventure on the road which has struck all of us at one point or another. There's a lot of intimacy in the author's honest and unvarnished account of her family's acquisition and remodeling of their first airstream camper from the beginning on a very limited budget, learning as they went along how to strip and rebuild whilst still maintaining an aesthetic restoration to wind up with a functional product at the end.

She's chosen to showcase 13 different profile stories with in-depth photos and background for each of the projects. This is, certainly, a love poem to the durability and iconic nature of the classic aistream camper, but additionally it's a really gorgeous book of instagram-worthy interior shots which are full of wonderful interior details and which reflect the individual personalities of their owners. There are some which are restful and calm, some which are exuberantly colorful, some which are whimsical with a wry humor and warm and inviting vibe. In between the larger profile chapters are little one page snapshot pages with abbreviated background stories and a picture of the people involved. Their stories are as varied as their projects.

I enjoyed getting a look at the stories behind the builds. It should be noted that this is not a tutorial or how-to book. This is a collection of stories of people who chose to travel part time or full time in a camper (there are a couple van rebuilds also, but only in the shorter snapshot entries). The profiles are diverse, representing singles, couples, families, and friends who collaborated on projects and enjoy traveling alone or together.

Four stars. Lots of inspiration here.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Katya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of caravans so thoughtfully pretty, they made a homebody like me long for the open road.

This is a nice little coffee table volume on modern caravans (just like it says on the tin) and the wanderers who live in them. The content touches on what it takes to undertake a vintage caravan renovation and how their owners live a roaming lifestyle on the road. The photography is lovely, and each 'chapter' gives a glimpse into the lives of caravan owners and their journeys.

Aside from an inexplicable decision to bisect each chapter with 2-3 pages of photographs, making the reader either skip past the photographs to continue the reading then double back, or peruse the photographs then forget what they left mid-sentence, the layout is clean and modern. I would have appreciated less 'snapshots' - brief one-page interludes between longer multi-page features - which provided little in terms of either visual representation of the caravan nor familiarity with the traveler, in favor of more in-depth chapters where the reader has more of a chance to get to know the featured family. Still, this is a nice introduction to those who are curious about nomadic living or just interested in design and traveling.

Thanks to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

After much consideration, a year-and-a-half ago my son purchased a 1976 Diamond RV as a safeguard against homelessness--something we have experienced far too many times in the past 14 years. We have not yet begun any serious renovation, but it is constantly on our minds. Right now we are patiently waiting for Spring to arrive so we can begin some of the work on it.

It is always interesting to see how others have accomplished creating their own truly mobile tiny home, and reading this book (thanks to NetGalley) had renewed and inspired our visions of what we want to accomplish for ourselves.

The photographs are phenomenal, the stories are heartwarming.

#TheModernCaravan #NetGalley

[Jeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning! This is one of those books you flip through to live vicariously through others. So many beautiful Airstream, bus, and van remodels were documented on these pages - some in "snapshots" and some in lengthier and contain more pictures and more details on the design and remodel process. Reading through this coffee table book, I had a sense of peace and adventure. What I did really like, however, was that the author and documented families did talk about some of the things that were difficult in either the process of remodeling or in living on the road, preventing the book from being a look at only the romanticized version of life on the road.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-crafted collection of stories and photos to inspire you to get your hands dirty, follow your intuition, and pursue your dreams. It’s a coffee table book that you consume in small segments of time when you’re lusting after a new way of life.
The pages include:
-tips to keep you grounded and motivated during your build/renovation
-Budgets and timelines
-A list of resources
-Snapshots and captions of people who live full or part time on the road, like a tangible Instagram feed
-Repeated ideas (“they chose white tile to make the space feel more open;” “expect the project to take three times as long as you think.”)
-Beautiful words

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book tells the stories of individuals, couples, and families who have renovated campers (often Airstreams) to live in part-or full-time. Some are featured more prominently, with extensive photographs, advice, and specifics of their remodels. The imagery is beautiful—equal parts caravan porn and stunning vistas. Written by a woman who is a veteran caravan renovator, the book also includes social media handles and a buyers guide. This book is a useful resource both for caravan buyers and those who just like to look at pictures. #TheModernCaravan #NetGalley

[Gaylan Hyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just a fascinating book of people living the American dream and becoming nomads by obtaining vintage Airstream trailers, renovating them, then hitting the road. A few have experience, others as they go, or by talking to others. Their stories and experiences are more than fascinating to read. Plus, the book is full of their before and after pictures along with themselves. I highly recommend this book.

[Jenny Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Modern Caravan By Kate Oliver

Spectacular visuals capturing the shared love, outdoors, design, and tiny homes on wheels. Loved the notes, helpful hints, and sources. Captures the spirit of DIY design, renovation, and lifestyle crafting.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book! Everything about it beautiful and inspiring!

[Beth Oehler]

Fun! But not totally my thing.