Livin' the Airstream Dream

The year is 1962, and a special little trailer by the name of #6437, the Airstream Flying Cloud, came into being.  From its humble roots as a women’s dressing room in California, to becoming the Wandering Buddha recording studio in Missoula, it now finds itself in Bozeman and fulfilling its true calling: to serve as a path to audio enlightenment; in the form of a mobile headphone store.

Yes, we said it:  Mobile Headphone Store!

But first, back to our story.

Meet #6437; The Airstream Flying Cloud Land Yacht

#6437 comes to us with many stories of it’s own that we will never know.  What we do know is that in the mid 2000’s it was used as a dressing room for a photographer who did pinup photos of women at antique car shows. Then, she was purchased in Salinas CA in 2010 and embarked on a road trip, camping out in Big Sur, and traveling through blizzards on Monida Pass toward Montana.  She settled in Missoula, where she underwent an extensive remodel from a guest room and dressing room into a recording studio.  It was then that she was christened, the Wandering Buddha. Films were edited, music was made, and life was good for Wandering Buddha.  Then in May 2015, HeadRoom became the new proud owners of #6437, and here is where her new adventure begins.

Meet HeadRoom

Okay, so you already know us.  We know headphones, we love headphones, we get the best headphones for your ears. period.  We’ve been doing this forever on headphone.com, and last year we opened a retail store in downtown Bozeman (a bustling college town of 50,000).  The success of our store confirmed our suspicions:  You don’t need to be in the middle of 10 million people to sell headphones.  Pretty much everywhere, people want good headphones, and they want to listen and try headphones before buying them (duh!). And, people want to buy headphones and audio gear from someone with knowledge and trustworthiness (duh, again!).  

But it isn’t fair that Bozeman gets all the headphone fun; we need to share the love.  And with today's mobile culture embracing things like chocolate pop-up stores and food trucks selling gourmet sushi and latte stations on bicycles, why not a mobile headphone store?  

#6437, meet HeadRoom.  HeadRoom, meet #6437.

It was a bright spring day in Missoula, Montana when HeadRoom's CEO Jamey saw his long-time dream of an Airstream full of headphones finally begin to come to fruition.  Here she sat: #6437 was a tad on the older side and perhaps a little road-worn -- but a jewel nonetheless.  We have big plans for our little Flying Cloud.

We’re covering the inside with listening stations, and bringing along an assortment of only the best of the best headphones.  A headphone expert is always on board, and folks will be stoked to buy from a small business and 20+ year leader in the headphone industry.

It’s Time for Everyone to Know What Good Headphones Sound Like.

Our mission is to bring good audio to the masses; whether it’s grandmothers with opera or truckers with country or 13 year olds with Miley, we all deserve good audio.  The Wandering Buddha will help everyone find their path to audio enlightenment.  We just can’t wait for all those looks of drop-jawed astonishment when the grandmothers and truckers and 13 year olds hear great headphone audio for the first time.  

We’ll be starting out in our own neck of the woods- at music festivals, sporting events, and parties.  We’ll be experimenting with college campuses, conferences and art shows.  You never know where we might show up; but what you will know is this: people’s ears are in for a treat, and we can't wait to help them get it right between their ears.

What do you think, is the world ready for a Mobile Headphone Store?  Do you have an idea of where our Wandering Buddha could help unsuspecting listeners find their path to headphone audio enlightenment?  Let us know, and we hope to see you on the road.

And in the meantime, follow our journey on Instagram!

(Thank you to Pam Voth at pamvoth.net for her generous contribution of several photos published in this article.)