How Do You fulltime In Small Trailer

[Patricia D]

I have been reading where people are living in small fiberglass trailers year round. I had always read that you had to have a 4 season trailer. I know in winter you go somewhere warmer and summer cooler but I would still think you would need more than a fiberglass trailer. I would be interested in your opinions.

[honda03842]

Patricia,

Ginny and I lived in our Scamp 16 for 315 days over the last 11 months. People always ask how it's possible. After coming home to our beach house in NH we both immediately realized how little is needed to live happily. Practically every thing we've purchased over our 48 years is not necessary for a happy life.

We had a great year in our 90 square feet this year, maybe our best ever.

Now I would not recommend living in a Scamp in the winter in North Dakota. Certainly one of the neat properties of owning and traveling in an RV is that you can live anywhere for any period you chose.

Actually we now believe it wouldn't hurt if every couple began their first year in a small trailer.

We recognize what's important to our existance and what we need for that existance.

Just happy small...........

[Jon Vermilye]

While I don't full time, I have made 2 - 4+ month trips in an Escape 17B. I am a solo traveler which helps with space & weight, and I haven't spent more than a couple of nights in a row below 20F, but as long as you are comfortable living in a small space I don't see any reason why it can't be done. In fact, there are a number of blogs as well as reports here written by full timers in fiberglass trailers.

[Bill MacDermod]

we are amateurs compared to Norm and Ginny and although we stayed out for 162 days it was a lot of fun. You spend an enormous time outside and you have to like your better half a lot, we have kids in Chesapeake, Va so after a gathering here in Fl. we headed for Va, with a stop in Savannah, Ga. Savannah is a beautiful old city with lots to do, then onto Va. We got a chance to camp host at First Landing for the month of May and that was a different type experience for us as we are normally travelers instead of destination type campers. we enjoyed it and I guess they liked us as we have been asked to return for 2 months. we then attended 3 rallies, the mid Atlantic fiberglass rally in the Williamsport, Pa. area, that was nice as our daughter lives in Williamsport so we stayed in that area for a couple of weeks. Then off to Pascoug, (sp) RI. spent a few days with friends there then onto a rally in Camden Hills State Park in Maine for 4 days and then onto the Vintage Fiberglass rally in beautiful St Martins, NB Canada. We traveled to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. We met some wonderful people on this trip incuding a couplr from NH who invited us to stop by on our way back for a spud shoot, never even heard of one but it was a blast in more than one way. In September we stopped at a rally put on by the S.E. eggcamers club in Cloudland Canyon State Park in Ga. A well named park with its location high in the NW mtns of Ga. we then came home to Fl. I think it can be done very easy if you like the outdoors, great people and camping.

[Thomas G.]

The hard limitation is that you can't let the water system freeze.

[Patricia D]

Thanks to all of you for posting. I love to read posts by Norm and Ginny. You two seem to love life so much. I guess I am just burnt out. I have worked at the same job 30 years and I am looking to retire in a few years. The time I have off is spent working on the yard, pool and the house. We thought when my husband retired a few months ago we would have more time but that has not happened. We bought a 13' Scamp a few years ago and it has not been used which is sad. My husband and I had a side business as well as both working fulltime and we were doing nothing but working so I think we are looking for something less stressful and fulltiming looks like fun. We both love the outdoors and we have missed it. We were so busy we did not even open our pool this year. We work so hard to have things we don't have time to enjoy them. I am sure there are lots of people out there that feel the same way. Thanks for your posts.

[honda03842]

Patricia,

Our house has become virtually secondary in our lives. We come home and make sure it can stand until our next visit. This year we have decided to rip out the two large raised garden plots because they get overgrown and return them to grass.

I agree with your view that it's easy to get buried by life. The more you accumulate the more time you need to simply maintain it. You work so hard to get them, you work hard to maintain them and yet stuff slaved for sits unused.

Our stimulus for giving up work was the death of a freind. Suddenly life became shortened. In less than a year after his death we were on the road even though we had never RVed.

We obviously love our lives and since we hit the rad we love them even more.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Patricia D

I have been reading where people are living in small fiberglass trailers year round. I had always read that you had to have a 4 season trailer. I know in winter you go somewhere warmer and summer cooler but I would still think you would need more than a fiberglass trailer. I would be interested in your opinions.

4 Season trailer is one of those myths type thing. Some people will swear by their thermal pane window, and insulated plumbing. In my 2006 Scamp the fresh water tank and hose are inside the trailer. The gray water tank is outside and twice the size of the freshwater tank. I have a furnace that works very nicely. A couple winters ago we were in TX, Big Bend National Park where the temperatures never got above 20° F for a week. Two night it dropped down to 5° F. The insulation inside and the furnace worked good. It was a bit cold going outside, but we managed. Most of the time you're not going to be in that cold weather. Winter in AZ, NM, southern CA, TX, LA can be pretty nice. I would imagine that most of the south would be just fine. When the weather get warmer head north.
There's an old saying "less can often be more". A fiberglass trailer has less maintenance problems, takes less gas to tow around, less effort to set up camp, less effort to break camp.

There's been a number of people that have full timed in a 13' Scamp. One gentleman spent 6 years in his, another couple spent 4 years before they bought a 16'. I ran across a couple that had spent the last couple years living in a minivan, by choice. After going to Europe and traveling there for almost a year, they came home sold their Class A and bought the minivan. To quote her "this is all we need". They were having the time of lives.

[Patricia D]

We are looking to buy either a Parkliner or Casita Liberty in a year or so and giving fulltiming a lot of thought in the meantime. Really like both trailers.

[GlendaW]

My husband & I, 2 cats & a 30# dog have been happily living fulltime in our 17' Casita since the end of May 2011. We've been totally impressed with the Liberty floorplan since we can change the configuration slightly if/when we want. Occasionally I do dream about the possibilities 2 extra feet of trailer would bring. As the previous posts point out tho, people can live quite well & happy in much less space with much less 'stuff' than they realize. We are best friends so living closely all the time isn't a problem, but there's a lot of 'alone' room outside if wanted. Our small space has simplified our choices & emphasized what's most important & wanted in our lives. We shop differently - & for less. We eat simpler. I clean up ALL messes or projects now before creating another. We're much closer to the weather & nature now. Having less 'stuff' to maintain & be responsible for is very liberating. Unfortunately, since we've been stationary workkamping most of the past 18 mos, we haven't had as much time & energy to hike & take long walks with dog, or take photos as when we're spending more time actually traveling & seeing new sights. We managed to survive the VERY mild winter last year in Missouri without a problem, but plan to check out Arizona this winter. Winter is more like 'real' camping (bottled water & public bathrooms) tho rather than just living in a self-contained trailer. Although we won't be somewhere like ND during winter, we could manage a week or so below freezing temps without too much discomfort. We love having our own bed (& bathroom) always with us, visiting friends/family without imposing on their households, learning about different areas/regions/communities & having the choice of changing our front yard to follow the weather we want. Managing mail, medical needs, storage, finances, & insurance is all very doable (we didn't re-invent those wheels). I can't imagine every wanting to live a 'normal' life again.

[Cherie Ve Ard]

We started out in a 16' T@B teardrop for our full timing. We did a year in that.

And then we moved up to a 17' Oliver fiberglass trailer, which has a double hull giving a good amount of insulation. We did 3 years in that, including one winter spent in Kansas and Missouri in single digit temps. Between a space heater and the furnace, we did fine. We also did several 100+ degree stays in it during the summer, no problem. Of course, we prefer being places where the weather is mild and no climate control is needed - but that's not always possible for us.

We're now in a 35' bus conversion - still on the road, nearly 6.5 years later. And still loving it.

Oh, and we're not retired either We run our software business as we roam.

- Cherie

[Darrell in Al]

I've been "full time" in my 16ft Scamp just short of 2 years (Dec 2010) in Huntsville Al area in RV park. I had 8-10 in snow i n Jan 11, was using the bath house for showers and toilet. I have a 8 ft enclosed trailer as a closet and a storage unit with my tools and house hold stuff that I use intermittently. I started the full time by moving from a job in Ga. sold house in Ga. ordered my Scamp while living in hotels/ crappy apartment that I slept on floor for safety.. now I can get up in mornings fix a cup of coffee and can watch the river flow by. But after being a Infantryman in the Army for my adult life its a step up from a rucksack.

[pageleigh]

You are living the life I have dreamed of and now ready to start...short trips first.

Emily

[pindraak]

I have been living in a Bigfoot 17 for about 4 months now. I find it completely unproblematic, and in fact waste a lot of the storage space inside. The only complaint I have had is that when boondocking, I have no solar panels or dc fridge, which requires me to run a generator a couple of hours per day and go to a store to get ice.

My main problem with fulltiming in any size trailer is the difficulty parking it legitimately in cities. I'm staying in ABQ this winter and the best thing I could find to start is an RV space in a mobile home park that costs about 2/3rds of what a studio apartment would, though I hope to find something much cheaper through personal connections. I could probably stealth camp, but hauling the trailer everywhere and being sneaky every night is a bit of a drag.

[Night Sailor]

Solar panels are cheap. If you mount the horizontal figure about 5 times the rating per day. I think it is best just to leave them fixed although if you park it for long periods angling them would improve performance and also make them more noticeable to thieves.

[John McDonald]

Pindraak, (" I'm staying in ABQ this winter and the best thing I could find to start is an RV space in a mobile home park that costs about 2/3rds of what a studio apartment would")
Have you decided not to camp in NM State Parks and take advantage of the state's annual pass EMNRD State Parks Division which costs $180 for NM resident ($225 non-resident) and then your camping costs are only $4 per night to cover elec. if you want it?

Cheers John