Two old to camp...

[Woof70]

Have joined the Blog to learn about camping with small travel trailers. Wife and I love to camp and cook over the Coleman stove on cast iron, but we are no longer looking forward to the treks to the facilities in the middle of the night.

So, nice to meet you.

[Jon in AZ]

Welcome to the forum, Blaine (and companion)!

Lots of small molded fiberglass trailers will fit the bill for you, so you're in the right place.

Two old to camp, but never too old to camp! Hope my wife and I can say that in another 20 years. We still make the trek, but I can see a day coming...

[yardsale]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Welcome to the forum, Blaine (and companion)!

Lots of small molded fiberglass trailers will fit the bill for you, so you're in the right place.

Two old to camp, but never too old to camp! Hope my wife and I can say that in another 20 years. We still make the trek, but I can see a day coming...

We still sleep on the ground about 10 % of our camping days but have made several modifications now that we are well into our 60's. First, we don't camp when it is real hot, mostly canoe camping in the fall. We have both learned how to use a "P" bottle for increasingly frequent nocturnal urination. We now both use 3" thick Exped 9 sleeping pads to maintain comfort as we age. Lastly, we still winter camp 5 days per year using a Snowtrekker Tent with a four dog woodstove. At 67 I pay a youngster $20/hour as a porter to lug this rig into our campsite and help with cutting firewood!

[thrifty bill]

I don't know anyone who looks forward to the trek to the bathroom. Many of the FG trailers out there have small bathrooms, other larger trailers have more spacious bathrooms.

Camped next to a Dynamax DX3 motorhome last vacation. Bathroom was larger than the one in our house! Of course, it is at a totally different price point. Somewhat interesting, the couple that owned it just moved up from a Lance pickup camper.

I'd rent a motorhome and take a fun trip! See how it goes.

[Jon in AZ]

Wow, Yardsale, you're way ahead of me! I used to do a lot of backpacking and kayak camping on Lake Powell. A back injury now makes ground-based camping challenging, and my wife would rather have a root canal than pee into anything that doesn't flush...

The Scamp has been a great compromise- cooking and eating outside still feels like camping to me, and the warm, dry camper makes my wife happy. A bed off the ground- priceless!

Keep going as long as you can, however you can!

[yardsale]

Jon, it flushes, sorta.

[garycarolyn]

Originally Posted by Woof70

Have joined the Blog to learn about camping with small travel trailers. Wife and I love to camp and cook over the Coleman stove on cast iron, but we are no longer looking forward to the treks to the facilities in the middle of the night.

So, nice to meet you.

We are among those who progressed from back packing, little tent, bigger tent, pop up and NOW to a 16' Casita SD. That means we have a pottie and little shower (which with a try or two you will be able to negotiate the small shower space). We chose to locate our camps away from crowds, thus away from the potties, so we love having our own at night. Also, just know the head room in the 16' Casita is 5'10" so if you are taller you might consider the 17'. Good luck and enjoy!

[ehoepner]

My wife and I made that switch about 12 years ago. Was getting to hard to get up from the ground level.

We purchased a used Casita 17ft SD. It still is meeting our needs.

[k corbin]

Why do women really want that on board bathroom? Because women's bodies change over the years and that bladder control valve gets rather worn out, especially true for women who have had children. Sometimes there are uterine fibroids that can happen in young and older women which press on the bladder. This is not a matter of being finicky, it is a matter of we don't want to wet our pants therefore the toilet needs to be close by. Families with children also like an onboard bathroom as the children also need to get to the toilet more quickly.

It is nonsensical to me when men in this forum publicly complain about how often they have to stop during road trips for their wives to use the restroom. Or act like an inconvenienced person if their partner wants a trailer with a toilet in it. Or act like they are some kind of saint because they are willing to purchase a trailer with a toilet just to please the wife.

If you are a partner in a couple who have made or are looking to make a trailer purchase then try using inclusive words as in "We want to have a bathroom in our trailer.


On a side note the health regulations in most states have a provision that says employers can not harass workers for needing to use the bathroom more often than the employer thinks they should. There is a special clause in those statements saying the older female workers can't be harassed for needing to go to the bathroom more often than other workers. I suggest you take a minute to think about this, are you making an issue of it to someone in your life who needs to use the restroom more often than you do?

[francene]

K Corbin, good points. However, there's a difference between a toilet or potty, and a bathroom.

Our Compact II has a porta potty onboard; no bathroom. My husband, 70, wants a bathroom. He sometimes gets up at night, but I do ,too.

Maybe he wants the privacy, maybe he wants a sink in there, and I know he wants hot water, which we do not have. So he's the demanding one. ( I'm satisfied using a hotpot to heat water for washing up.)

Fran

[Ttocs M]

Welcome to our forum. You will learn so many valuable lessons from these venerable members.

Here's my 2 cents on a bathroom or none: Having moved up from backpacking to kayak camping, making those middle of the night trips in rain/sleet.. not fun as a senior. I now enjoy 2-3 steps to my 13 ft Scamp's bathroom. No worries about trying to get my shoes on "in time", finding my flashlight & raincoat, tripping over rocks/ruts, mud, avoiding scorpions/snakes or the aggressive raccoon, or losing white TP rolling down a snowy slope. You'll love the bathroom.

[Glenn Baglo]

My wife sleeps on the inside. I get the outside because I have to get up twice as often. Which goes to show, generally, generalizations should be avoided.

[yardsale]

Urinary Incontinence is not a normal consequence of aging.

/www.nia.nih.gov/health/urinary-incontinence-older-adults

[ljswanson53]

Needing to use a potty in the night is NOT a gender-specific issue; I have intimate knowledge of a male that needs to go multiple times each night. No matter what sex you are, I believe that your appreciation for an “in-house potty” grows exponentially as you age.

[Kenton]

Originally Posted by k corbin

Why do women really want that on board bathroom?

Some of us men find the nocturnal visits to the bathroom happening more often as we get older. I assume its the grapefruit sized prostrate gland or blood sugar a little elevated or some meds. It's not just the ladies that find they need a wee visit more often. My wife is like a camel, she can drink water all day and seldom go. Me it's almost 1 for 1 ratio.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I blame the beer

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I blame the beer

Dang we need a "like" button .

[Kai in Seattle]

Quote:
Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz
I blame the beer
Dang we need a "like" button .

LIKE! (We do, indeed!)








Kai

Showering is one thing; toileting is another. A porta-potty can be of great salvation under not only #1, #2, but also #3 and #4 issues--that is, some pet waste and food poisoning, AKA, "tourista." In the case of a really severe #4, I can see having TWO porta-potties might well be equally important simultaneously, if you get my drift, as it were.

Caring for the afflicted in a public restroom under such a circumstance might be less than ideal for several reasons, not the least is sparing the tender sensitibilities of the children.

Inside even a small trailer, a judiciously used privacy curtain, easily made out of a rod, some clip-on rings, and a nice beach towel, can serve the bill readily and surprisingly well. Perhaps two towels, to draw back elegantly on either side.

If they are printed on one side and light on the other, they even give two looks and take up almost no room--and can double as, you guessed it, towels.

[ehoepner]

It's really fun reading the can do attitudes here on the forum, the mentality of yes we can get it done brings joy to my heart. As I have gotten older I have to get up at night and go to the bath room at least once at night With the other medical issue it is a whole lot easier to go sitting down.


The victim mentality helps no one.

[Woof70]

"As I have gotten older...... it is a whole lot easier to go sitting down" and not walking across the State Park in the rain, wind, with a flashlight to do it. That's all I am sayin'.