Small trailer vs. Truck camper
Hello experienced Mexico RV travelers, I am debating going with either a small travel trailer or a truck camper for trips to Mexico and beyond. I am not new to driving down there, I have done three t...
Forum Discussion
Yeah, short-term apartment rent will kill ya. Another thing that I found out is that the best roommate is no roommate.
Just keep in mind that trailers are smaller inside than they look, even considering the hitch length. My "26ft" trailer is 23ft inside and it feels very small, barely enough for me alone.
I'm not spoiled with big houses. It's just that trailers - or any RV - are not build for living. A lot to complain on.
- RVs are narrow, 7.5ft inside (and campers can be narrower yet). Out of my 23ft, 3ft is taken by washroom, so it's in fact 20ft by 7.5ft living/eating/sleeping space.
- RVs are dark, most of them have only a couple of jail windows.
- Low ceiling, typically 6ft 6" or less. 5-ers are taller, but we are not talking 5-ers here.
- Horrible access to cabinets, and cabinets are made for travel, with weird ridges around the opening - presumably to keep your antique porcelain (??) from falling out - and it makes it difficult to get anything in and out. Bottom cabinet is only one, and it has little usable space inside because of the wheel well.
- The dinette table is shaky and benches are a torture to sit on - this is typical for RV. Getting a rig with a coach was the best decision I ever made. 5ft coach is placed across the 7.5ft width, so I have to walk around it, but I still like having it.
- RV furnace is loud like in some old motel, can wake you up, and it takes a lot of propane in cold weather and a lot of battery power. I'm in the process of replacing it with a catalytic heater, silent and way less propane. And so on.
My rig 23*7.5 = 173 square ft, this is smaller than the smallest studio or a motel room that I've seen, and dark and low ceiling. I've been living in small spaces and doing long trips in a tent, but 173 sq.ft is NOT roomy, trust me. And you were talking about trailer 13.5 ft inside? :)
Get a big and wide camper, if you want to be able to live there for months. Bigfoot are expensive, and they retain their value when used, hard even to find a used one. Because they are molded fiberglass, very little frame, so there is less weight and no rot issues. People like them. And they are roomy. 8ft wide, not 6 or 7ft like some other rigs.
Northstar I'm not familiar with, but they are not cheap either, and their current models have laminate "filon" walls that many people in many RV had problems with. This is not the same as aluminum siding, and not the same as molded fiberglass of Bigfoot.
I don't know about "thermopane windows". Window is window. Any window you need to plug with shiny Mylar pipe wrap in summer if you want to keep the heat out. Nothing else works. Same in winter - you need to plug it with styrofoam or something if it gets too cold inside. Though most heat losses are through the walls, there are no real "walls" in RV, mere 1/16" aluminum siding on the outside and 1/4" plywood inside, with 2" pink fibeglass wool between them. Models with "filon" walls typically have block foam insulation in place of a pink "wool".
Just keep in mind that trailers are smaller inside than they look, even considering the hitch length. My "26ft" trailer is 23ft inside and it feels very small, barely enough for me alone.
I'm not spoiled with big houses. It's just that trailers - or any RV - are not build for living. A lot to complain on.
- RVs are narrow, 7.5ft inside (and campers can be narrower yet). Out of my 23ft, 3ft is taken by washroom, so it's in fact 20ft by 7.5ft living/eating/sleeping space.
- RVs are dark, most of them have only a couple of jail windows.
- Low ceiling, typically 6ft 6" or less. 5-ers are taller, but we are not talking 5-ers here.
- Horrible access to cabinets, and cabinets are made for travel, with weird ridges around the opening - presumably to keep your antique porcelain (??) from falling out - and it makes it difficult to get anything in and out. Bottom cabinet is only one, and it has little usable space inside because of the wheel well.
- The dinette table is shaky and benches are a torture to sit on - this is typical for RV. Getting a rig with a coach was the best decision I ever made. 5ft coach is placed across the 7.5ft width, so I have to walk around it, but I still like having it.
- RV furnace is loud like in some old motel, can wake you up, and it takes a lot of propane in cold weather and a lot of battery power. I'm in the process of replacing it with a catalytic heater, silent and way less propane. And so on.
My rig 23*7.5 = 173 square ft, this is smaller than the smallest studio or a motel room that I've seen, and dark and low ceiling. I've been living in small spaces and doing long trips in a tent, but 173 sq.ft is NOT roomy, trust me. And you were talking about trailer 13.5 ft inside? :)
Get a big and wide camper, if you want to be able to live there for months. Bigfoot are expensive, and they retain their value when used, hard even to find a used one. Because they are molded fiberglass, very little frame, so there is less weight and no rot issues. People like them. And they are roomy. 8ft wide, not 6 or 7ft like some other rigs.
Northstar I'm not familiar with, but they are not cheap either, and their current models have laminate "filon" walls that many people in many RV had problems with. This is not the same as aluminum siding, and not the same as molded fiberglass of Bigfoot.
I don't know about "thermopane windows". Window is window. Any window you need to plug with shiny Mylar pipe wrap in summer if you want to keep the heat out. Nothing else works. Same in winter - you need to plug it with styrofoam or something if it gets too cold inside. Though most heat losses are through the walls, there are no real "walls" in RV, mere 1/16" aluminum siding on the outside and 1/4" plywood inside, with 2" pink fibeglass wool between them. Models with "filon" walls typically have block foam insulation in place of a pink "wool".
