Every regret your small TT?

Many people go from smaller to larger and then later on decide on going back to the smaller as they realize they don't need as much room, can tow easier, usually cheaper and can get into more campsites. Minimalism...

Ours is a 21 ft with slide and is the perfect size for me, DW & 2 dachshunds. But like others have said, it all depends on how you plan to use it. On the plus side (for us anyway):
Can easily be towed with 1/2 ton truck
Can fit into some pretty tight spaces, like some at the older National Parks
Easier to maneuver in gas stations and parking lots
Small enough to park in the carport at home
Big enough to stay inside on cold/rainy/windy days
Big enough to have a walkaround bed so no climbing over each other for nocturnal bathroom breaks.
Downside:
Less interior room
Can't carry as much 'stuff'
Not a lot of kitchen storage space
Only sleeps 2 adults and maybe 1 small child

Went from a 23' TT to a 17', then a 16'. Looking to stay roughly in that 16'-17' size, it works for me. But then, DW no longer cares to camp at all, so it's just me.

I have an 18ft and no desire to go bigger.

All I could afford wrote:
I think I can serve as the poster child of the most people in the smallest trailer for the most years.
Me and the wife and 3 kids now 10, 12, 14 in a tiny single Axle hybrid. 17 feet long ball to bumper. Main body 7 wide by 13 long, plus front and rear tent beds.

We are mainly "long weekend" campers, the longest ever was 6 nights.
We try to spend as much time as we can outside, but sometimes weather makes that difficult, but we've been lucky overall.

Given my choice, I would make the bathroom and refrigerator just slightly bigger, maybe starching the trailer 2 feet total, but that's it!

I love that I can get into any rustic state park site, and can squeeze it next to the house as a man cave/ guest house

I first camped in a 15 foot camper with my parents, brother and sister. The 5 of us camped various forest campgrounds every weekend the summer of 1964. We also made a 2 week trip to Banff and Jasper in Canada, and a one week trip to Yellowstone. It was cozy but beat sleeping in a tent. Our 24' bumper to ball Jay Feather is spacious by comparison.

I read now about kids who can't be without television and video games and playgrounds.... For us camping was and is about camping... I leave most of the technology behind. We don't live in the trailer, we do most of our living outside. We mostly just play cards in the evening and sleep in the camper.

Rick
2016 F-150 XLT 4x4 3.5 EB
2017 Jay Feather X213

MudQueen22 wrote:
I've been reading quite a bit about choosing a travel trailer.

We are rather intimidated by anything large, but so many posters say they regretted buying a smaller TT and ended up trading for a larger one.

Does anyone not regret buying a small TT (under 25')?
Does anyone wish they had purchased a small TT over a larger one?

Not us. We do regret first buying a popup, not for the size but because of the hassle and difficulty for 2 seniors to set it up and break it down. The size of the popup was never an issue.

I like making the towing part of trailer camping as relaxing as the camping part, and having a smaller trailer goes a long way toward that goal.

SoundGuy wrote:
Any who claim they don't spend "any time" inside their camper are full of it :R ... of course you do, everyone does, even if it's just for sleeping.

Jebby14 wrote:
no sir you are full of it. im in my camper to sleep, to grab food from fridge or use microwave or use the can. that's about it.

Nice try at trying to distort what I said Jebby, but no cigar for you :W ... if you sleep in your camper, which you say you do, you are in it a significant amount of time ... but you already know that because that's exactly what I said, nothing more, nothing less. :S

As others said, it depends on your intended use & family size.

IMHO smaller and simpler is better; you have more flexibility in choosing campsites.

One consideration is tank size---if you are going to camp without hookups, make sure you have decent size fresh water tank, and enough gray/black capacity to work for at least several days.

I have spent the last day and a half hold up in my camper as it has been pouring down rain that long (and still is).

THAT is why I am not in a tent.

We spend time in the camper to escape, bugs, heat, cold, storms or just to "watch the game".

I have been living in my 20' camper for 3 months straight now. The point is our camper (even tho it is small) is still comfortable for us and we LOVE IT.

NO, we do not want something bigger as ours is just right.

Jebby14 wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:
Any who claim they don't spend "any time" inside their camper are full of it :R ... of course you do, everyone does, even if it's just for sleeping. We enjoy everything about camping with our travel trailer, be it outside OR inside - and that enjoyment has absolutely zero to do with "getting back to nature" - we do what we do, when we want to do it, whether inside or outside and our travel trailer is the key to that enjoyment. :B To answer the OP's question more directly - trailer size has nothing to do with it so no, we don't regret our 19' couple's model at all, it has everything we need in a camper ... measuring just 22' 6" coupler to bumper I can put it on any size campsite, which is particularly useful when we just want to do some last minute camping or may be traveling, don't have a reservation, and have to take whatever site might be available. I can also keep it here at the house during the camping season, parked on our driveway where I also use it as my "man cave". Sure, it's much smaller than our previous triple bunk bed family trailer but since we no longer have a use for bunks there was no point in continuing to drag them around with us. We have no plans to go any larger but should that ever happen it would only be slightly longer, certainly no more than 25' total, and we'd only do it for the interior features it might offer, not because it was longer. Many won't agree but I'm amused virtually every time we camp watching others trying to jam their behemoths into campsites not suited for such massive stick 'n brick homes on wheels. :R

no sir you are full of it. im in my camper to sleep, to grab food from fridge or use microwave or use the can. that's about it. occasionally ill use the stove but not often. we do most of our cooking and eating outside if its raining we are under the awning. I supposed if its a nasty storm and im afraid to leave the awning out ill bunker in for a bit but that's about it. I don't presume to know how you camp don't make assumptions about how I do.

Soundguy has a point, at least for the way we camp. We always have breakfast inside, supper I usually barbeque but we definitely cook inside too.
This year it was so hot even under the awning with a fan we went inside and watched TV during the heat of the day. So for us, yeah we spend time in the camper.