Newbie/ temporary living need advise
Hi my name is mike recently my apartment building is being remodeled and all the tennents (good blue collar people) are being forced out (30 day notice) my girlfriend myself and our cat dixie need a p...
Forum Discussion
The "Big Deal" with used Travel Trailers (or hitch style campers) is a leaky roof. If there are signs of water leaking into the camper, it can be a nightmare. BUT... if you are going to be setting up a semi-permanent campsite / living area, you can simply park the camper under a storage shed or even just cover it with a tarp until you can fix it correctly. $1,000 isn't much for a camper... but you never know, ask around and keep your eyes open!
Depending on what your possible camper comes with when you buy it, it will probably have its own "extension cord" - big, heavy 30amp (most likely) cord with boat-like plugs. Actually, pretty much identical to "shore power" cords that boats have. If your camper doesn't come with one, you can buy them at most Walmart stores. If you end up using air conditioning and a microwave, you need the proper amp electric hookup with good, large cords.
Water supply - At minimum, buy the white / blue strip freshwater hoses as they help to reduce the rubber hose flavor. Hopefully your camper will have a non-leaking water system, if not, they are just plastic pipes, easy to fix.
Black and grey water... black tank (poop tank), you need to figure out how you will empty it. Ideally you position the camper within range of an in ground septic tank, and just have a flexible pipe connecting the camper to the septic. You won't just leave the black tank drain valve open, you will empty every week or so - plenty of reading on these forums about how and when to empty tanks with long term camping.
If you can't use a septic tank, you may have to arrange for a "pump out" truck to visit your camper. If you have a friend in the poop truck business this might be easy and cheap, otherwise I am not sure how it works. You can also pack up your camper every so often and visit a campground to dump and rinse out the tanks - this will probably have some fee (usually not expensive, $20 maybe depending).
As mentioned previously, zoning laws in your area may be an issue. Many places do not allow extending living in a camper when it is not in an "official" campground. That is up to you how to handle that. Speaking of which - check with any local campgrounds. They may have "seasonal" campers available on campsites for rental or to buy, all set up and ready to move in --- and/or ready to buy and haul to your own (or a friend's property).
Good luck!
Depending on what your possible camper comes with when you buy it, it will probably have its own "extension cord" - big, heavy 30amp (most likely) cord with boat-like plugs. Actually, pretty much identical to "shore power" cords that boats have. If your camper doesn't come with one, you can buy them at most Walmart stores. If you end up using air conditioning and a microwave, you need the proper amp electric hookup with good, large cords.
Water supply - At minimum, buy the white / blue strip freshwater hoses as they help to reduce the rubber hose flavor. Hopefully your camper will have a non-leaking water system, if not, they are just plastic pipes, easy to fix.
Black and grey water... black tank (poop tank), you need to figure out how you will empty it. Ideally you position the camper within range of an in ground septic tank, and just have a flexible pipe connecting the camper to the septic. You won't just leave the black tank drain valve open, you will empty every week or so - plenty of reading on these forums about how and when to empty tanks with long term camping.
If you can't use a septic tank, you may have to arrange for a "pump out" truck to visit your camper. If you have a friend in the poop truck business this might be easy and cheap, otherwise I am not sure how it works. You can also pack up your camper every so often and visit a campground to dump and rinse out the tanks - this will probably have some fee (usually not expensive, $20 maybe depending).
As mentioned previously, zoning laws in your area may be an issue. Many places do not allow extending living in a camper when it is not in an "official" campground. That is up to you how to handle that. Speaking of which - check with any local campgrounds. They may have "seasonal" campers available on campsites for rental or to buy, all set up and ready to move in --- and/or ready to buy and haul to your own (or a friend's property).
Good luck!
