Newbie travel trailer buyer question - to slide out or not

I've had the slide mechanism break during a bad desert wind storm, 2 days from home. With some help and a lot of cursing, I got it retracted so I could get out of the wash I was set up in.

That night, I was really glad I could use the bathroom, bed, and fridge with the slide in when I stopped for the night. That thing was not moving until I got it to a repair shop.