Living in a Trailer

[rightlaneonly]

Sadly I just placed me wife in a memory care home and find myself facing life alone. Thinking of selling the house (too many reminders here) and buying a travel trailer to live in. Looking for input from anyone that has done this. Do you stay in campgrounds or mobile home parks? Is either option cost effective. I have family here in California as well as Idaho and want to spend time in both locals.
Please share with me your experiences, both good and bad.
Thank you
Lee

[colliehauler]

valhalla360 wrote:

IDman wrote:
Thinking ahead a little....picture yourself recuperating from surgery such as hip or knee replacement and living in a small trailer. Would not be the most pleasant experience IMHO.

You would not be able to do a lot of the things required in a TT such as getting down to drain tanks, change LP tanks, etc.

Think about it.

Been there done that (also done it on the boat). It actually works pretty well as everything is within close reach and on a single level (in the RV at least).

The ability of the OP to stay close to family is actually a big bonus and they could handle a lot of the routine items for a week or two. I mean it only takes 5min to drain the tanks or flip the propane over.

Add me to the list of recuperating in the TT from a broken ankle and it worked very well because everything was close.

I received several offers from friends and family to drive me back home but decided to stay at my place on the lake. I also had a better support network. I leave my gray tank open and it takes a long time to fill a 20 gallon black tank. Summer so I used the A/C or fan so no propane to deal with.

[rightlaneonly]

Again, I thank you all and especially appreciate the voices of experience. I threw this out here to see what others either have done or would do, I'm not disappointed.
All good advice and all worth considering. There are upsides and downsides to each option. Sell the house, buy a trailer, keep the house, buy a trailer. I know I need to take my time and will altho I would like to make a decision by late spring.
Also, thank you for your sympathy, it's much appreciated. I lost my first wife to death by cancer, now my second wife to dementia. Believe me, the death was easier to handle.
Sincerely
Lee

[time2roll]

Get the trailer for trips to Idaho but keep the house for now.
If you are spending more time in the trailer than the house in a year's time then consider selling the house.

Get a used trailer and save some money. You may decide on a different RV or no RV in a few years. Then get something nicer or just let it go.

[valhalla360]

IDman wrote:
Thinking ahead a little....picture yourself recuperating from surgery such as hip or knee replacement and living in a small trailer. Would not be the most pleasant experience IMHO.

You would not be able to do a lot of the things required in a TT such as getting down to drain tanks, change LP tanks, etc.

Think about it.

Been there done that (also done it on the boat). It actually works pretty well as everything is within close reach and on a single level (in the RV at least).

The ability of the OP to stay close to family is actually a big bonus and they could handle a lot of the routine items for a week or two. I mean it only takes 5min to drain the tanks or flip the propane over.

[valhalla360]

rightlaneonly wrote:
All good advice. First I should have said I am 81 and my DW is 90, she has dementia and has had for over 5 years now. I am putting the Aliner up for sale as it is for camping only and would be really tiny to try and live in. At my age the home is becoming more and more difficult to maintain even tho I am in good health.Cost of maintaining a trailer is almost nothing compared to maintaining this home.
I have two daughters in The Boise area and a son in Fresno. I'm not interested in travel, we were blessed to do plenty of that before the dementia came along.
I want, as some have suggested, to be able to summer in Idaho and winter in California.
Don't intend to get anything bigger than what my Canyon can tow. Many decisions to make in the coming months and I'm getting what I asked for from this forum, opinions, experience and advice.
Thank you.
Lee

If you aren't planning to travel but just go back and forth between two "home bases", I would suggest alternatives:
- Especially if you can park it at the kids house, consider getting 2 trailers and leave one at each place.
- Alternatively, look into apartment rentals. Airbnb rentals can be quite cost effective and if you want to be Utah in the winter, it will be drastically more comfortable...probably more importantly, you have no maintenance requirements.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

A couple suggestions

1. Take the Aliner to Idaho next summer and see if you can find a place to store it in that area. Then you can make short trips while visiting the family in the summer. Winterizing that should be easy. Leave it there.

2. Look into other living options in Fresno. There might be some senior living facilities which would be nice, or a small apartment in a nice area that is affordable.

Unless you have some firm reasons, I'd not recommend moving to a new community/ state.

[colliehauler]

rightlaneonly wrote:
All good advice. First I should have said I am 81 and my DW is 90, she has dementia and has had for over 5 years now. I am putting the Aliner up for sale as it is for camping only and would be really tiny to try and live in. At my age the home is becoming more and more difficult to maintain even tho I am in good health.Cost of maintaining a trailer is almost nothing compared to maintaining this home.
I have two daughters in The Boise area and a son in Fresno. I'm not interested in travel, we were blessed to do plenty of that before the dementia came along.
I want, as some have suggested, to be able to summer in Idaho and winter in California.
Don't intend to get anything bigger than what my Canyon can tow. Many decisions to make in the coming months and I'm getting what I asked for from this forum, opinions, experience and advice.
Thank you.
Lee

If you don't plan on traveling I would look into a small efficiency apartment without any maintenance or towing. You could have one in each location. Some location have extended stay motels so you could have a apartment in one location and use one of the extended stay In the other. As you advance in age do you wish to be towing a trailer and doing maintenance on it? Just trying to suggest other options, only you can decide what's right for you.

I know a couple that retired and sold their house. They have a park model up North in MN for summer and one in Florida for winter.

[Charles2222]

Lost a wife and daughter in the same home.Had a 28 ft class c already.Did lots of traveling alone.Camped out of a pick up truck for a two month trip to Alaska.Spent about a month in Quartzsite and Yuma.Took me near three years to give away stuff and move on to sell the house.Lived about 18 months in the MH.You will have to work out your own feelings.Sorry I just don’t have an answer for youI was 73 at the time.Sorry about your wife,mine died suddenly without warning.

[IDman]

Thinking ahead a little....picture yourself recuperating from surgery such as hip or knee replacement and living in a small trailer. Would not be the most pleasant experience IMHO.

You would not be able to do a lot of the things required in a TT such as getting down to drain tanks, change LP tanks, etc.

Think about it.

[JimK-NY]

It seems you need to clarify your intentions or at least what you have expressed is not clear to me. I understand you are not interested in travel but you want the low cost and low maintenance of RV living and you want to be able to visit the daughters and son in Boise and Fresno. What does it mean "to be able to summer in Idaho and winter in California"? Where specifically do you plan to spend that time and what are you going to do? Those decisions could seriously impact the RV choice and your costs.

At 81 you also need to think ahead and plan for ageing and developing health issues.

[Guy_Roan]

Lwiddis wrote:
Most trailers are not built for full time living. It can be done but requires careful maintenance. If you already have a tow vehicle determine the maximum weight the TV will pull and carry. Buy something lighter however. If you don’t have a TV, buy or select the trailer first. Match a TV to the trailer.

I completely disagree. We snow bird for six or seven months a year in our own lot in a upper scale park in Key Largo.
There are some who live here year round in trailers and others like us that live for six or seven months.

There is more maintenance and up keep on our summer home then our trailer

Guy

[rightlaneonly]

All good advice. First I should have said I am 81 and my DW is 90, she has dementia and has had for over 5 years now. I am putting the Aliner up for sale as it is for camping only and would be really tiny to try and live in. At my age the home is becoming more and more difficult to maintain even tho I am in good health.Cost of maintaining a trailer is almost nothing compared to maintaining this home.
I have two daughters in The Boise area and a son in Fresno. I'm not interested in travel, we were blessed to do plenty of that before the dementia came along.
I want, as some have suggested, to be able to summer in Idaho and winter in California.
Don't intend to get anything bigger than what my Canyon can tow. Many decisions to make in the coming months and I'm getting what I asked for from this forum, opinions, experience and advice.
Thank you.
Lee

[valhalla360]

JimK-NY wrote:

You have been given advice on proceeding slowly. Maybe but you also are not getting any younger. If you want the mobility and travel allowed with an RV you might want to proceed quickly. Only you know yourself. Don't make a choice that you are likely to regret.

Clarification...proceed slowly on major irrevocable decisions...such as selling the family home.

It doesn't take a lot to get into a travel trailer so if you aren't really pressed for cash, hold off on the major changes for a bit. Feel free to move more quickly on picking up an trailer.

PS: Yes, RVs need maintenance but no it's not nearly as overwhelming as some are suggesting.

[winnietrey]

I my humble opinion. This is what I believe.

I lost my wife 15 months ago. First the one year rule comes out of Victorian England. It is not a law. It is cultural only, it may work for some for others it does not. Grief is very individual and follows different paths for all of us.

Two, well meaning folks that have not walked in your shoes, have zero idea what they are talking about. So do what is in your heart of hearts, listen to you inner voice. not to others think you should do or not do

I have no opinion on whether you should go for the trailer or not. I can only relate what my thoughts were after loosing my wife.

I thought long and hard about the trailer idea, " preferably parked next to a bar". But in the not so long run I concluded I would be very miserable living alone. Others do fine alone, but I am just not built to do that.

So I reengaged, went back to work took care of business and so on. For me it was a wise choice.



Keep the faith, choose to continue to live, it will get better. Take Care