We're slowly planning our jump into being fulltimers.  We've just started looking at what RV's will be sutable for us to start.  We're thinking we want a light travel trailer.  I recently stumbled upon the TrailManor. It's lightweight and we both feel comfortable with the space it provides.  My concern is that where this is technically a pop-up, how suited will this be for full-time living? We are both well aware and open to the fact that no matter what our first rig will be, we'll be changing after actually living it in for some time. I'm just curious of any experience and/or horror stories some of you may have the tieh Trailmanor. 

 

Thank you

Andy 

First of all.. greetings!

 

Personally... we are fans of minimal setup. We like to pull in, and be done. Even moving the plants and fruit baskets back to their spots is sometimes too much setup for us after a long day of driving.

 

That's not to say that it can't be done...  but if you're planning to be moving around a good bit, you might find that the take down and setup process becomes a pain.  With the pop-up style setups, everything has to be put 'down' in stowage mode - nothing left on counters, etc.  With non-popup style modes, you can leave some things out and use museum putty to keep them in place. 

 

Think about things like - what about overnighting in a parking lot as you're passing through? Or late arrivals to a campground? Or quick lunch or bathroom breaks enroute?

 

 - Cherie 

 

 

Thank you for replying.  

I'm discovering that the process of prepareing to be fulltimers is an adventure in itself. After I posted the question, I begin to think about many of the things you suggested.  In addition, I started to rethink hauling all together. My concern is break-downs.  On some of our vacation road trips, we've been in locations without any cell service and many miles from any people/services. I can't imagine being completly stranded if our tow vehicle breaks down.  On the other hand, if our motorcoach breaks down, we would still have our 'getting around' vehicle to bring us to these services.

We know this first hand ourselves. We used to tow a trailer for our first 4 years on the road.  We're now in a motorcoach with a toad.  A month ago, we did indeed break down out in the middle of nowhere, it was a blessing having our toad to drive back 20 miles into town to arrange help. 

 

Here's a blog post we just wrote comparing the two modalities during a breakdown:

Our House is in the Shop (Living in a Parking Lot)

 

 - Cherie 

Thank you Cherie.  I'm anxious to read everything on your website.  I've watched a couple of your youtube videos too.  Lot of information out there, can't wait to learn!

We owned a Trailmanor when our kids were small, and did a lot of camping in it.  It was great on gas, but there are no slideouts and in my opinion, would be much too small to live in full time.

We went to a Trailmanor dealer over the weekend. I think you're right.While set up, I think the 3023 was large enough for us to live in full time. However, when collapsed for towing, there wasn't any room for storage. Also has a very small refridgerator. I think living full time, we would definetly need a larger refridgerator and additional storage areas.

We are in a similar boat: starting the journey toward full-timing. I know you're focusing mainly on trailers, but we put together a video series documenting our shopping experience. Ultimately, I think we'll go with a trailer (airstream), but we're still noat 100% sure.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHhufv2WUcY&index=1&list=PLWysv3wFKyy51uoVI85jdvMAEPOcm A6hr