Trailer Life Q & A!

Tomorrow we are about to embark on our second big trip with our travel trailer (I feel like he/she needs a name, and usually our family is all about nicknames but the trailer just hasn’t gotten one yet, hopefully on this trip a good name will come to us!) So as we will be spending the next month in the trailer I thought it would be a great opportunity to answer some frequently asked questions that we get about the trailer and trailer life in general. We are definitely not experts by any means, we’re really only beginning our trailer life journey, but we did a lot of research before purchasing our trailer, and learned a few tips so far that I’d love to share, as I know it is something people can be very curious about (I know I was!)

How did you decide what trailer to get? And where did you find the one you wanted? We looked online to start getting the feel of different trailers at the beginning when it was all just becoming a reality that we may actually buy one. Then we went in person to see the actual insides of different models of trailers and get a feel for the different types that were out there. We knew we wanted to haul a trailer and not drive an RV so that narrowed the list down right away. We looked at lots of used and new trailers, and after seeing many used trailers that people did not take care of (the smells were real!), we realized we’d rather purchase new (for the same price as a used, actually less for us) and take really good care of it, to keep as an investment that we could possibly sell one day. Also buying new meant we wouldn’t have to do any renovations to it, whereas all the used models we saw needed a lot of work, and we didn’t have that extra cash to be able to invest in reno’s. If you have a lot of time to look I am sure there are some great used trailers out there that have been taken good care of, we just didn’t come across any during our search that were the size range we wanted, but I know my brother found a great used one that was like new! We ended up finding the one we liked the best at a big Trailer/RV lot in Orillia called “Heidi’s'“ there are a ton of big RV lots in that area to look for hours at different models, Heidi’s just happened to have the one we wanted at a good price.

How much does a trailer/RV cost? This varies greatly on what kind of trailer/RV you want. ‘Rv’s’ are the type that has a motor and you you can actually drive around in it, and a trailer has no motor and you tow it behind your vehicle. We opted for a trailer because it was more cost effect for us. We also found it safer to travel in our truck with kids and be able to have our own vehicle to drive around in once we get to our location, rather then finding a parking spot for a big RV everywhere. Trailers vary in price by brand, size, model etc, so we basically just chose our ‘budget’ and stuck within it, luckily they come in ALL different budgets so you can find what your looking for and not break the bank. You can also ‘rent out’ your trailer or RV to help pay for it after you purchase it!

Will you do school on the road? The answer to this is YES, one of the best aspects of homeschooling is the flexibility we have! This trip we will be doing school the majority of the time, with a few days off here and there. Our last trip was in the summer and only two weeks long so we did not do any organized ‘school’ during that trip. I think it will change based on the trip and the time of year that we do it whether we do school or not. Our plan this time is to do our math, reading and language first thing in the morning, and then have the rest of the day for exploring, other hands on projects and activities and lots of outdoor time. The kids will each have a ‘project’ that they will be working on throughout the trip, and will also be keeping a journal of our time on the road.

How do you do your laundry in the trailer? This is a very important question, especially for a family of 5 with towels and bathing suits, and clothes that have been played in hard and piling up quickly waiting to be cleaned. Luckily most national parks and trailer parks have a place to do laundry for a small cost (around 2$) and we also have a cool gadget to clean laundry in called a ‘wonder wash’ which is a small manual non-electric laundry machine that cleans a smaller load at a time. It’s good when your in a pinch without anywhere to do laundry and then you hang to dry on a drying rack that we bring with us. You could also use a laundromat if you needed to, as there are always some in every town. I ask the kids to wear things more then one time, especially things like jeans, shorts and PJ’s, that can be worn multiple times, not socks and underwear, haha, as I don’t want to have to spend TOO much time doing laundry. On our last trip, we only had to do laundry once!

Where do you find trailer parks and state parks to stay in? And how much does a site cost per night? My husband is the master at finding the best places to stay, he’s a part of many facebook groups, and forums, where people share the in’s and out’s of different parks. There are also great websites to find and review different sites, but sometimes you just never know what you will get until you get there. Thankfully thus far we have been pleasantly surprised with all the places we stayed, so I guess it’s all about paying attention to the reviews and talking to people who have been there. The cost really varies on location, and type of site. The state/national parks are generally cheaper (around $20 to $30 per night) but they don’t have any amenities, just a spot to park, and maybe some electricity and water. A trailer park is a bit more ‘fancy’ (around $40 to $50 per night) but they have all your ‘hook ups’ (electricity, clean water, sewage dump on site) and usually big bathrooms with showers, pools, laundromats, parks, waterfront, dog parks and more. We mostly stayed at national parks on our last East Coast trip, and it was very cost effective.

What is it like living in a small space with a family of 5 and a dog? It can no doubt get quite squishy if you are all in the trailer at the same time, so a very rainy day could get a bit tricky ;) but what I like so much about the trailer is that it forces you to spend tons of time outdoors. We try to only be inside the trailer to sleep, shower, make food, change clothes etc. Everything else we try to stay outside for, and the fresh air does everyone so good! Lot’s of hiking, biking, and beach time happens instead of being inside. If you have to be stuck inside for bad weather, it’s good to have some board games or card games to play, some art supplies on hand, as well as some movies downloaded on your laptop and ready to go just in case. Probably my favourite thing about ‘trailer life’ is that you are outside so much, even at night sitting around a fire and listening to the crickets is so nice and not something you get to do every day.

Do you have internet in the trailer? No, there is no internet IN the trailer, but generally we can connect to the trailer park ‘wifi’ (which is usually one of the perks of staying at a trailer park over a state park) OR use the wifi at other spots that offer it (coffee shops, walmarts etc) so the ‘internet sitch’ isn’t always amazing, but that’s why we pre download shows that we can watch at night before we leave, so we don’t need to rely on the internet too much. Honestly it’s so good to get away from too much screen time for a break!

Where do you want to take your trailer next? Do you have any other trips planned for the future? There are so many places we dream to take the kids, like out West to see the beauty of B.C. and California (Yosemite is on my bucket list ever since we went there a few years ago) We would also love to go back out East again and see Newfoundland and Nova Scotia this time. Our hope is to do a bigger West coast trip in 2020! We will start with that and see where we go from there :) the possibilities to explore are too many to count!

What is the shower like? This is a LEGIT question, and one I googled about before I had ever tried a trailer shower, lol. That daily shower is important to my sanity ;) it’s a mental thing I think, I feel better and ready to tackle the day after I have showered, so it was important to me that we had one. The trailer shower is decent! You have to ‘heat it up’ before you get in, so if your planning on taking a shower you’ll want to heat your water at least 20 mins before. The pressure isn’t too bad, it’s not going to massage your neck, but it does the job. The biggest thing to get used to is that the hot water only lasts for about 5 or 6 minutes, so you can’t ‘linger’ LOL it’s an ‘all business’ kind of shower and not a long luxurious one. It’s great to have though, as obviously everyone feels more comfortable to shower in their own personal space and not in a public bathroom.

How do you ‘dump’ your waste & water? Many sites that you stay at will have a “sewer hook up’ where you can empty your ‘black water tank” (that’s trailer talk for ‘sewage’) and your ‘grey water tank’ (that is trailer talk for all the dirty dish, sink and shower run off water) so if you are staying on one of those sites it is super easy to ‘relieve’ your tank as much as you want! Generally you would empty the black water first, then the grey water which kind of flushes everything out, it’s actually not that gross, but I can’t take the credit, my husband does it and he wears gloves just in case :) If there isn’t a sewer hook up at your site then you have to empty your tank at a ‘dump station’ which all national and trailer parks have. A little less convenient, but it can be done easily when your coming into a park or leaving. There is also a portable device that you can fill up and then roll over to a dump station so that you don’t have to move your trailer at all. They really have come up with everything to make trailer life easier!

How do you make your meals? Many of our meals are done on the portable BBQ that we bring with us, mainly because it is so easy to do ‘camp style’ cooking on a BBQ outside, and then you don’t stink up the inside of your trailer, which is a plus. We also have a gas stove top inside the trailer in our little kitchen, so I can boil things (rice, pasta etc), and make coffee and tea. We also bring a toaster which fits on our little counter top. We bring some pot’s and pans, mugs, cutting boards, knives, and cutlery, all the things needed to cook our own meals. We have a microwave to heat things up, and we have the cutest fridge which is actually a really good size and holds quite a bit! That is another one of my favourite things about having a trailer, that fact that we can cook our own healthy meals and not have to eat out much when traveling is the best for our tummies and our health.

I hope these ‘frequently asked questions’ help to paint a realistic picture of what living in a trailer is like, it has it’s ups and downs for sure, but it’s such a great way to travel economically as a family and that is why we chose to do it! Have you ever camped in a trailer before? It really brings the family so close together (no pun intended!) and forms so many amazing family memories through all the crazy travel times :) well…I am off to sleep because tomorrow morning bright and early we are headed south!

stay cozy,

Shelley