Binge Planning

[Kbel]

Hi there! My name is Kelly, 28 years old Michigander, ready to get on the road. Well, I have been ready for years, but decided to take the route to get my master's in school counseling first.. I just can't wait any longer, and am hoping to purchase a 6 x 12 cargo trailer next spring to live in & "perfect" before my pup (Lemmy) and I hit the road. Hoping that with my degree I can at least do tele-therapy, or something of the sort, while being a full-time nomad. 

Soo many questions, but it seems that you folx have a lot of answers! If you have any tips after reading my bio, please share : ) I have been wanting to live the travelin' life for as long as I can remember, and when I graduate in 3 years (ugh) I want to be ready to make it a reality. As of the past two weeks, I have been on a research binge, in the past I have done some research, but not to the extent of this. I even bought a notebook to organize all the plans haha. I am fortunate as right now I live near a community of buddies that are all in the trades, and have shops and supplies. I do not want to rely on them to help with this renovation, however, I feel that they will be an amazing resource to help me achieve this dream. \
Seems that there are a lot of answers within these forums. A couple random questions I have (to start) that I have not noticed in the forums: 
-Cargo trailer interior ideas? Web resources?
-Also, I have never towed a dang thing in my life, any tips on where to begin? Classes? Anything?
-Any other professionals out there? Wondering how it is working on the road in similar fields

Feel free to just say hi... thanks for reading!

 

[RvDreams]

Welcome Kelly to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum 

You have plenty of time it looks like.   When you reach a saturation point  in your studies you can take a break and work on your research/planning for a trailer and journey to find work.

This is how I started, only I had an old Ford Van that I went out looking for work in and seeing the country at the same time.  Of course in my day all I had was a Rand McNally Road Atlas & Campground Atlas.....and some
guidance from my Dad.  (who traveled in his work and knew how to go about living on the road)  There were no Cell's, App's, internet, computers etc in those days and travel for a newbie wasn't an easy undertaking.   I spent time writing letters to various States Dept of Tourism for literature finding those addresses at the Public Library.  Today so much of this stuff is online. (if you have internet to access it with)

I found work and even a way to utilize my rig in my work to advance my career & salary.  (being single, and being able to move from one division of my company to another over a week end to take jobs fellow married family men would not consider.  I towed a small economy station wagon behind my Van then and it was packed with my
bedroom, bath, and kitchen stuff.   The Van carried everything else.  So on arrival I could set up my new digs
for the first night and have the car ready to use.  The next day unpack the Van and move the stuff into my place so the Van would be ready to use at work the next day if needed.  Had I not had this system I would have been stuck in the same job watching the married types get all the breaks and me getting everything they didn't want to do because I was single.   It is easy to get stuck in a professional bureaucracy and I suggest you research ways to avoid it or work around it.

To show you how much has changed since then I've put much of my experiences together in the two links below.
I'd invite you to look at both of them as they are free and were created to help a newbie have a successful first experience. 

Good luck !

 

[Kbel]

Hi, Kelly, and welcome to the forum!
There are lots of cargo trailer conversions on Youtube, like this one;


You'll get used to towing by doing it. I have towed very few times so far, you just take it sloooow, and practice backing up in an empty lot. Practice makes perfect.

Try to find a job that you can do online, while you are still at home, so the transition will not affect you much when the time comes. And save as much money  as you can, you WILL need them.

Since you are still in planning, have a plan B, and C, and the whole alphabet if you can. There are surprises to be had in any lifestyle, and not always pleasant.
And best of luck!

Ah, thank you so much for the pointers! I like that you mention finding a job prior to leaving home base, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the tip regarding towing, that is probably the thing that I am most anxious about, but you are right. A buddy also mentioned that I can get used to the feel by practicing with model/ toy trucks with trailers,, I thought that was brilliant too. Also good points about planning A-Z, good call. As soon as I finish whatever the heck plan A is I will move on lol

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Kbel]

Welcome to the CRVL Forum 

You have plenty of time it looks like.   When you reach a saturation point  in your studies you can take a break and work on your research/planning for a trailer and journey to find work.

This is how I started, only I had an old Ford Van that I went out looking for work in and seeing the country at the same time.  Of course in my day all I had was a Rand McNally Road Atlas & Campground Atlas.....and some
guidance from my Dad. .....

To show you how much has changed since then I've put much of my experiences together in the two links below.
I'd invite you to look at both of them as they are free and were created to help a newbie have a successful first experience. 

Good luck !

Thanks for the support! That's kind of where I am now haha 2 more weeks off of school, so I will plan away until then. It's so fun, yet so draining. Thanks for sharing your story also, that is wild. I have such a love hate relationship with technology, but I am thankful for all the map/ travel-related internet resources available to us, I am embarrassed to admit, not sure I could do this without it. I will definitely check out those links, thanks so much

 

[shadowmoss]

If you want to do work on the road that uses online resources start now keeping an eye out for inexpensive mobile (wireless) internet plans. Start using them now so you are aware of the flexibility and limits. Right now my knowledge of the plans makes Visible the cheapest unlimited call/text/data plan at $25/mo. The best deals don't always wait until you are ready for them .

I would also suggest that you start downsizing so that what you own will fit into whatever you end up living in. Better to not acquire things in the first place.

This life comes with a different view of things than the standard house based view. If you start making the shift now it will be much easier to make the eventual transition than attempting to move your house based life into an RV later.

 

[Kbel]

Thank you for the info! Good points. I currently have Verizon, I have had good luck with them off the grid, but I have no experience with hotspot data. Thanks for bringing that up, I will add it to my research files

Fortunately I am already pretty minimalistic- but beginning that process now is a great idea. I am definitely going to need to make lists of essentials, and non essentials.

Hey thanks so much for the feedback, appreciate ya!

 

[eDJ_]

Just a thought on hauling a trailer around.  I've spoken with guys who drive the 18 wheeler's and they have told me that it is actually easier to back those things up and move them around than a small utility trailer. 

Why is that I asked ?   The answer was that they respond more slowly to a drivers movements of the steering wheel of the truck.   In a car with power steering and a short utility trailer the least movement of the wheel will have a pronounced influence on the turning of the trailer. 

Your friends idea to use toy scale vehicles to demonstrate this is good advice in my opinion.

If your vehicle could be set up to do it,  you could visit a U-Haul place and get a temporary hitch and a small utility
trailer to use from Saturday evening to Monday morning.  Then go out to a closed shopping center  etc where you could practice some.   Take a partner and some old cans painted orange for markers.   You may want to find some towing mirrors to use too.  (these may attach with suction cups and straps)

Good Luck.

 

[jwhite]

the best resource you will find are 
here  https://www.trailershopper.com/  http://tnttt.com/viewforum.php?f=42
I built a 7x16 10 years ago and most people that I know that live in them like this size with a murphy bed 
because I haul a golf cart I used trailer shopper to find a company to build it a foot taller with a rv screen door and install windows I highly reccomend this route and do the rest your self.
last advice buy a larger tow truck than you need in the long run it is much better especially on long drives.

 

[eDJ_]

I have a 4 X 7 flat bed utility trailer that was "built" using a rear end/differential of a car with it's single leaf springs.
There is a shallow trailer bed that can be placed on it...about 18 inches tall.   I've planned to use a couple of wood pallets for the lumber in them to make fences to go around this  that would increase the depth another 24 inches.

Now I'm thinking of building a large box to mount on it for a build scaled down some  from the build I show in my Van Conversion site below. 

I had thought about this for a splicing trailer when I was involved in Fiber Optic.  I have a 5000 BTU air conditioner,
and generator large enough to run it.  I could work those features into the design.  Otherwise it would be a utility
for storing materials to use when at camp.   There is room that I could extend the box forward and a foot back
for an 8 1/2 ft long box.   And a pop up top or telescope roof isn't out of the question as there is room at both sides
to allow for that.

 

[eDJ_]

@ jwhite

Thanks for those links.   They reopened my interest in developing my little utility trailer.

I live right on the Ohio river and during a flood the trailer washed up on my property.  Just a frame,
axle, and tires etc.   The tires actually made it buoyant enough to be float along in the current. The trailer bed came from my grandad's trappings (estate)  he had it upside down on concrete blocks using it as a work table.   As I like multi purpose things being able to use it for hauling, travel & camping, or even a splicing trailer for servicing fiber optic cable with my Van rig is quite appealing.  Those resources you offered are quite appreciated.

 

[Kbel]

Just a thought on hauling a trailer around.  I've spoken with guys who drive the 18 wheeler's and they have told me that it is actually easier to back those things up and move them around than a small utility trailer. 

Why is that I asked ?   The answer was that they respond more slowly to a drivers movements of the steering wheel of the truck.   In a car with power steering and a short utility trailer the least movement of the wheel will have a pronounced influence on the turning of the trailer. 

Your friends idea to use toy scale vehicles to demonstrate this is good advice in my opinion.

If your vehicle could be set up to do it,  you could visit a U-Haul place and get a temporary hitch and a small utility
trailer to use from Saturday evening to Monday morning.  Then go out to a closed shopping center  etc where you could practice some.   Take a partner and some old cans painted orange for markers.   You may want to find some towing mirrors to use too.  (these may attach with suction cups and straps)

Good Luck.

All great ideas, thank YOU!