Gypsy Vardo

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 18, 2011

I saw this at the 2011 Paw Paw Fest in Albany Ohio Sept 17.  I have seen pics of others that were bigger. This seemed to be made on a smaller lawnmower or ATV trailer. The woman that designed and built it used a lot of old wood and a beautiful old wood door with a cute little porch.  This is her chair massage business.  Sounds like she didn't sleep in it or travel much.  I turned her on to <A href="http://www.cheaprvliving.com" target=_blank>www.cheaprvliving.com</A>.  She may join us. She was parked to close to other booths so it was hard to get good pics.  She does know someone that lives in Quartzite and told me I would recognize her when I saw her.

Les H · Sep 18, 2011

Nice! I know twoknives kate will appreciate it too, I think she has been talking to someone about building one?.....

Oh, and I have been waiting for the chance to post this, dragonfly.
"I thought I knew what love was, what did I know"

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 18, 2011

Les H said:
Nice! I know twoknives kate will appreciate it too, I think she has been talking to someone about building one?..... Oh, and I have been waiting for the chance to post this, dragonfly. "I thought I knew what love was, what did I know"

I have been collecting quotes to go with the stories I will be painting on Little Sanitee, That will be used. Perfect, "I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?" This sums up a lot for so many of us that have risked the vulnerability of love. The first (incomplete) picture I have depicts the koi pond I worked on with my father when he started into his prostate cancer treatments a few years back. If you didn't see it, it is on my little blog Dragonfly

cyndi · Sep 18, 2011

When I was looking at a vardo for sale, in Tuscon, The seller told me there is a gathering of vardo owners each year in Quartzsite.  I hope to find them this year.  I just adore them.  If my Ranger could haul more weight, I probably would have bought the one in Tuscon.  It was so well made!

karl · Sep 18, 2011

I really like Vardos , thought about building one to replace the teardrop I sold, then I found the step van I'm working on.... still like to build one...or two<img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"> not real stealth though, they do attract attention, great for a business.....

gipsyweaver · Sep 19, 2011

I love vardos, but I have mixed feelings about anything I'd have to tow and back up. I think it would be between those and sheepwagons if I wanted a towable home.

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 19, 2011

@ Gipsey I guess you could use one for travel. I think there would be a lot of minus' to them though. Ideally an egg trailer for mpg and ease of travel but the Vardo just looks fun. I will look for an article about a woman in -I think-Great britian who decided to have her mid-life crises in a real Vardo pulled by her Gypsy Vanner gelding. I found it to be a really female empowering story, sort of like the young woman that wrote Vespa Vagabond and The Daily Coyote. Ideas I often thought of, that of a woman traveling like a lot of women already do but I  didn't know about them. I love this site, it has so many strong women doing these things and the men and women support each other. PS, without fail, if a woman pulls up with a trailer and needs to back in, a man will magically appear that can back her rig for her. Honest.<IMG border=0 align=absMiddle src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/angel.gif"> I wouldn't fib.  Dragonfly

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 21, 2011

This is the link to the lady in the UK. It is mostly a radio broadcast.  I could not find that she wrote a blog or book or anything.  <A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vcp3v" target=_blank>http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vcp3v</A> Dragonfly

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 22, 2011

An interesting Gypsy Vardo link build posted by Joey <A href="http://web.mac.com/paleotool/Paleotool/Vardo.html" target=_blank vglnk_1316690797437="1" target=_blank>http://web.mac.com/paleotool/Paleotool/Vardo.html</A>

BluffRat · Sep 23, 2011

dragonflyinthesky said:
An interesting Gypsy Vardo link build posted by Joey <a href="http://web.mac.com/paleotool/Paleotool/Vardo.html" target="_blank" vglnk_1316690797437="1">http://web.mac.com/paleotool/Paleotool/Vardo.html</a>

I recognize that vardo! ^^ saw an instructable for it a few months back <a target="_blank" href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Gypsy-Wagon/">Instructable</a> There's extra info about the little nuances in the build that you might not otherwise see <a target="_blank" href="http://paleotool.wordpress.com/plans-projects-and-patterns/the-vardo/">Blog Post</a> And here's the actual blog post, lots of extra pics ^^

gipsyweaver · Sep 26, 2011

Dragonfly, thank you! I think I've seen that one, but it's a great one. I agree that there are probably some drawbacks to traveling with one, maybe more wind drag and lower gas milage, but if I go with a towable, I think I'd put up with them  to have something I felt was a real house. I don't plan to move around constantly anyway. I'm more likely to park somewhere for weeks or even months at a time. However, right now, realistically, I'm leaning toward a truck camper shell that goes over the cab, and outfit it myself, plus get an electrical engineer friend or two to help me with the details of setting up a small solar system. I'm tempted to paint the shell to look like a vardo though...

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 27, 2011

I used to have a truck camper. Be careful of the weight on your truck. I loved it. I had the old fashoned jacks, not easy to put on and off but not a big deal either. If you can afford it and it doesn't have good jacks, get easy ones. I assume you may be alone and anything to make your job easier. It is nice to just drop the camper and free up the truck. Have you gone to the Sister's On The Fly site?  You will love what they do to their trailers and rigs. I'm thinking I may try to build a Vardo next year. I would like to use lots of recycled materials and then really have fun and decorate it. I just re did the first painting on Little Sanitee yesterday. Will post it on my conversion thread later today. Dragonfly

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 27, 2011

Here is a link a cousin sent me of Gypsy Vardos. She raised Gypsy Vanners horses and badly wants a real wagon for her horses to pull.   <A href="" target=_blank></A>

gipsyweaver · Sep 27, 2011

Thanks, Dragonfly! Those are some great photos! I'm still in the planning stage. Unfortunately, I'm at least 10 months away from any possibility of moving into a traveling home, and more likely 20 months due to commitments. But I'm doing my research and paying attention to people in the meantime and collecting what I think I'll need. I'm currently driving an older car, and if I have to replace it for some reason, that'll be the perfect opportunity to get the base vehicle for my future home. A truck would work for either a camper shell or towing a camper. I'll keep in mind the jacks... I've seen some photos of Sisters on the Fly teardrops, I really liked what I saw, though I would rather mine not advertise that it's a woman's camper for safety reasons. I like the look of the teardrops, but most of those look pretty short. Just a matter of taste, but I want to be able to stand upright.

dragonflyinthesky · Sep 28, 2011

Many of the 'Sisters' are like me, they just like the old vintage trailers. Most of the campers are considered canned hams or tin cans, not teardrops. Teardrops are a fraction of the size of the canned hams.  Dragonfly

dragonflyinthesky · Nov 21, 2011

stude53 found another interesting build link for Gypsy Vardos <A href="http://www.enslin.com/rae/gypsy/dwagon08.htm" target=_blank>http://www.enslin.com/rae/gypsy/dwagon08.htm</A>

gipsyweaver · Nov 24, 2011

Oh, thank you! I've favorited the page for when I have time to really study it...

stude53 · Nov 24, 2011

Here is a pickup Vardo!Attached pic - https://vanlivingforum.com/file?id=1234322 Good Luck, from Bob (aka stude53)

gipsyweaver · Nov 24, 2011

Oh, I like that, Bob! It's been suggested to me that I may want to look at a Toyota truck for reliability, which would mean a bed about 6' long if I'm reading the brochure correctly. So I might want to extend either over the cab (for light bulky storage like clothes and blankets, not a bed) or past the tail gate. I'd have to figure out how to build it very lightly if I do, though, which is making me consider a tow-behind vardo instead. Or I figure out how to repaint a fiberglass shell.

Wild_E · Nov 24, 2011

www.<a class="" href="http://email02.secureserver.net/search.php#" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(252, 248, 223); " target="_blank">tumbleweedhouses.com</a><div> </div><div>small houses on Trailers and one on the back of a pick up. Similar to the one in the pics</div>

Gypsy Vardo

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