Wednesday, September 17, 2014

10 Reasons I Want to Live in a Travel Trailer

I've written a few times about how I want to live in a travel trailer. I  remember when this obsession (or disease, as my husband calls it) first set in. I was 18 years old and working at a Ford dealership.

Ford published a small  magazine they would distribute to their dealerships and in it one month was an excerpt from the book "Blue Highways" by William Least Heat-Moon. The author converted a Ford van into a travelling home (no kitchen or bathroom. Yeah, he was single) and set out across the U.S.

He stayed off Interstates and took highways and backroads (routes which appear in blue on maps) and visited small towns and heard the stories from folks with small lives but big hearts. And he wrote about it. It was filled with history, introspection, hope, and the wonder of the human spirit.

A wonderful book about travelling the backroads of America


I was hooked when I read the excerpt so I checked the book out from the library and read the whole thing. I loved it. I was on a different path in my life at the time, so I couldn't take off and do what he did, but oh, how I wanted to. That book stirred up a wanderlust in me that's been simmering ever since.

But I  won't blather on about my past right now. That's for another yawnfest post. My point is, I have never told you all the reasons why I want to live in a travel trailer. So I made a little list for you.

Living in a trailer and travelling wherever there are roads is my dream.


1.  The hubs and I would have our own accommodations, so friends we want to visit can't say they don't have room. You would be surprised how many of our friends are constantly remodeling their guest rooms. Most have even done it more than once! And it always turns out to be right when we want to come visit them for a couple weeks. Go figure.

It's really too bad that they miss out on our company because, quite frankly, we're charming.

Now if we had a travel trailer, why, we can just pull right on up in front of their house, hook up to their electricity, and us and our 5 dogs will be cozy as bedbugs. Just like when Eddie and Catherine visited the Griswold's for Christmas.

Eddie and Catherine show up uninvited at the Griswold's Christmas
Don't they seem like fun people to have as company? (Source)

A rundown RV is parked in front of the Griswold's house for Christmas
Can't imagine why our friends wouldn't want this parked in front of their house. She's a beaut! (Source)
2.  The kids can't move back home.  "Awww, son, you spent all your money on a big screen and computer games and now you can't afford your rent? Wish we could help ya out, but no room, don't-cha-know." 

"Awww, sweetie, you've been off footloose and fancy free in Hawaii and have run out of money while we've paid your cell phone bill and insurance and been taking care of your dog for 8 months, and now you need to stay somewhere while you work a job for a while? Darn. And us in our travel trailer with just one little bedroom. Shoot. Shootie Shoot Shoot. Too bad."

3.  If we don't like our neighbors, we can just up and drive away. Nosy neighbors are the worst. Always peeking out their curtains at your comings and goings and yelling at their husbands to come and watch what you're doing. 

Oh wait...that was Gladys from Bewitched. 

We actually don't know our neighbors very well, but if we did I bet we wouldn't like them and it would be nice if we could just drive on away from them. I'm sure it would be nice for them too. 

4.  No HOA rules to follow. Don't you hate HOAs? They're right up there with nosy neighbors. So we have a weed or 54895215 in the front yard, leave our trash cans on the curb a day or three after trash day, and our dogs bark incessantly a little - what's the big deal? You'd think we were living in freakin' Beverly Hills or something. I'll gladly trade HOA for KOA any day.

5.  I'd have interesting things to blog about. In a travel trailer, we'd be on the move all the time (other than the two or three weeks we'd park in front of our friend's houses). We'd be meeting new people and seeing interesting things and I'd have more exciting things to blog about than the time my Internet died or the things that happen in our bedroom at night or the time I went clothes shopping on Halloween and forgot to wear spanx. So see? You'd benefit too, if only I could live in a travel trailer. Maybe I should put a donation thingy in my sidebar to help the cause. 

6.  We would accumulate less crap because we'd have no place to put it. I buy containers to store crap. Then I buy things to store the containers in that hold the crap. Then I pin pictures of how I wish all my crap looked when it was stored. Then I buy more crap. It's time to admit I have a problem and stop the crapness. Maybe I could write off the trailer as crap addict therapy. I think the Obama plan covers that.

7.  No yard work. These are the three little words I long to hear every day. I force my family to do yard work, but no one in our house really likes doing it. Hence the aforementioned issues in #7 above. In a travel trailer we won't be anywhere long enough for the weeds to grow. And if they do, we can just move.

8.  We would actually be travelling. With a full time job and limited vacation time, we don't get to travel very often. Sure, I can get away and take my annual sister's trip for a few days, or go camping, or get away with the hubby, but we can't go too far or stay too long because we have to come back. If we lived in a travel trailer, guess what? No mortgage or rent to pay! With expenses cut, we could figure out a way to make enough money on the road to sustain us. 

And as Latin philosopher Augustine of Hippo said, "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." I want to read the whole damn book. Or at least the parts of it that I can drive to.

9. A small trailer means a small amount of cleaning. It's just plain science. The amount of cleaning is in direct proportion to the size of the dwelling. I'm tired of dusting and vacuuming and mopping and cleaning bathrooms. If we lived in a travel trailer I could spend my time more meaningfully like browsing Pinterest, playing Sims and making comics hiking and writing and talking with people.

10.  I could have a view with my coffee in the morning. I want to wake up, take my coffee outside, and sip it while looking at a lovely view every day. Mountains, beach, desert...wherever. As long as it's beautiful and changes frequently.

And those are all the reasons I want to live in a travel trailer. Lastly, I leave you with this picture, that my friend Kim, who doesn't blog anymore, but posts amazing pictures on Instagram, sent me via Pinterest:

Cutest carved pumpkin ever
This is so flippin' cute I can't stand it. (Source)
Trailing behind,
Lori

This post is for Mama Kat's world famous Writer's Workshop, in which (wow, try to say that 5 times fast) I choose the topic "Write a blog post inspired by the word: Travel". If you've never participated in Mama Kat's workshops, you totally should! Just head on over, choose a topic, and link up!

Mama’s Losin’ It

14 comments:

My New Happy said...

I want to travel the country in a travel trailer too - or maybe one of those big bus motor homes - although having to buy gas for one of those might defeat the whole purpose. I seriously dream about doing this someday - but not sure I can get the hubby on board. I want to read the whole damn book too. The pumpkin trailer is adorable!

Unknown said...

Okay, hold the door, I think I want to live in a travel trailer, too:)! And think I hear my husband cheering... Number 5 got me. And the remodeling excuse? That's great - I'm using that because we have guests constantly!

Suburban Correspondent said...

I am SO with you on all of those. Let's see, only 9 years until my youngest turns 18, and then Larry and I can go live in a trailer and I will FINALLY not have to be on our HOA board. And, hey, check out the Little Guy trailers - the back hatch lifts up to reveal a kitchen. You can pull them with a car. I WANT ONE NOW!

carol daniels said...

#8 -- If we don't like our neighbors, we can just up and drive away. Love it! I've never enjoyed living too close to people. I was very happy when we finally built a house out in the middle of our orchard. Now, we don't have to look at our 90 year old neighbor standing naked in front of his kitchen window while we stand in front of our kitchen window. Privacy is everything!

The book sounds charming and enticing! Now, I'm going to have to read it. Traveling the back roads and byways are the best!

Anonymous said...

You're adorable. And cute. And funny. And cute. Love this list!! I say have a yard sale, sell all your toted up crap, and get a travel trailer and GO! And Oh, the places you'll go!! :0)

miss rhei said...

'... with all your reason for living in a trailer, I'd also love to live in one. Just... you know, having a cup of coffee in the morning light or with the sunset in a different horizon day by day... a blast!

Lori said...

That's it exactly! A different horizon every day. Yes. I tried to find your blog to comment back, but couldnt' find it and couldn't reply because your blogger ID is "no reply". So I'm replying here in hopes you'll see it and not think me a total jerk for not replying to you or commenting back! :-)

MrsTee said...

Haha! Fun post...and informative! My Hubby has been talking RV for years now and he is determined that he will own one and road trip in one no matter what. Me? I'm not that big on the accomdation...well that was until hes howed me how far RVs have come! They are amazing inside now..not your grandmother's trailer for sure. So, I hope we both get to live out our RV dreams someday...you probably a bit sooner than me :)

KatBouska said...

I've been asking my husband to do this for a Summer for years and he refuses. I think it sounds like a win win too!

Susan @ A Slice of My Life said...

You SO crack me up! I think I'll pack up hubby and our four dogs and follow right along behind you! (My parents have actually been living full time in an RV for the last ten years. I was sure they were going to kill each other when they started out, but they seem to thrive on living that life style!)

Unknown said...

i'm convinced. this sounds amaze!

Sunny said...

Exactly. We bought a travel trailer a few years after we married and our goal was to become full-timers. And, we accomplished our goal. We lived for 2 years in an RV. First in a 5th wheel and then a motorhome for 2 years after we sold our home and retired. I would go back to that life in a minute, but age does make a difference. We are both 73 now so it's a little too late to try it again.

I loved your list of reasons. They were ones I can easily relate to. Don't lose sight of your goal, you can do it.

Rachel said...

I do hate HOAs, and I've never even lived in a place that had one. This list was awesome. I actually did live in a motorhome at one point in my life, when I was a kid and my family moved to Kentucky for my Dad's job 9 weeks before a home opened up for us. At other times we have used that motorhome as an extra guest house at our relative's homes, since one time my family (9 people) was living with my aunt and uncle and their kids (7 people) in their 3 bedroom house. The motorhome made that more comfortable!

Unknown said...

Great stuff - love your writing! Pretty sure if we were neighbors we would be most excellent wine buddies. :D