I'll be the first to admit that RV'ing can be very different from vacationing via a hotel, motel, or rental unit. It's a much smaller space for one thing, particularly in the case of our petite little 2417 TrailManor. How small? Well, here is an intimate look inside of our trailer:
The rear area contains a king sized bed. We sleep in a double wide sleeping bag, rather than more traditional bed linens, because it makes tidying up each morning very, very simple. And, because it zips up along both sides, it also keeps us a bit warmer on cold nights. My luggage, purse and books are stored along the left side of the bed. I access everything by stepping up and over the dinette cushions. Mike's side is on the right, and he likewise gets into bed by stepping up onto the dinette (we store his luggage on the unused bed at the other end of the trailer). Not an ideal situation for some folk, clearly, but a trade off we were willing to make in order to have a super-light folding trailer that can be garage stored in just 15 feet of space.
The dinette seats both have storage underneath, and there is also gas heater under mine. The dinette table can be expanded (you can see the bottom side of the extra leaf where it remains stored underneath), but we rarely do so since its just the two of us. We sit upright at the dinette when we are eating, and sideways, like you would on a sofa, when we are reading or watching DVD's. It's really pretty darn comfortable either way.
The other side of the trailer, in the photo above, contains our kitchen galley (on the left), bathroom (on the right) and a second sleeping area (in the rear). The kitchen galley contains a sink with running hot and cold water. The top of the sink, currently holding our washrag, can be lowered and used for additional prep space. Next is our two burner gas stove, then our coffee maker and toaster oven. In the lower center of the galley area is a small, 3 foot cubic fridge. We gave up an oven, microwave, additional counter and storage space, plus a bigger fridge/freezer combo, in exchange for being able to easily store our petite little travel trailer inside of our enclosed garage, saving thousands of dollars in storage fees. At just 2,400 pounds, our trailer is also light enough to be manually pushed into position by Mike and I when necessary. And, because it is so light, we're getting about 18.5 towing miles to the gallon currently, which is just a couple of miles less per gallon than when we are not towing.
The cupboard under the sink holds our pots and pans, cleaning supplies, and two plastic bins full of cards and small board games. The three drawers at the end hold all of our cutlery, knives, utensils, recipe books, plastic bags, plastic wrap and tinfoil, plus measuring cups, spoons and wine bottle items. I keep everything tidy by utilizing dividers. The cupboard up top holds our dishware, cups, insulated coffee mugs, plastic wine glasses, dish towels, scrubbers and pot holders.
The walls of the bathroom area are utilized to hold hanging racks where we store our keys, cameras, flashlights and other small things we grab and use each time we go in or out, plus our toiletries, laundry bag and extra trash bags. Most of these items are hanging out of sight on hooks inside of the bathroom, which keeps our trailer looking neat and tidy.
The end area, which is actually the second, smaller sleeping area, holds stacking bins on the left for our food, and Mike's luggage and books on the right, where they remain nicely out of sight behind the bathroom wall. There is also a slim hanging cupboard running the length of the second trailer bed, where I store extra paper goods and warranty material for the trailer.
We also have an air conditioner, which we use not only to cool down the trailer on warm nights, but also to block the sounds of any outside noise on the rare occasion when we end up with rowdy neighbors. (Much less of an issue these days, since we are increasingly staying in private parks, or visiting public campgrounds during the less crowded workweek.)
In exchange for living in such a small, compact space, we are able to move our rolling home around with ease, and get very up-close-and-personal with our surroundings. As an example, here are the views we enjoyed while we were in Malibu this past weekend:
From our patio area -
From the left and right side windows of our dinette area -
From our king bed sleeping area window -
There is definitely some work involved in moving around, and living in an RV, but it's miniscule compared with the duties that call our name when we're at home. The nightly cost of RV'ing is a small fraction of what we'd pay to stay in a hotel, motel or rental unit, allowing us to build many months of RV'ing into our travel budget. Preparing our meals in the trailer is also a tremendous benefit, from both a monetary and caloric standpoint. But I think the biggest RV'ing advantage of all is simply the ability to relax outside in our own private space at the end of the day, and enjoy gorgeous views like this:
