The Memorial Day weekend is usually the green light to the start of camping season. If you are a tiny or small camping trailer fan, a visit to the Small Trailer Enthusiast will give you plenty of minuscule mobile homes to drool over.
The site covers trailers that are under 20 feet long and the owner, Pat, is a 2010 Serro Scotty HiLander owner and fan of other small trailers. He covers everything from RV industry news, information on new trailer models, campground and gear reviews, gatherings and he has links to several dozen small trailer manufacturers. Some trailers covered are other retro-style campers, the T@B, teardrops, fiberglass trailers and pop-ups.
Photos courtesy of Small Trailer Enthusiast
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]
Love these small trailers! We enjoy tent camping very much but as we age, these little beauties become more appealing than they already are. :0)
small, light, afordable and fun. I’m looking forward to this blog. A “little one” is in my future.
I’ve been into old vintage trailers for quite awhile. Love to see their putting some personality back into some new ones. I would never spend a dime on the new stuff (cookie cutter type trailers) Well, Happy Camping every one.
Thanks for the link. I too love camping but am seriously looking at a small camper. I know I would go more often if I didn’t need to pack gear, and some times I do not have the energy to put up a tent (I have some health issues) but I would love have a change of scenery and be outdoors. I would rather have one built, but I look to “regular” campers for ideas.
I really like that last picture. So many campers are short on windows, which makes no sense to me.
Check out cowgirlcabins.com and see some pretty cute restorations of the little trailers…
I have a t@b for sale in Los Angeles–a 2010. I have fond memories touring the coast road to San Francisco but I’m going back to school. If anyone is interested, email me at amylturnbull@yahoo.com
I like the small older campers also, sometimes I wish I hadn’t sold the old Aliner…but times change and life goes on….I really love the tow vehicle in the opening photo, that’s my kind of ride !!
I came to tiny homes by way of teardrops & tiny trailers.com (tnttt.com) I have built my own tiny camping trailers and have had years of camping fun with them.
tincantourists.com is another great site.
We have a 13′ Road Runner travel trailer. It is a marvel of space planning. They are no longer made (trailer manufacturers and trailer floor plans come and go as quickly as seasons change). you can see an identical floor plan at
http://www.cruiserrv.com/fun-finder-x/x_139/specifications.html
Inside, we have a bed/dinette, small kitchenette, small wet bath and a whole wall of storage space. The interior dimensions are 7’x13. Outside, we pull out the awning and set our table and camp chairs underneath.
Sometimes I think it’s a sin how much I love that material object. I could live in it for the rest of my life quite comfortably. Someday if I ever get to build a small house, I will steal a floorplan from a small trailer (or several); they are ingenious and there are no lofts of ladders.
These little things are pretty neat. I’m a bit confused by the Indy car in one of those photos though!
I’m about to move into a 16-foot vintage trailer (1960’s Avalon) that I am re-doing to be off-the-grid and eco-friendly, as an educational tool and a permanent (well, full time but still mobile) home for myself! Vintage campers brought me to Tiny Houses, and I think tiny houses have a lot to benefit from by looking at camper design of the past (as I’ve explained at the Tumbleweed workshop I spoke at last week!).
You can see my tiny eco-trailer home at cometcamper.wordpress.com
🙂
Hey look they got my camper in the background of the snowy picture,how cool.
Small campers are the best
My business, Zyl Vardos, just took on its first vintage RV restoration. It is a 1969′ Fleetcraft… Made originally in Seattle WA.
Currently working on removing and resealing all suspect (leaky) windows. Ill soon post some pics.
Abel Zyl
Many thanks to Christina for the feature and the comments! We’ve had many new followers over the past week and I look forward to serving my fellow small trailer brethren news & info for their liking.
I love vintage travel trailers. If you can find one with “good bones” then restoring it can be a fun and creative project that is generally more economical than buying a new travel trailer.
I guess small is the new big. It shows one does not have to have a big camper to have fun.
I hate to be the cold splash of water here, but some of these older campers are Xtremely heavy! I mean seriously HEAVY.Back then,we had big V-8s in vehicles to pull, and the camper industry made the campers SOLID. I had a ’69 Vega, sort of a big teardrop style and while a windstorm couldn’t budge it, neither could my van or my full-size truck. I felt every ounce of that camper trying to tow it so please keep that in mind when you’re shopping. Even weekend outings were a chore and major fuel bill. For a live-in, can’t beat it, they are very tough but to hit the road with, test it first.