By Randall Brink
It’s a perennial question: “Would I be better off with a smaller RV?” Like boat people, RVers tend to progress through a somewhat predictable series of ever-larger RVs until they have reached the pinnacle of RV ownership: the coach that’s too big for them. I have done this with boats and RVs and then survived the downsizing experience. You can, too. Should you?
I reached the pinnacle in a 40-foot Foretravel, which suddenly became much too big for me due to life changes. Needing to get it right the first time, I did a prodigious amount of research on downsizing. (Read more about my experience downsizing here.)
At first, the temptation was to downsize a little, not a lot. An epic downsize seemed like perhaps too radical a step. But then logic caught up with the dizzying array of choices in the RV world. I realized that to downsize genuinely, one must fully downsize—create the ideal RV in the smallest form factor possible. In short, I chose a Casita travel trailer. It is 17 feet long. It has about 63 sq. ft. of interior living space. When I brought it home, I immediately realized what a colossal blunder I had made.
Or had I?
Mega land yacht vs. tiny home
The Foretravel was a mega land yacht, with doubtless more storage cabinet space than the Casita has total. Learning to live in a tiny trailer would take some creativity and the commitment to live a simpler life without the “stuff” that I carried (and, by the way, mostly didn’t use) in the big coach. Here’s a sample of what I had to learn quickly:
- If you haven’t used a kitchen appliance or gadget in a month, don’t bring it aboard.
- You can RV full-time with fewer than 40 bath towels.
- Trading a 30,000-pound coach for a 3,000-pound travel trailer means just what the math says: Get rid of 90 percent of your stuff.
- You now have roughly a dozen tiny storage cabinets, where you may have had 20-30 or more large residential-style ones before. So carefully, carefully plan and load each one with things you need and will use.
- Unlike your land yacht, where you could easily handle things just casually tossed here and there, in your right-sized tiny house there must be a place for everything and everything in its place. Example: In the big coach, if I left a pan on the galley range, there was nothing near it to need access to, so it was no problem. Tiny house—a utensil left on the stovetop or prep table is in the way of accessing a cupboard, the sink, or having a place to set your coffee cup. Example: In a minimal-space living situation, if you do not put the tire pressure gauge, your socks, the Scotch, or your orthodontic bite plate exactly in its designated place where it belongs, you won’t find it for a week—if ever.
- Clean, do dishes, tidy up, and address maintenance issues immediately. Letting your house get cluttered or broken will frustrate and demoralize you. A clean, well-kept little house is a happy house.
You can’t dance in the shower
- You cannot dance in the shower of your tiny abode. There’s a reason the shower head is on a flexible hose. And if you’re boondocking on the 30 gallons of fresh water in your mini home tank, showers will be much shorter. And different. You will appreciate the luxury of your bygone 100-gallon water tank and your 100-gallon gray and black water holding tanks. But they’re gone now, and you will adapt. You will be fine.
- You will have no difficulty finding something to do with the thousands and thousands of dollars (“coach bucks”) you used to spend fixing and maintaining the complex systems of a huge motor coach. In a smaller, more straightforward format, the number of mechanical maintenance and repair tasks you can and probably should do yourself will be significantly increased and appreciated.
- I think it was learning to master the shower without overfilling the holding tank that I began to feel I was making it as a little-house full-timer. Then after about a month, when everything worked, I knew where everything was, and I lacked nothing of necessity, it was time to score downsizing as a success. I can honestly say that I would never return to a life of excess RV.
Pick a small, simple RV with capable systems and enjoy it to the fullest. You will not regret it. You’ve got this.
##FT70
We’ve talked about exploring down sizing from our 40 ft 5th wheel towed by a 1 ton dually to either a Class B+ or small bumper pull toy hauler, like the Sundance 19HB and smaller pick up.
We just recently did a similar thing by downsizing from a triple slide 34 ft 5th wheel to a triple slide truck camper. The new T/C maintains similar solar capacity & inverter size, but tripled the battery capacity by switching to lithium. We now spend 8-9 months traveling in the T/C & the rest in the 5th wheel. We love the T/C & wouldn’t mind living it year round.
I have been full timing as a single female 76 year old adventurer for the last 5 years in a 17 ft Alto tear drop trailer built by Safari Condo (in Quebec Canada). Yes, it’s small and I have to be super organized and very creative in making modifications to gain more storage space.
But I’m doing it and I love my tiny place. Easy to tow and park. I have travelled to Alaska and Baja Mexico. Summers are spent on Vancouver Island Canada.
2 years ago I spent 6 mos travelling in a DP 36′ Tiffin through 19 US states. Too big, too complicated and two many things malfunctioned. Too big and cumbersome and expensive to run. You can’t park anywhere easily and you need to tow a car to get around.
I LOVE those Altos!!!
Do both. We have a 34′ TT that is essentially stationary with FHUs and used as our seasonal (winter) home. Still have to watch the buildup of ‘stuff’ and control inside clutter, but it is cheaper than renting an apartment and doubles as off-season storage so we don’t have to haul much back & forth. And it is pet friendly.
We travel with our 21′ (3500 pound wet weight) TT. Same couple plus 2 cats & golden retriever. We all had to learn the dance to avoid collisions. Other than ‘insurance items’ (jack, tools, rain jackets, etc.) If we don’t use it pretty near every trip, it’s not there. Could we do a month without claustrophobia? Maybe. Two weeks? Certainly. Better than a hotel.
I’m late to this conversation but to Mary’s comment, I’d really appreciate knowing how much you pay for the ferry over to Vancouver Island Canada for your tow & trailer.
Hi, Butterworth Millicent. I was just curious and don’t know any of her specifics regarding spending summers on Vancouver Island, but I went to the ferry fare calculator and guessed at where she was departing from, where she was going, how long her vehicle and trailer are, dates, etc., and the price one-way was around $150. But, again, I was totally guessing everything it asked for the calculation, so that could be way off.🤔 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I would LOVE to fulltime in my 17 ft LilSnoozy! We have to wait and see what the future brings.
Full timing in a small trailer is possible. It depends on your situation. Probably difficult for a married couple but certainly possible for a single person. I’ve been doing it for 11 years. I made some changes in the trailer to better suit my lifestyle. They never seem to make them exactly the way you want them. You need to figure out what your true needs are when it comes down to what you bring with you. Hobbies, of course.