It was an idea I toyed with once or twice over the years. Then I abandoned it for awhile. Then, my friends and current “roomies” started bringing it up. The idea gained more traction inside my head. Maybe I should get a trailer.
Why not a motorhome, or a camper van or a tent trailer? These options all came up and were discussed both with friends and internally at length. It came down to this. I didn’t want to give up the freedom that the SUV brings as far as exploring places a little harder to reach. Plus, if/when this adventure comes to an end I don’t want to be stuck with “commuter RV”. A motorhome/camper van would be a nice option for most but I wanted something a little more versatile.
To keep fuel costs to a minimum I decided it had to be small and as lightweight as possible. I considered a tent trailer but one of my main reasons for considering a trailer at all was the ability to edit photos inside it at night. Something I previously did at coffee shops and libraries until they closed and kicked me out. Tent trailers just didn’t seem to be the right fit, they have be “set up” every night, are more open air concepts and just not as secure as I was thinking I needed.
So that started to narrow down my options and I looked into older lightweight fibreglass trailers. Bolers, Trilliums, Casitas etc. all small, lightweight, towable with the Xterra etc. All great options but they’ve entered the realm of trendy and here in Southern Alberta, the prices for even the derelict ones are ridiculous for what they are.
I also had the idea to approach manufacturers of some of the new trailers that are being built based on these popular old designs. I proposed to be a traveling ambassador for their trailers, providing real world blogs, professional photos of their product in iconic locations, graphic services etc all for a loaner but no one bit.
From there I set on my search for the perfect trailer and as my searches intensified I started to see older fairly lightweight tin can trailers for sale. I started to pay more attention to their weight specs and started watching the classifieds for them as well as their fibreglass counterparts.
Well, one recent Friday afternoon at work I had Kijiji open (popular classifieds website here in Alberta) and refreshing it every hour or so to see if anything new was popping up. Sure enough I see and ad for a 13 foot, 1971 Vintage trailer made by some company from Edmonton that’s long been out of the game. I called up the seller and arranged to see it after work.
Being one to follow my gut more often than my mind there wasn’t much hesitation once I found myself standing inside it. Its far from perfect, far from pretty, but it was in the seller’s family since his grandparents bought it new. The interior is in pretty great shape for it’s age, the outside skin isn’t beat to hell and the clincher was that the gaudy retro interior colours are the same as in my logo. Bring on the orange and green baby!
The other clincher, was that he was asking a very reasonable price and when he was willing to let me have it for $100 less than that I jumped on it. In the 3 short hours from me calling him to getting there to see it he had many more emails and guys willing to come all the way from Edmonton to see it. I’m guessing based on the listed price.
So, without further ado I introduce you to my new traveling home (name to be determined). Watch for many new posts as I learn “how to RV” because as I forgot to mention, I’m a total NEWB to all of this. So shit’s going to get real interesting while getting her ready for the road and those adventures thereafter!
