We decided to head out on a drive the other day. Texas has a lot of bayous and they’re apparently “scary and worthless” to a lot of folks. We headed to the Armand Bayou Nature Center and took a stroll around. There were huge thistles all over the place and if you can see Allie’s arm details, she has a lovely thistle tattoo on her forearm. When we got married, Allie carried thistles, although they were a bit less prickly looking than these. We like thistles a lot. Maybe it’s the Scot in me. 
No, not that Uncle Rico/Val Kilmer masterpiece. I’m talking about TEXASSSSSS!! Part of the reason we have this blog is to keep friendlies and families up to date on where we are and what’s what.
We moved to Houston in October to pursue an opportunity at an oil company. Black gold. So we abruptly uprooted from Maine… sorry if this is the first you’ve heard…and we hustled in a car and truck hauling a little trailer to our new home city.
As you can see from the official map of Tejas (give it a click, see it big and proud!), we are surrounded by the ocean, Mexico, and tornadoes of DEATH. We settled in the Heights area of Houston, which is northwest of downtown and surrounded by highways of DEATH. We’re in a very small shotgun style duplex that is probably around 500 s.f. It’s small, but great for the keeping the placed chilled during the hot months. It’s also a nice stepping stone towards moving in to a 250 s.f. travel trailer at some point.
We’ve enjoyed Houston so far. We don’t plan on living out our days here - too hot, too many bugs, too flat, no snow, etc – but we will enjoy our time here. The ocean is nearby, there’s great food, plenty of good movies come through, abandoned buildings, interesting places within a few hours, 1 day drive back to the hometown, and all the advantages of living in a real city.
And now, some facts:
- Houston is home to over 90,000 Tex-Mex restaurants. That’s a lot of enchiladas!
- The Houston zoo only contains live snakes. The rest of the animals are convincing animatronics. What a digital gyp!
- The speed limit in Houston is 120 mph, the highest in the country. There are over 2000 driving deaths monthly. Better buckle up!
- Houston is the most obese city in the world, with the average weigh of an adult whale..er… male being 318 lbs. That’s a lot of enchiladas!
In closing, we’re doing well, enjoying new adventures, and hope you visit soon!
When Allie and I tell folks we’re going to live in a travel trailer and we’re not anywhere close to retiring, we sometimes get questions about this so-called “Tiny House” movement. I don’t ever claim to be part of the movement – the reasons we are choosing this are personal (see previous post). As I understand the movement, it was born from Susan Susanka’s Not So Big series of books starting in the late 90′s. She believe that we should focus on design and quality in a smaller space rather than building huge, cheap homes. I am behind that all the way – I love technology and I think if you’re going to choose simplicity, you might as well get the best bang for your buck. Things like high efficiency appliances, thin LCD tvs, latest and greatest in gauges and monitoring, the nicest wood finishes available – all of these will help you enjoy your space to the max.
However…this great idea has taken a turn towards the absurd. It’s recently been championed as a way to live cheaply and environmentally friendly..y. You have blogs like the Tiny House Blog and companies like Tumbleweed Houses touting this as an incredibly revolution in human living while trying to turn some quick money on a trend. Here’s an example of a tiny house featured on Tiny House Blog:
Are you kidding me? That’s an abandoned shack. They’re acting like this idea of living in a small space is a new idea for humans, that we’ve all had palatial caves since the beginning of time and now we have to be more responsible. The idea is more in less space, not less in less space. Most of the featured designs are minimally built with cheap materials, not innovative designs that maximize the living experience. Oh, get this, squatting is a totally legit way to “tiny house” it these days. It’s infuriating, really.
The other big issue I have is over the big money grab by folks unqualified to drive this movement. I count the often blogged about Tumbleweed Homes as one of the worst. They sell completed homes or plans so you can build your own home. Their plans range from $17.00 to almost $1000. You get promises of your very own incredibly home, cheaply built, and completely portable in some cases. I really liked their Popomo house since it seems like a slightly more stylish box than the others. Maybe an alternative to the ever-popular airstream – even has a metal skin! A few things bothered me though – thick steel siding adding weight, rigid architectural features that may not stand up to stresses of moving, and the lack of RV hookups. I sent a message over asking about the road durability of these houses and got this back:
Colin,
Jay’s Epu had over 4000 miles on it and there was never any signs of wear and tear on the house. Our homes on wheels are designed to be moved and can stand up to the rigors of being on the road. We have never had a single customer complain about the construction of the homes or their road-worthiness.
Brett
Thanks Brett! 4000 miles! That’s incredible! And not one single complaint over any bit of construction? That’s an unprecedented track record. I’m not sure even a manufacturer like Airstream or Casita could claim that level of satisfaction!
Here’s the facts: these homes cost between $20,000 (if you make it) and up to the $50,000 to $60,000 range if you have them built by Tumbleweed. They weigh in the range of 1000 to 2000 lbs more than their travel trailer counterparts. The trucks they use to pull them are heavy duty trucks that are far from environmentally friendly – Tumbleweed’s TV spot gave me a glimpse of the massive dually used to pull the 89 s.f. house they were showing off. The plans only tell you how to frame the house, and mention nothing as far as water systems and power systems – leave that to the professionals, they say. All in all, not quite the bargain you’d hope for. I can’t really speak to their land-based homes, but I’ll bet it’s a similar story. Let’s compare this to what I’m looking at for a 26′ used airstream: total cost with a full gut and refurb: $10,000. Weighs less, designed for hauling, and actually has reasonable power and water systems.
I could go on and on (and I probably already have), but I think a great, simple idea has been hijacked by folks unqualified to speak on elements of design. I’ve watched this go from a cool, practical movement to something overrun with advertising, workshops, overpriced products, etc. I’m all for making money, but the method seems counter to the supposed ideals. I’m also all for quality construction and materials, something usually lost in tiny home “designs”.
Here’s my personal tiny house philosophy:
- Belongings are a burden. While they are enjoyable, most of them are not needed or even used on a regular basis. We adapt to our given space – going small simply forces you to downsize.
- Small doesn’t mean cramped or cheap. We plan on making the most of every square inch of our living space and having the best of everything (within reason).
- Small CAN be cheap! You can build your own home on your own land for far cheaper than many of these sub-100 s.f. living spaces.
- It’s not for everyone. A lot of folks like big TVs in big houses. There’s nothing wrong with that and this isn’t a condemnation of American Excess, it’s a personal choice.
Done with the ranting. Hope it gives you a little insight.
We want to live full time in a travel trailer. Maybe for two years, maybe for the rest of our lives, but we think the first step is just doing it. Part of this blog is chronicling the changes in how we think, how we feel about this, and the experiences we gain. So let’s get in to it, shall we?
Why Do This?
- A significant pruning down of stuff and junk. We both love thrift storing and collecting cameras, clothes, and little doo-dads. We have a lot and most of it I never use and never look at. Things I use daily: clothing (same pants for a week), computers, and cell phones. Everything else.. it’s for fun. If I change careers, this could expand to using microphones and recorders, but those are all slim and easy to store. A professional sound rig could be stuffed into a travel Pelican case with ease.
- Saving money. We have lived in cheaper houses with cheaper utilities since we’ve been married. For TWO YEARS!! THAT’S RIGHT, WE’RE OLD PROS AT THIS!! Anyway. I always assumed that RV sites are cheaper than renting a place. A little searching has blown that idea right out of the water. $45/night at KOA, $54 at a local place. Holy crud, Matthew Lesko, that’s double the rent! More searching is obviously needed, but I stand by my claims. Monthly rates, perhaps?
- We hate packing. Whether it’s for vacation or to move. Hate it. Solution? Obvious. NOTE: This is probably the worst, laziest reason possible, but it’s still usually the first thing I say when asked “Why?” Probably because it’s the funniest reason other than…
- Seeing the country. I’ve traveled a lot for work. My wife has not. Every place I go, I decide if I’d like to revisit. I really want to spend a few months in Minneapolis in a travel trailer. Beautiful, great food. I don’t know if I want to live there. We want to see the mountains, deserts, beaches, cities, and long roads in between. We want to chase storms in the Midwest and see the sun set over the Rockies. We are beer enthusiasts. Sounds like a life-long brewery tour to me!
- Career options. When you travel, you’ve got some options. Consulting, film work, contract work, working on farms, you name it! If I can pay the monthly bills, I’ll do it. Currently, I like my job. Allie likes hers. I think we can wander around locally for a few years while we get our feet wet before I’d even consider cutting ties with my job and leaving.
- We don’t want to buy a house. At least not just yet. There are several reasons including INSANE prices of houses, taxes, upkeep, and (most importantly) a house ties you down geographically. We’re not ready for that. We may never be. Allie always says when we stop in some town “I could live here” or “I could never live here.” Neither of us have ever said or even though “Wow, I could spend 10 or 30 years here.” We view the investment in a truck and trailer as our first house. Later, we might find a place we like and build a small house. Or homestead. Nothing traditional, for sure.
- We’re not traditional. We are both a bit strange. We look strange. We like strange things. This isn’t a traditional lifestyle and we know it. It’s what is so attractive.
That’s it in a nutshell. I’m going to quickly hammer out some pros and cons that will probably both expand massively as time goes by.
I’ve very nervous about all this. Here’s a picture of me wearing women’s clothes, being stressed:
Why am I stressed? There are apparent downsides to this lifestyle…
CONS!! EX CONS!
- I don’t like camping. This sounds a lot like camping. I’m sure with a nice shower and bathroom, I’ll get over it. Allie… she likes camping okay. We like our comforts though.
- Cost. Sure, it seems cheap on paper, but I have a feeling there are a lot of hidden costs.
- Pets. We like our critter and it’s going to be harder and more claustrophobic in the smaller space.
- Space. Speaking of. We do want to prune down, but it’s going to be hard. We also don’t have as much personal space. It would be nice to have separate rooms, but that doesn’t seem like an efficient layout. Perhaps for sanity reasons….
- Getting Netflix. I am dead serious. We watch a lot of movies, and getting Netflix DVDs isn’t going to be very reasonable with a moving target of an address.
- Internet. This is less of a worry, but still won’t be as convenient as a permanent address. We both rely on the internet for a lot of social and work-related tasks.
- Healthcare. We are pretty healthy people, but things can change. I know there are options, but none are as good as a corporate health plan.
- WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE ARE DOING. Pretty self explanatory. I can learn from the internets all day long, but in the end, I really don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what hookups look like, I don’t know how much gray water I need to hold. I don’t know how to drive a truck with a trailer that big. I’m hyperventilating.
PROSE!! PROSE?
- We are stubborn. This relates to the last con up above. I believe we can and will do this.
- Space. We DO love each other. We love spending time with each other. Life will simplify and let us focus on our core hobbies and interests (for me, playing video games). We will not be buying junk we don’t need. We will be cooking in more often, although we do that a lot now.
- Adventure! Yes, it is an adventure. Biggest pro here. This is new and very exciting. If it becomes boring, it sounds like we just need to uproot and change the scenery.
- People are helpful. This is the nice thing I’ve seen in the RV world – people want to help. We’re not competing for anything. When you ask about film making, people think you’re gunning for their job and have no interest in helping out. When you ask about RVing, people want to share their knowledge and see what you’ve learned. It’s a community. I like that. Whenever I’ve been camping (hate the method, love some aspects), the campsites are like never ending hors devours parties – chatting, wandering around, meeting people, laughing. Our neighbors now: glare at us, won’t even say “hello” or wave back. RVers seem more open-minded than that. It’d be an odd decision to be a grouch and park 5 feet from strangers wherever you go.
Comments? Questions? Fire the main cannons!
So last post I covered the electrical systems, which I am comfortable with. I’ll be doing a post soon outlining the parts lists I have developed for doing a full gut/refub of a trailer that will highlight some of the cool products I found for that system, but this time I’ll be focusing on water systems – the fountain of life and happiness on the road.
As much as I love taking showers in public bathroom sinks, I’d much rather have a nice supply of water. To do that, we need to get it all contained and flowing. The main components are: tanks, pump, water heater, the fixtures, and (optionally) sensors.
THE TANKS
For some reason, I expected something much more expensive, and much bigger. Why? Dunno. I used to keep fish, and even a 50 gallon all in glass was under $100. PPL has a bunch of tanks (listed above), the biggest of which is 42 gallons, dimensions are 14″x18″x39″ and they’re already fitted with all the ins, outs, and tubing bits.
Let me back up. First you have to get water in to the system. I found a nice diagram by Mark Nemeth that I’m dropping here:
So, water fills tank, tank supplies
THE PUMP
In order to enjoy the same kind of water pressure (although a little less) that we have at home, you need a pump pressurizing the lines. It’s a little 12V pump running off of the previously mentioned 12V systems. It keeps everything flowing strong and has no problem running dry if that should happen. Alternately, you bypass the fresh water tank and water pump, straight to the city line (off of some friendly person’s house, or the campground water supply). The input panel for water often has a separate water input, or just a switch to choose lines. Mr. Nemeth suggested putting a pressure regulator on the city water in just in case it runs high and decides to blow up all your hoses. Good idea, cheap – I’ll do it!
Fresh water, either pumped or citied, is distributed to the various fixtures. Our trailer will be like the above, but without that 2nd sink. A sink in the bathroom seems like a waste of space – the kitchen works just find and it’s all of 5 feet away. Replace that in the diagram with an outdoor shower (for the nudist/exhibitionist in all of us).
THE WATER HEATER
Or hot water heater… Heats up the cold water so we all stay cozy and warm. These are those standard little square vents on the side of any trailer – they’re these little tanks that hold about 5 or 6 gallons – enough for a quick shower – and heat it with your propane. They run about $300 new, not bad, but a little pricey (or so I thought).
I like the idea of on-demand water heaters. They only heat water as needed and turn on automatically when when water flow is detected. Great in theory and practice – I’ve had them in past apartments. There’s one company that makes the standard RV sized on-demands, but they’re almost $1000 and don’t have great reviews. Other models are maybe $600, still twice as much as the standard tank style, and aren’t quite designed for RVs. I fear a little bit for my safety, and I’m not sure where to put one. Maybe we’ll add that to the “upgrade” pile and see if something new comes out in the future. Tank all the way for me.
THE (OPTIONAL) SENSORS
It’s nice to know the levels in your tanks, but apparently not necessary. Supposedly:
- If you can see water when you flush, black water’s full.
- If your shower don’t drain, grey water’s full.
- If your water runs dry, the fresh water’s empty.
Simple! But we’re in a digital age with digital gauges - I need something that tells me exactly what I have and when and the temperature and what the media thinks about it. I really like the Tech Edge sensors – they are Coast Guard grade, have a full tank measure, and can even check your LP levels.. lot of info, you pay. $300 or more for the system. Maybe put that in “when I get that bonus, I’ll buy it” pile.
DUMP IT!
When it’s full, you gotta dump it. Hook up hoses to the dumping hole, throw open the black water tank, then the grey to chase it. There are some thick, sort of rigid hoses that empty in to sewer holes at RV parks and dump stations. I’ve been advised that this is NOT a place to be homemade or skimp – you do NOT want to be cleaning up leaks and spills. There are also some nifty flush devices that you drill in to the side of each tank and use a hose to get anything clumpy (shudder) moving. Worth the $15, if you ask me.
That’s it. Not as scary as I thought. Just gotta make sure everything is connected tightly and you will not have any issues. It’s also more expensive than the power systems, but also very important to happy living.
Next time, I’ll go over some specific equipment related to these two systems, plus some appliances. I also want to explore the whole Tiny House movement and why some of those trailer houses are nay so smart.
Right, so, I’m starting with the system I should know the most about – electrical. Low voltage isn’t that different from high voltage (just scarier) and I think it’s a system I feel fully comfortable tearing out and refitting completely.
First up – Batteries. Batteries provide power to all those nice little things like water pump, lights, fans, gauges, etc etc etc. After some reading, sounds like a pair of 6V golf cart batteries hooked up in parallel would work nicely to provide a good bit of power.
Trojan T-105 batteries are about $130 a piece (would need 2) and weight about 60 pounds. In addition, they need a happy, ventilated space since they put off some gases as they operate.
After that, we need a converter/charger to get the batteries powered up and kept happy. There are a lot of nice 3-stage chargers that keep the battery on a trickle and won’t dry them up. They run anywhere from $100 – $400 and work pretty well. Probably need to yank out any old charger in our used trailer and put in something proper. The converter portion is pretty nice as well – lets you access the battery power when you’re not connected to hookups. It feeds back in to the main breaker and supplies power for the regular outlets. It probably won’t handle any big appliances, but it will power a little LCD TV and some sound, plus a few lights, etc. Nifty!
Other than that you have a 30A or 50A plug on the side of your trailer for hookups. These are specifically made connectors not to be confused with other types of industrial power connectors. You can get a cheap cable adapter that allows 15A standard extension cords to plug in to your power as well, but it may not power some of the bigger appliances (air conditioning).
That really wasn’t that bad. I need to figure out how to get everything wired up in to a breaker box and cabled out, but that can’t be that bad? I also need to invest in the great RV Repair and Maintenance Guide.
One of my big concerns over full-timing was my connectivity. I’m not a farmer, I’m a technology consultant and designer. I actually need an internet connection, not for checking facebook (deleted, done with that!), but for making money – finding jobs/clients, delivering documents, etc. It’s also the main source of entertainment for me – web comics, information about my area, and (mostly) watching movies.
Before I discuss all of the options for getting data, I have to say big kudos to Netflix for removing part of the entertainment dilemma! They recently changed their pricing and while everybody got busy complaining about possible hikes, I focused in on this:
Unlimited Streaming only. No DVDs required. I figured with my old plan, I’d have to get 1 DVD (that I really liked) and just sit on it until I was parked some place with a semi-permanent address to get DVDs again. Now, I can just add/remove DVDs on a monthly basis and only pay $7.99/month for streaming. The rapidly-spreading RedBox allows me to grab most new releases before they hit streaming.
So what do we have for mobile internet? There’s a few options, some good, some not so good:
- Satellite internet. This is the old classic option. You put a dish on your RV and get satellite internet reaching blazing (up to) 512k speeds down for $50/month. Not exactly fast, but if it’s your only option, at least it’s something. Add on to that the cost/trouble of setting up a dish everywhere you go and it’s not my favorite option at all. WildBlue generally is the leader in this field.
- Cell network hotspots. Virgin Mobile and others have unlimited data plans on a MiFi device for $50/month. If you do not have 3G, you get a 150kbps connection, and with 3G an up to 1.4mbps connection. The MiFiis $129 at the time of this post from Virgin Mobile. While this is much cheaper, it does come with a lot of limitations. Virgin only works near big cities and highways. Everywhere else it’s a complete dead spot. You can get some cool cell-signal boosters that will get a signal 50 miles from a tower, but that’s just more expense and won’t help in a lot of cases.
- Freeloading. Honestly, EVERYBODY has free wifi these days – restaurants, stores, and (although it’s not technically legal to connect) people’s homes. There are tons of free wifi collectives that give you nice maps to find a connection near you. Add to that many RV parks have wifi as part of their connection package and you’ve got a pretty stead stream of internets.
Right now I’m leaning towards a combination of 2 and 3. One option I did not mention was using your cell phone as a hot-spot. If I’m paying for a data connection through my phone, might as well be using it for my mobile connection. Some providers, like Sprint, are cracking down on that to force you in to buying both data plans for your computer/laptop/tablet and for your phone. Not very sporting. Unlimited should be unlimited.
I’m sure all of this will change before this post even finishes drying (I think that’s how blogs work), but for now, I can get by without investing in a big dish. Perhaps I’ll start watching a lot more local access television and less internet videos.
A blog, another blog, clogging up the internet. Sheesh. But we have a website, so why not use it?
This blog is for a few things:
- Posting random things that don’t seem relevant to or don’t want cluttering up our “professional” sites.
- Posting news and things for family and friends to see.
- Posting progress on our wild ideas regarding travel (hence the subdomain), living in a travel trailer, and living simply.
- Posting items that might be useful later, so we can find them.
Enjoy. Or don’t. This really isn’t for you unless you’d want it.
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