Starling Travel

While I was watching videos on YouTube, the following video for the Cricket Trailer was recommended for me.

The more I watched this video, the more excited I got. Here was a small, lightweight trailer with everything that I wanted and NOTHING that I didn’t want. By the end of the video, I had picked out the V-Berth style as my favorite and thought that I would dream of the day when I could afford one.

Unfortunately, I’ll be dreaming a LONG time if I set my hopes on a Cricket.

According to the Cricket Pricing PDF, the unit that I would want (with only some of the options that were shown in this video), would cost over $16,000. At that price, I could buy the best of the A-frame popup trailers.

It seems that SMALL doesn’t necessarily mean inexpensive. I like the compact design of the Cricket, but I’m reluctant to pay TEN times the amount that I paid for my used teardrop trailer. Even if I wanted a brand new T@B trailer (with all of these same features), I would pay about $5000 less than this one.

In the end, the Cricket trailer is an ingenious teardrop option, but it’s so expensive that I would never consider it for myself.

Mike and I have just returned from an epic journey that I really can’t believe we achieved with such ease. We drove from Utah to Arkansas for a class for Mike and his father.

The trip was originally planned as a camping trip with the Springbar tent, but after the disastrous wind, rain and cold incidents of the Disneyland trip in March, we decided that we needed a trailer.

We took the newly restored Teardrop American Outbacker trailer. I am still amazed that it worked so well. Both Mike and I slept like logs in the teardrop, despite humid heat in Memphis and bitingly cold wind in Cheyenne. Of the twelve days on the road, we spent eleven in the trailer.

When we planned this trip, we fully expected to spend some days camping and some days in hotels. Mike had looked for hotels and motels along the way, especially in Little Rock, Arkansas, because he was worried about sleeping well for his class. After the first night in a hotel just east of Denver, we never needed a hotel again. In fact, we only stayed in a hotel that first night because Mike had to work and needed a guaranteed Internet connection and a nice desk to sit at all night.

Every other night was a cozy dream in the teardrop together. By the end of the trip, when we were freezing our buns off in the Cheyenne, I had no problem just huddling in the tiny trailer all night. It had become my haven and den, keeping out the cold wind.

The best benefit to the teardrop is that we got such good gas mileage when driving it. The first day, we almost hit 34 mpg.

When we hit the massive headwinds in Kansas (and then again in Nebraska), our gas mileage got as low as 29 mpg, but that still was a phenomenal rate. At the worst mileage of 29 mpg, our cost for gasoline was approximately $365. If we had done the same journey in a motorhome or a big truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer at 12 mph (which is generous), we would have paid approximately $957 in gas.

Ever since I was a little girl, playing with my Barbie Star Traveler, I wanted to take a cross-country trip in a trailer or motorhome. The practical side of me never allowed that to happen because of the cost of owning a big motorhome and, even worse, the high price of gasoline to drive one. Our little teardrop trailer made this journey possible for both the childhood dreamer and the practical accountant sides of me.

I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

The negative of having a teardrop trailer (and most tent trailers) is that you have to use the bathrooms and showers at the campground. The cold and windy trek in the middle of the night to empty a nagging bladder is a far different experience than just stumbling out of bed and using the bathroom in a behemoth trailer. I’ve even been known to hold my water until I’m nearly bursting just to avoid that freezing walk.

Then again, a benefit of having a teardrop trailer is that you have to use the bathrooms at the campground. Take, for example, my encounter with Sherri Parsons. I was getting ready in the bathroom when she walked in and the awkwardness of the situation made my mouth take over.

“Were you guys cold last night?” I asked uncomfortably. The wind in Cheyenne was over 30 mph and was bone-chillingly cold.

“No. We stayed in one of the cabins. It was warm.” She answered with friendly voice.

“We have a heater in our teardrop, so we weren’t cold at all. I was surprised this morning when I opened the door. I kind of thought it had warmed up.” I laughed.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to do my midnight potty run. I slept all the way through ’til six this morning.” She replied.

I knew how she felt. I am always so grateful when I don’t have to leave the security and warmth of my trailer (or tent) to use the facilities in the middle of the night. Her first sentence finally hit me. She was sleeping in that cabin near us with the cool motorcycle. I asked, “You’re in the cabin? Are you the 50 States in 50 Weeks guys?”

She smiled. “Yeah, but the wind was so bad last night that I couldn’t deal with the tent flapping, so we got a cabin. Both of us are so cheap that we didn’t really want to do it, but I’m sick of being cold. It snowed on us in Denver.”

I replied, “I totally understand. That’s the whole reason we got the teardrop. We’re from Utah and those mountain nights get cold.” We both laughed and I asked, “So, did you get sponsors for this trip?”

She shook her head, “No. We’re just doing this on our own and he’s blogging every day.”

I shrugged. “That’s cool. You can earn money from advertising on your site as long as you keep blogging.”

She smiled wickedly. “Yeah, we’ve earned TWENTY dollars so far.”

We both laughed and lamented the slow burn of blogging for a living. I finished with my makeup and we separated.

Before we left, I knocked on their cabin door and asked to take their picture and link to them on my own blog. Both Kevin and Sherri came out and talked to Mike and me. I realized later that Kevin and Mike had already talked together about the teardrop trailer, comparing weights. They are hauling a tiny tent trailer.

Kevin and Sherri are from Las Vegas and are doing this for their mid-life hurrah. We talked about how hard it is to do an epic trip like this and he showed us the route they’ve taken so far.

After looking at their website for this journey (50 States in 50 Weeks), I’ve been entertained and even a little jealous. When Mike and I traveled through Nebraska, we really wanted to see Carhendge in Alliance, but it would have added three hours to our already long day of driving. Kevin and Sherri were more adventurous and saw it in all its glory: 50 States Day 27: Minden to Alliance, NE.

Meeting Kevin and Sherri was a wonderful highlight of our epic journey (more on that later).

And just think. We never would have met them if either of us had a bathroom in our respective trailers.

If you had asked me a few days ago when the first time I ever saw a teardrop trailer, I would have said less than a year ago, but I would have been wrong. I was watching this video from Mojo Nixon called Elvis Is Everywhere yesterday.

It’s a funny little video that I remember from my teen years. Imagine my surprise when I see an Elvis Impersonator come out of a teardrop trailer at the 2:32 minute mark.

They’re also dancing in front of the trailer at the 1:38 minute mark.

Somehow, teardrop trailers seeped into my consciousness in my formative years and I equated them with coolness, all thanks to Mojo Nixon. I find it ironic that Mike and I will be taking our teardrop trailer to Memphis and staying at the campground right across the street from Graceland this month. Can’t wait!

After weeks of restoring the Teardrop American Outbacker, Mike and I took her on her first camping trip. We are still a little worried about the windows leaking, so we camped VERY near home at Utah Lake State Park. She looked lovely at the campsite.

It was a sunny weekend, but the wind was bitterly cold and relentless. Fortunately, the trailer kept us warm throughout the night. Mike said that he had never slept as good camping as he did in our new little trailer.

When he said that, all the work that I had done to perfect the trailer suddenly felt worth it. Every layer of paint I sanded off, every turn of a bolt or screw, and every time I had to cut a cam shorter with a hack saw felt like time well-spent. All that I had hoped for in a trailer came true this weekend. It made camping easier, but it didn’t ruin it by turning it into just a home on wheels. It still felt like camping, but the two of us were able to sleep the night through despite the ragingly cold wind outside.

The camping fees at Utah Lake State Park were $20 a night, which included electricity and water at the site. There was a dump station for RV’s, but no sewer at each site (not that it mattered to us). They allow dogs on the campground, but not the beaches or in the water. There were clean and up-to-date bathrooms and showers onsite as well. Each site had asphalt for campers and plenty of room for pitching your tent on nice, soft grass. There were also shade pavilions at each site, but it was so cold that we didn’t want to be in the shade. We had to stay in the sun to keep warm.

The lake itself was a dark and scary mass of water with waves caused by the wind last weekend, so Mike and I didn’t go kayaking on it. There were many people there on speed boats and along the shore fishing. I was so surprised at how big the fish were and how many people caught some. We passed this man at the end of Saturday and he looked so happy at his catch.

Despite the cold, we had a lovely time camping at Utah Lake. It was just one of many trips camping in the teardrop that we’ll have. I’m so excited for the adventures to come!

One of the cool things about my new teardrop trailer is the sink that came with it. It’s a five gallon jug that fits nicely in a recess in the galley hatch. You fill it with water like any other water jug, but once it’s full, you can use a hand pump like a water faucet to fill the sink within the jug. Here is a video showing you how it works.

This sink was made by Reliance back in 1989, but I can’t find anything from them that works as nicely. They do make the Wash’n Go 3 Gallon Sink, which is a similar design without a hand pump faucet, though.

It is also a water jug with an integrated sink. I suspect you could add this Leisure Components Hand Water Pump to the lid of the product and connect an aquarium hose to the water spout at the bottom of the sink for a similar experience as my Reliance camping sink.

Reliance also makes the ON TAP Powered Washing Station Camp Sink.

This sink requires a separate water reservoir. You put their powered water pump into the water source and it will be a pressurized sink, just like at home. It’s so rare that I have electricity when I’m camping that I think this setup would be bad for me. Additionally, the reviews on Amazon make it sound like it is flimsy and overpriced.

In the end, this sink from Reliance that came with our trailer is ingenious and very rare, so we are doing our best to take good care of it.

After months and months of a teardrop trailer obsession, I have finally found one for myself. After so many unsuccessful tent camping attempts, we got to the point where we were able to consider a simple trailer. (Continue Reading…)

I found this trailer in my local classified listings the other day and I was enchanted with it.

For two hundred bucks, it didn’t promise me very much.

Looking to sell camper with trailer bed. has been fun for camping trips. ice box fridge. table that folds into bed. second pull out bed up top. with cushions. closet to hang clothes. three burner stove, oven, and heater all work good. propane tank. no leaks. priced to sell for spring.

I don’t know whether there are no leaks in the propane tank or if the owner promises that the roof of the trailer doesn’t have a leak, but it doesn’t matter. Mike would never be seen in a trailer that looked like this.

I, on the other hand, could think of a bunch of reasons to use a trailer like this.

It only cost $200, so I don’t care if it breaks down in a year.

If the roof starts leaking or the axle breaks, I can just haul the thing to the dump and be done with it. It only cost me $200, so as long as it lasts one camping season, it has done its job. Any more time than that is just gravy.

People will be shocked that I am not a redneck or they’ll assume I am.

If they assume I’m a redneck and avoid me, I didn’t particularly want to meet someone who is that judgmental. If they are nice enough to get to know me, then they’ll probably be impressed that I have all my teeth and can articulate a coherent thought with wit. If they automatically like me because they are rednecks as well, then that’s one more friendly person I’ll encounter that trip.

Ugly trailers are just as warm as pretty ones.

My biggest problem with camping is that I get COLD in those Utah mountains. There is only a two month window in which camping in a tent is pleasant in Utah, but I want to camp all year long. This ugly trailer could keep me warm on those cold nights in March and October.

No phone, no lights, no motorhome, not a single luxury.

If there is no toilet, there is no black water tank to empty. If there is no faucet, there is no fresh water tank to worry about. The plainer the trailer, the easier it will be to maintain.

It’s the ugliest trailer in the campground.

If there is a thief breaking into campers, he will pass right by this rusty old thing. I could have an LCD TV and several iPods in that trailer, but they’d be safe as could be because no one would believe that we could have anything nice in a trailer that ugly.

The next time you cringe at how ugly your camping trailer is, remember that there are several benefits to owning an old and beat up trailer. Take that old girl out on your next camping trip and be proud of her.

I was searching under the term “truck camper on utility trailer” and an image of the iCamp trailer came up. I have no idea why it showed up in that search, but I immediately fell in love with it.

It reminded me of the T@B trailer, but roomier.

At 2366 pounds, it can be towed by a regular car like a Subaru Outback. and the floor plan is quite compact.

The first thing I noticed was all the rounded corners. All of the cabinetry has a modern feel that makes this trailer feel retro AND modern all at the same time.

During the day, the trailer has a nice, U-shaped dinette set.

At night, it folds down into a queen bed.

Best of all, it has a wet bath.

I love the look of this trailer, but it does have one fatal flaw. The interior height is only 5’11”, so Mike wouldn’t be able to stand up in it. It’s a great trailer for me or anyone else who is short, but for many men, it just isn’t tall enough.

Continue reading for more photos and video tours of the iCamp: (Continue Reading…)

The two biggest producers of teardrop trailers are Little Guy Teardrop Trailers and Camp-Inn Teardrop Travel Trailers. Both of them make retro-styled trailers, but which one is better? Is it worth it to drive all the way to Wisconsin to buy a Camp-Inn? Is it better to just go to a local dealer for a Little Guy? Starling Travel is judging these trailers to answer just that using these criteria: Retro Styling, Kitchen Features, Pricing, and Availability.

Continue reading for the rest of the story: (Continue Reading…)