This is the story of a solo female living and traveling with a teardrop trailer for around a decade now! It all started in 2007, when she decided to hop on a Harley Davidson motorcycle with her teardrop camper (named tick tack) in tow. With the motor cycle, she would get around 30 miles per gallon (while towing the teardrop).
Today she’s towing it with something a bit more practical, and very likely just as economic on fuel. It’s a Volkswagen Beetle with a TDI diesel engine. That’s right, it’s a diesel Beetle! These are known to get somewhere around 50 miles per gallon, although I’m sure a teardrop camper reduces that to a significant degree, but I’m sure she isn’t complaining about it. Anyhow, hear all about it, and learn more about Jaclyn’s incredible lifestyle below! And tell me, would you ever consider doing something outlandishly awesome like this?
This is the Rum Runner custom tiny teardrop trailer by The Trailer Doc.
We have teamed up with an Architect and Master Woodworker to start developing custom “tiniest homes” and tiny homes here in beautiful sunny Ocala, Fl.
This is the Rum Runner ser# 001 Prototype. We already have plans drawn for an 8.5w x 24 x 10h home with a loft and slide-outs. We have over a decade of building Micro-Homes in Bermuda where every square inch of space is maximized on the island, and you can see the quality craftsmanship in the Rum Runner Teardrop beginnings of many more to come along with the Custom Tiny Homes.
How cool is this! I love the round door. More details on the last page.
This is Wayne’s Awesome $1000 DIY Wooden Teardrop Trailer that he built in Wisconsin.
Wayne owned an old aluminum trailer he had previously built and decided to transform it into a portable bedroom that he can pull with his Corvette. Now that’s fun! It runs off solar panels. Because he had a lot of the materials on hand already, Wayne only spent about $1,000 on the whole project. Practical and inexpensive — perfect!
This is Cosmo’s Tiny Vacation Teardrop Home on Wheels.
The little Vistabule trailer has been Cosmos’ bed for 52 nights over the past year and he uses it as a “step-up” from a tent as he takes in beautiful nature views. You can watch his entire video tour below, where he explains all the amazing features of his little home away from home. Enjoy!
This is a 24 sq. ft. micro day camper guest post by Ray Young. – share yours!
This is my 24 square foot micro day camper. I built it mainly as a kayak support vehicle.
It also serves to transport band equipment as needed. It is just 1/2 inch plywood with my first attempt at a fiberglass coating.
It even contains a small camping toilet. I pull it with my Toyota Yaris.
I attempted to sleep in it once, in the back yard, but it was a bit cramped, especially with my full grown Airedale dog that insisted on sharing the experience.
Please enjoy, learn more and re-share below. Thank you!
Since we last featured Barbara’s camper, she has added some upgrades to it. She raised the roof so that it’s now 6 feet tall, painted the roof white to reflect the Florida sun, added more windows, installed custom made curtains and cushions, and installed solar exterior lights. Pretty nice, isn’t it?
This is a 5′ x9′ Tiny Travel Trailer guest post by Kay Beam – share yours!
I built a 5′ x 9′ tiny travel trailer. I wanted something to camp in with hard sides so that I could bring my granddaughters with me. I made the walls 5′ high with a dropped floor so that I could stand up in it. At the dropped floor the inside height is 5’8″; I’m 5″6″, so there’s 2 inches to spare.
The floor and walls are made of ¾ inch plywood, and the roof has luan placed on spars. The walls and roof are skinned with aluminum. I ordered manufactured windows and a door.
It weighs just under 1,000 pounds, and tows very easily. It has an inside kitchen and a place to shower. There is a shower pan with a drain in the floor, and a shower curtain that hangs from the walls. The shower pan stores under the bed and I bring it out and place over the floor drain when I need to use it.
There are electrical and water hookups, and I’ll be installing a water heater. It took me about 180 hours to build and cost around $5,000.
I ordered a custom made trailer chassis and built on top of it. The trailer is very comfortable and convenient. I’m very happy with how it turned out. It was a fun project!
Below is a breakdown of the building costs. Please enjoy and re-share. Thank you!
Here is a guest post by Steve Whelan on his DIY Teardrop Trailer.
It took $2,000 and about 5 months to build part-time. Why build it? I was bored and needed a project! I am an artist as well, “targeting” my work as “Urban Art” with a twist. The military aspects of my work bring on a different feeling of peace. It’s 4′ wide, 8′ long, based on “Big Woody” plans with my customization. It features all the basics to survive. Gas, propane, water
This Pop Up Trailer to Teardrop Camper Project is a guest post by Ryan Parks
Alex,
After following your site and much pressure from my wife and friends I thought I would go ahead and send you pictures of our tear drop camper build.
It was built on top of a salvaged pop up camper trailer that I was able to acquire from a friend (his wife was grateful to see it gone). We cleaned up the old trailer and painted it up nice.
We opted to draw out our own plans after looking at multiple drawings on line and looking at different types of tear drops.
Almost all materials were acquired from RV salvage yards (door, side window and roof vent). We initially wired it up and installed a breaker panel for use in camping facilities that provide electricity but after more thought we went ahead and bit the bullet and set it up to use solar power as well if we decide to park it in a primitive camp site.
The interior was finished using cedar from a sauna that I had removed from a house.
We also have it set up for water. Again we tried to use as much salvaged and recycled materials as possible. We used an old stainless mixing bowl for a sink!
Your site is an excellent source of ideas and information. I almost wish I hadn’t built this one because my wife and I would love to build a “bigger” tiny house!
Again, thank you for having this site available for all of us that enjoy the smaller things in life.
