Length of Stay

How long have you stayed/lived in your TM?  I've lived 20+ years in a small camp in Maine. Getting ready to hit the road and don't need a lot of ammenities.  Interested in how well a TM stands up to extended use.  What has been your experience or the experience of other folks you know?

The most I have ever stayed in mine is two weeks. Having said that, I think of the TM as a toy, I would never try to live in it. Were I to go full timing I would require something larger and with more space both in the holding tanks and storage areas. But then I'm a spoiled old fat man too.

There have been some here who thought about trying it but in the end back out for something larger.

We spent almost three weeks in our unit for our first extended vacation in 2001, and it began to get a little cramped after about two weeks, for the same reasons mentioned above: holding tank capacity, just the small size on rainy days, etc.  We are also a family of four with two young kids.  Our vacation in 2002 of just two weeks was great, and I don't think any of us felt too cramped, partially due to the great weather at the Jersey shore during that time.
Were I going out on my own, or just the two of us, I imagine we could stay longer than two weeks no problem.

my wife and i spent from the 28th of december 2002 until the 11th of feburary in our 2001, 3023, at both north padre island and south padre island, texas and it was great.  the first 10 days on north padre was with no hookups in the campground and it worked beautifully for us using the eu2000i honda for power at night and a mr. heater to take the chill off some mornings.  the holding tanks required fairly constant monitoring but there was a dump station close.  we moved after the first 10 days to south padre island, isla blanca park, with full hookups even cable tv, and again the trailmanor performed well above our expectations.  i do agree in inclement weather, we had one three day period of rain and cool weather, it became so close that i was even ready to go shop south padre for t-shirts since that is about the only shopping there.  we have already made our reservations for the identical trip next year and would like to stay even longer if we can arrange our schedule.  

make no mistake that there are some limitations and we kept a lot of clothes etc in the back of the truck and also kept our cooler iced down in the back of the truck the entire time we were gone because the fridge just will not hold the items needed.  it took lots of trips to the grocery store which was not a problem at south padre but grocery stores are quite a distance from north padre island.  we are getting ready to leave again for a four week trip to grand isle louisana and back across texas to north padre island again and both of us can hardly wait to escape the weather in k.c.!  With careful planning for two people our 3023 worked well but and a big but, the weather plays a real role in how well you will get along in my opinion.  

good luck

dennis

This is our third "snowbird" season in Mesa, Arizona, living in our 3326King for three months at this RV resort. One of my wife's complaints was that there was not enough refrigerator room. So we solved that by purchasing a Coleman thermoelectric cooler from WalMart. We also purchased two plastic cabinets with three drawers on wheels to give us more storage space. We bought some cheap shelving to hold all of our computer paraphalia. The shelving is next to the closet. We have cable TV and a phone line directly in our TM. I installed an electric water heater. Although we have the optional heat strip in our air condiitioner, we are able to and prefer to heat our TM with a small electric heater. Amazingly, it does the trick. We use very little propane, only for cooking. So with some adjustments, it is possible to live in a TM for extended periods of time. We know some people who full-timed in their TM.

Eugene's reply gives me some good ideas about extended stays.  Clearly with some clever modifications, it can be done, although the fewer people involved, the better.  I spent 3 weeks  camping alone in my TM on a friend's lakeside property in Mighigan.  The one modern convenience was electrvity--had to haul  my water in, but it was a wonderful experience to be all alone for that amount of time.

Almost half the time it was raw and rainy (end of September and early October) so I was mostly  inside for several days but had come supplied with books and  projects to keep myself amused.

From what others say, extended use depends on attitude and clever modifications as well as having only one or two people and not a lot of extra stuff along.

Of course, having a slightly larger TM like Eugene's 3326 or our 3225 can be helpful, too, as is buying one of those thermo electric coooler/ warmers.  We usually store stuff like milk and stuff that might be a little large for the fridge in there, and we usually have a cooler full of bottles of water and soft drinks outside.  That can give the kids a way to get something to drink without doing the in - out - in - out that we parents go crazy about.l

I would like to hear more about extended stays and full-timing in a Trailmanor.  I am considering upgrading to a 3326 and I think it would be more than enough for two people.

If anyone knows of any TM full-timers maybe you can get them to comment here on this webpage.  Their expertise would be appreciated.  

Eugene, you may have some very helpful information. I consider three months a very long time in any type of RV.  

Here is some more info of we do for our extended stay in our TM.

The water here in the Arizona desert is awful. Last two years we were buying our drinking water. This year, I have a filter on the outside and a PUR filter on our kitchen sink faucet. I change the filters once a month. Works great.

For our laundry, we have one of those new cloth square colapasble hampers. There is enough room on our king size bed to place it in the corner, next to the bathroom wall. My wife does laundry once a week here at the RV park.

For garbage, I have two plastic hooks that fit over the bottom wall. to the left of the door. The flaps with velcro hold the hooks in place. I hang plastic grocery bags on the hooks. Garbage is picked up twice a week.

For drainage, since we have full hookup, I leave the grey valve open all the time. Also, I leave the outside black water valve open all the time.

As for the toilet, I reluctantly use the formaldahide chemical. I am not environmently happy about it, but it seems like the only thing that eliminates the odor. I average recharging the toilet once a week.

My wife has her TV in the "living room" and I have my little TV in the "bedroom." Both are hooked up to cable.

One advantage of the 3326 is the six drawers for clothes, three for me and three for her. Also, the dinette table is a big plus.

I have the phone line entering into our TM at the refrigerator area. I ran the phone wire tucked under the velcroed flap, tucked into the split wall, tucked into the roof overlap, down the overlapped wall to our dinette. This is where I work on my laptop and do the internet stuff. I have a double phone jack, one for the phone and one for the computer. I also have a surge protector, which gives me more elecrical outlets.

When we started our journey to Arizona, we moteled it each evening. This was at the end of December. Coming from the Midwest, it was too cold to camp until we arrived to our destination. Besides, most campgrounds close for the season, then.

And finally, while traveling, we use our laptop with "Delorme Street Atlas" program and Earthmate GPS. This is my favorite toy and we never get lost. Also eliminates about 80% screeming and cussing from you know who.

Hope that I have given you some helpful tips that you mignt use if you attempt extended living in your TM. Maybe you have some more helpful tips and tricks for longterm camping in your TM.

Eugene

Eugene,

Thanks for the reply and the useful information. It appears that you guys have all the details worked out and enjoy full-timing in your 3326.  I think the 3326 has more than enough space for this type of travel.  

Most fulltimers I know complain about overloading anyway.  So for all FT RVers storage is always a concern.  I think the more space you have, the more you tend to carry.