Why a Teardrop Camper?

I think at least a few people think we're nuts to choose to live in a teardrop camper for months on end, so why are we doing it?  That question has many answers.  From our point of view, at least as regards our Camp Inn teardrop camper (#531, whom we introduced in an early post), the simple answer is "What's not to like about living in a teardrop?"  

But here is our Top 40 list, for those who seek more detail:

1. I had lived in Europe for seven years while I was growing up, so the "bigger is better" mentality never caught on with me.  In my experience the "best" was always some trade off between cost, quality and speed - it was never as simple as getting the next largest size or tacking on more bling.
2. I'd seen some of the mistakes that others had made in choosing their first RV: small layouts that required one or more pieces of furniture to be converted into a bed each night; tent campers that took far too long to set up and over time seemed to become more and more fragile; bed layouts that forced one person to climb over the other for those late night trips to the outhouse; buying far more RV than they could possibly afford to operate; buying a "bargain" model that in the long run was very expensive to own; buying a trailer that was so long that a truck stop was the only place you could possibly park it; and so on.
3. Teardropping is a great answer to what I consider to be perhaps the most important question that people can ask themselves repeatedly throughout their lives:
   
   "HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?"
4. We like the idea of keeping it simple.
5. We like that you are more inclined to stay outdoors longer if your indoor sitting area is also your bed.  
6. We like that you are more inclined to stay outdoors longer if that is where your kitchen is located.
7. We like that screen doors are an option on Camp Inn trailers, as sleeping with the doors open and screen doors in place is an awesome way to sleep on a warm summer night.
8. We like our Camp Inn's accessory propane port, so that we can easily use our infra-red grill or other propane accessories using the onboard propane supply.
9. We like that our Camp Inn has an optional built-in solar controller, giving us the option to trickle charge our battery if we want to camp off the grid for a while.
10. We like that the lower cabinet doors in our Camp Inn are designed to be used as trays, with drink coasters built into them.
11. We like that teardrop campers are a far more affordable than most other RV options, yet they are also bear-proof, unlike tent camping.
12. We like that most four cylinder cars can tow our trailer (but carefully consider the amount of cargo space you'll need before picking your perfect tow vehicle).
13. We like that we can stay with friends and they don't need to find a place for us to sleep - we only need access to a toilet and a shower, and we don't require much parking space.
14. We like that we can take our camper through any fast food drive thru.  We've had it in places like downtown Seattle and downtown Philadelphia and had no problems negotiating traffic while towing it.  We've also been through the Eye of the Needle with it in the Black Hills.
15. We like that even when the "campground full" sign is out at many KOAs, they almost always have room for something as small as our teardrop.
16. We like the way that our dog, Lana, looks at the cabin door when she is getting tired or cold: she knows it's a safe, comfortable place to be.
17. We like the low cost of ownership - less expensive tow vehicle; cheaper car and trailer insurance, licensing and registration; less gas; cheaper camping fees; fewer things that need to be maintained or repaired; lower vehicle maintenance costs; and less money spent filling our trailer up with excess items of marginal utility.  Lower cost of ownership means that, if we want to visit some place that doesn't have a campground, we can easily afford a hotel room, and there's more money left over for doing fun things.
18. We like that the galley is sized to store a standard sized Coleman steel belted cooler, a Dometic refrigerator or a Yeti Cooler, providing a range of refrigeration options for both short term and long term excursions.
19. We like that the ground clearance on the SUV model is adequate to go just about anywhere your 4X4 tow vehicle might take you.
20. We like that the galley in our Camp Inn has a quality two burner stove that when not in use is tucked away on rails behind the sink.
21. We like that the galley and cabin lights in our Camp Inn have a red light option to minimize annoying glare for our neighbors.
22. While public showers and toilets are not always convenient and the degree of maintenance and upkeep can vary, we like that someone else is cleaning them and that we don't have a messy sewage hose to wrestle with when we break camp, or a blackwater tank that we need dump periodically.
23. We love the quality of the marine grade hardware found on the Ultra model of Camp Inn trailers, because it looks great and will hold up for a long, long time.
24. We love that every Camp Inn trailer ships with a water pressure regulator for connecting to campground water supplies (we've seen far too many mobile RV techs fixing damage to neighboring RVs caused by high pressure water lines).
25. We love that every Camp Inn ships with a special adapter in case the propane tank runs dry while you are cooking - simply put on the adapter and attach a standard one-pound disposable propane canister in order to finish your meal!
26. We love that there is a very comfortable queen size bed in the cabin that is always made up and ready for us to climb in at the end of our day, and we don't have to climb over one another to get into or out of it.
27. We love that we can camp comfortably in three seasons (figuring if it starts to get too cold out that we must be parked in the wrong state).  Four season camping is possible, it's just not something we're interested in.
28. We love that we got the optional TV/DVD to help occupy our time when we hit a patch of nasty weather and can't enjoy being outside (some board and card games also help, as does a good book).
29. We love that when we aren't camping that we can store our trailer in any standard-sized garage bay.
30. We love that we have the optional air conditioning.  Running it on high for a half hour or so before turning in at night is a great way to ensure a comfortable night's sleep after a hot day.
31. We love the way that Camp Inn created a custom cowling to dress up the portion of the air conditioner that extends above the roof line.
32. We love the custom offset heavy duty teardrop hinges on the cabin doors, designed to minimize places where water can find it's way under the aluminum skin of the trailer.
33. We love that there is no floor in the galley that needs to be mopped.
34. We love the way the tiny galley expands in seconds with over ten feet of counter space and everything is within easy reach (we especially love the new rear table offset that makes it much easier to use the onboard sink). 
35. We love that there is no need for a vacuum cleaner in our tiny cabin.
36. We love that changing clothes in the limited space of our cabin requires us to remain limber, and gives us the means to practice being so (use it or lose it).
37. We love the openness of our Camp Inn's cabin, with door windows, front facing teardrop windows and a translucent window vent, as some other teardrops can make you feel a bit claustrophobic.
38. We love our Camp Inn because it is made to last, and the high quality finishes make it a place where we enjoy spending our time.  
39. We love that our Camp Inn holds its resale value better than any camper that we know of.  Buying a Camp Inn is more of an investment than a purchase.
40. We love how our Camp Inns' thoughtful design shines through in a myriad of tiny details that we use and appreciate every day.

A lot of people will find that teardropping is not the solution for them.  I like to say that it works best for active couples with a "wash and wear" lifestyle - not much make-up and no fancy hairdos; choosing the right clothes to wear for a particular occasion comes down to two choices: jeans or shorts.  In particular, people that have backpacked around Europe or bicycle toured are drawn to teardrops as a sort of a sweet spot between the old roughing-it memories of their younger days and the vast spectrum of other overly-complicated RVing options. 

Height can be an issue in a teardrop.  At about 6 feet tall, I can't imagine that someone can be much taller than me and still be comfortable in most teardrop cabins, though there are people who are 6 foot 2 that say they fit just fine in our model of trailer (they probably aren't bald, so banging their head on something doesn't have the same implications that it does for me).  Likewise, at 6 feet my head barely clears the open galley hatch on our SUV-height model.  On the other hand, if you are too short then you run the risk of having a hard time getting the galley hatch opened and closed (this can also be an issue with some people with disabilities).  The galley hatch is also fairly heavy, so some upper body strength (not a lot) is required.

Most people will initially find that, as they toss and turn at night, they sometimes bang their knees on the bottoms of the cabinets above the footwell.  You adapt to that very quickly, provided you don't have a serious medical condition that might cause you to flail about uncontrollably in bed.

Unless you are flying solo, perhaps the most important consideration in deciding whether a teardrop is right for you is an honest assessment of how well you and your spouse get along.  To me, it's like people that go bicycle touring on a tandem bicycle: for about half of them, it's the most fun they've ever had and the best time of their lives; for the other half, they wonder how long it will take to get home and hire a divorce lawyer.  I like to think of teardropping as a true test of your spousal compatibility (and are you really sure you want to know how you stack up?).

So that's why we love teardropping in our Camp Inn trailer.  And now you've been warned about some of the potential pitfalls as well as the benefits, so you should have just about all the information that you need to make an informed choice about whether teardropping might be right for you.  If it is, we hope to see you on the road some day!

p.s. - There is a link on the right hand side of this blog to Camp Inn's website if you want to learn more about their company and their products (their site includes pictures of many of the things discussed in this post).