My wife and I decided we needed a camping trailer a few years ago, so we started looking for one. We didn’t have a whole lot to spend on one, so we knew we needed to think small. And honestly, for what we were planning to use it for, a small one would be plenty big enough for us.
We figured we’d mostly use it for going to the mountains to go camping. We didn’t need it to be very big. We figured we wouldn’t be spending much time in it, anyway. We only really needed to have a place to sleep, and maybe a place to cook a meal if the weather was not conducive to a campfire cook-out. And a bathroom? What’s the point? When you’re in the mountains, the world is your bathroom. So we decided we’d look for a small RV and wouldn’t worry about whether it had a bathroom in it.
We ended up with a 14-foot 1968 Aristocrat. It’s basically a tent on wheels. It has a large bunk in the back, a dining table that converts into a smaller bunk, and a working cooktop and oven. It also has a propane-powered refrigerator, but we’ve been advised to not attempt to turn that thing on, if we would rather not explode like a miniature Hindenburg.
And it has no bathroom. That’s fine for camping in the mountains, but it’s a little awkward when I’m pulled up to a rodeo. As long as the rodeo grounds have a few Port-a-Potties, I’m good, but I’ve been to some that lock up their bathrooms at night, and that creates a bit of a problem.
If we ever decide to upgrade to a newer trailer, I think I’ll insist on having a bathroom. Maybe even a shower. And a fridge that isn’t a death trap.
