I started out last summer with a 4 cylinder RAV4 for towing, wanting basically a hardside tent/bed on wheels. Research led me to the teardrop trailer concept and to this forum. I never considered building one as I'm not handy and don't own many (non-bicycle related) tools. Once I saw a couple of teardrops in person, I decided I'd prefer a small standy, something I could stand up and move around in a little bit, put my pants on without having to squirm around, and so on.
For a LONG time I was absolutely fixated on the T@b, but it was too heavy for my Toyota, so I was stymied. Also, Anne, my significant other isn't a camper, but said she'd try it if I bought a trailer with a bathroom. I had mixed feelings honestly--firstly, I didn't know that she'd enjoy camping much anyway, and had been shopping for something mainly for my one use. Also, I was intimidated by the plumbing in more fully-optioned trailers, winterizing, black water, grey water--yikes!
Finally, I decided to trade in the RAV4, and I bought a small used pickup, a 5 cylinder Chevy Colorado. This opened up my options considerably and I started looking for used T@bs and researching other new and used small travel trailers. As I looked at options, I came to prefer designs that allowed for a separate sitting and sleeping area so I wouldn't need to knock down the dinette every night and put it back together every morning.
I eventually got pretty interested in the Forest River R-pod. Conversations with my dad, who owns a travel trailer, and a salesman at the nearest RV place gradually convinced me that I could handle the plumbing maintenance, and it would be nice to give Annie a chance to try this crazy camping stuff if she wants to sometime! The R-pod exterior was very appealing, the shape and the quality of the wall/floor/ceiling construction, but some of the inside fixtures seemed a bit flimsy and the wet bath (shower and toilet in one enclosure) was pretty cramped. I felt that if I had to monkey with the plumbing anyway, I'd like a set up that was a little easier to use. Still, I was pretty ready to pull the trigger on a 2010 R-pod at a dealership nearby. I even took the brochure with me at Christmas to show my dad and see what he thought. Dad liked the looks of the trailer and we took a little tour of his travel trailer. I mentioned that the R-pod had models that had slideouts but I didn't think I'd like the complication. He immediately said that the one thing he wished his had was a slideout! A friend of his had one and he really thought the slider added a lot of room and value.
When I got back home, I went and took another look at the R-pod and decided the wet bath was just too cramped and the close out price still too high for what it was and went back to researching. I came across another Forest River line--two actually that seem to be identical trailers except for the graphics, the Rockwood Mini Lite Etc and Flagstaff Micro Lite XLT. They were very similar in exterior dimensions to the R-pod except they were curved in front and squared off in back rather than curved at both ends which really seemed to open up some room inside, allowing for more space, including room for a dry bath.
It didn't take long for me to find a few Rockwood Minis online in stock at a dealership about an hour from here, so I decided to go check them out in person. They had a 2010 unit with a single slider (model/floorplan 184) that was quite appealing. The interior definitely seemed a notch above the R-pod in quality and the exterior quality seemed comparable. It was a few hundred pounds heavier, though still well within my (and my truck's) means. I hadn't set out to buy a model with a slider but it did add a lot of space, and when I mentioned my hesitation to the sales guy, he pointed out that Rockwood had been building sliders for a long time and also observed that often when folks traded in their old trailers, they did so to get one with one or more slide outs, and said that they wouldn't be trading if they'd had slides in their old trailer.
Then he told me his close out price which was only a couple hundred more than the R-pod! So I bought it.
It's a lot more trailer than I started out looking for, but it's still small enough for me to pull and store and stay in alone very comfortably, yet it's big enough to bring Anne or another guest along. I think I'll enjoy owning this little trailer!
Here's the floorplan I ended up with:
And here's a demo vid of the model I bought--it's not the exact trailer or the dealership I went to, but it is identical to mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj_ikQGV__0
So that's my long, sad tale--hope you enjoyed it and sorry to ramble on! I'm still not sure I didn't buy more trailer than I want or need but we'll see...
Can't wait for you to post some pictures of yours and some when you go camping. And you 
