the teardrop as a cheap hotel room!

[jss06]

That is why I built it. So I could take my bed with me anywhere.

[123jay]

With the bed bugs in some rooms and who know what been smoked sprayed it's nice to have your own space priceless

[bc toys]

thought thats why we all built or trailers for cheep trips and camping

[Redneck Teepee]

Exactly the main reason I have mine. Fly fishing is sometimes 4 hrs away and a motel room is north of a $100 bucks a night now for the flea bag variety. Now I just stay in the field so to speak, saving gas and daylite on return trips to nearest town with a motel.

Another use I take advantage of is El Mirage and the Salt flats racing weekends along with some of our local dragstrips allow overnite camping, and last but not least, we have an old family cabin in the high Sierra's that sleeps 8 with bed's and 10 with my tear parked outside..the grandkids love it.

[Greg Barrick]

exactly why I built mine. Being retired doesn't leave me with a lot of fun $. The wife and I took our camper to Berrien Springs, Mi. so we could go to a late 70th surprise birthday party for my sister-in-law. Weather was good, didn't have to drive a couple hrs. home late at nite.
We've taken it to out of state drag races for the weekend. Great place for a quick nap or get out of the sun and make a decent meal and sit around in a bag chair in shade for a break in the parking lot.
At $100+ / nite just to lay my head down for a few hrs, not using all the emminities you pay for at a motel, I'll take the camper and keep the $ for good meals or what ever. (the wife enjoys shopping at little junk shops)

[ae6black]

I've got a travel trailer that sleeps six for the family when we're on vacation. I take the TD when I am traveling several hours home to visit family. With six in the Tow Vehicle, there's no room for gifts or luggage. The TD is nice for carrying all of that stuff. Also, I got tired of the inlaws acting like I was in the way when ever we stay over, so I sleep in the TD by myself and skip the drama in the house. I get a better nights's sleep on my own bed than what my wife and kids are getting in the house on the cots and fold out sofa (I think the Devil designed that thing). Besides that, when I do Continuing Ed for my job, I often sleep in a campground rather than a hotel and generally save a bit that way. Besides, not to many hotels let you have a campfire in their room. I just prefer camping and sleeping in my own bed than one a lot of other people have slept in. I only have 110 V, never set up for battery camping, but have always been fine. I use the TD exclusively for winter camping and have been quite comfortable even to 18 degrees below O with a Walmart ceramic heater on it's lowest setting. Truth is, the TD gets used almost exclusively in cold weather, Don't have to mess with winterizing the thing since I made a minimal trailer. The TD shines for hunting season in the Pennsylvania and really works well for Cross Country Skiing excursions.

Art

[KennethW]

I have used mine as a DWI preventer. If you go to a wedding dance and have a little to much fun Just stay in the parking lot.

[pchast]

A place to stay when traveling is why we built ours too.

[darrellbeck]

Hi Cowboy,
My wife and I took a four week trip in August. It was the "maiden voyage" for our 5X10 Tear drop. We went 4467 miles and never once stayed in a motel. We loved the trip, we did many things we had never done before, including crabbing and deep sea fishing. We camped in campgrounds that ranged from the best (Garibaldi Oregon, a small campground within a hundred yards of the pier. Really nice.) to the worst (KOA in Butte Montana, almost no improvements and also one of the most expensive on the whole trip.). I might have felt different about Sturgis SD, since We got there right during the motorcycle rally. The prices within a hundred Miles are jacked up pretty badly (IF you can find anything) but that didn't matter to us because we stayed with relatives In Rapid City. Side driveways are always nice, and we chose to stay in our camper, rather then the house, mostly because all of my medical stuff is kept there.
All in all, a really great trip. The worst problem was some debris on the highway between Las Vegas and Reno that I could'nt miss so we ruined a tire on the TD. It did renew our faith in our fellow man tho, since some people stopped before I even had the jack or spare out. They had seen my walker as they first went by, and came back and changed the tire for me.
About every campground, someone had something to ask or to say about the TD. Comments ranged from "Are you nuts", to "Man, that's nice, did you really build it yourself?.
We got a lot of coffee visits out of it. One of the things I really noticed was how much it was like the camping in the 60's and 70's, when camping was done without air in the trailer, so everyone sat outside to be cool. We were outside a lot, and a lot of people would make a point of walking by so they could stop and talk.
This has been a little wordy, but it's your fault for getting me started.

Darrell

[jandmz]

Is it crazy having two campers? I don't think so. At one time my wife and I had two popups. One was basically a tent on wheels that was light enough to tow with our Geo
Tracker when we went to the off-road parks, and the other had indoor and outdoor stoves, 3 way refrigerator, sink, hot water tank, and cassette toilet, for when we were traveling and wanted more creature comforts. But, it took a more robust vehicle to tow it.

As far as it being a substitute for a hotel room, when our son was in college, it was a four hour drive away. On "parents weekend", we took our camper. We pulled into the county-run (first come first served, no reservations) campground about two miles from campus on Thursday afternoon, and had our pick of the sites. Now, this was a town of 14,000 people (not counting the 12,000 students) with 3 hotels. At the events that weekend, everyone was complaining that the closest hotel room they could get was over an hour away and almost $100. It was late October, and we had frost on Sunday morning, but we had a heater going, we had our own bed, we were only 10 minutes away from the festivities, and only $12 a night. People were envious.

[wincrasher]

I bought my teardrop to attend car rallies. Often times, I can't really commit to going until just a few days before the event.
So it's nice to not waste money reserving motel rooms that I won't use. So I've saved thousands right there over the years.
Another thing is I avoid all the loading and unloading of the car. Everything is in the teardrop and she's ready to go at a moments notice. I can stop on the way for supplies.
99% of the time there is a nice campground near the event, and I don't need reservations. Just pop in and set up. If no campground, then I'm OK dry camping at the event.

For my vacationing, I have a B-Van that has all the ammenities to take a long tour or boondock for extended periods. If I want to take my nephews with me, I can just hitch up the teardrop and instantly have sleeping room for 2 more.

[rowerwet]

I built mine as a place to sleep at work, rather than a 1 hr plus drive. I had a free room there before that, but it got taken by somebody else, they still let me park the tear outside the house though so I could plug in, and use the kitchen, bathroom and living room still (and wifi!). The house is provided by our employer, and they have hired even more people, the new people stay at a hotel, they must check out each friday, and don't always have good things to say about hotel staff or room cleanness. The tear gave me a private room and was only 5 miles away.

[stumphugger]

There is a state park at $35 a night in the middle of California's Napa Valley. I imagine a "cheap" motel room there might be 10 times that.

[dguff]

heading down to colorado this weekend to rifle to see a old highschool buddy with my teardrop in tow on my week vacation from ferrellgas I am on a vacation as I been with ferrellgas a hole year! I am going to grab a spot in a campground for 3 days and use my teardrop for a cheap warm bed and use a 120 volt small ceramic heator from wallyworld to heat the teardrop. I will have a place to plug in a drop cord and at like 30 dollars a night it will beat normal hotel rates around a 80 bucks or bettor.

I plan to eat out and eat with my buddy so no need to even open my hatch on my galley.

how many folks use the teardrop as a cheap hotel room on trips?

slow

after all a teardrop literly is just a bed on wheels!!!!!!!!!!

That is why I built my first teardrop back in 2003. We needed an alternative to motels every night on a cross country road trip. Worked out quite well. Hey Slow, How was your trip to Rifle? What campground did you choose?

Jerome

[S. Heisley]

I built mine not only because I know whose dirt I'm sleeping in; but also, so I could cook my own meals and know exactly what I'm eating.
This summer, I elected to fly halfway across the country because, even though the cost was about the same, it would take a lot less time than driving.
However, finding an available motel/hotel with good ratings and a kitchenette can be nerve racking as well as expensive, especially if you are going somewhere near a resort town.

But, ordinarily, I simply prefer using my 'hybrid' teardrop as a motel/hotel room for:

- convenience
- cleanliness (or ones own style)
- privacy
- comfort
- meals
- campground views
- money saver....

While we're at it, the more you save while using your teardrop, the more you have to spend on other things, like maybe more camping trips?
.
It simply makes good sense.