For years I pulled a 30ft. Gulfstream hitch pull with a c1500 truck. Seems that everywhere I would go camping, everyone had golf carts to putter around in, so I purchased a vintage yamaha cart.
Now.....how to get it and the camper to the campground using my already overloaded truck. well the first couple of times i loaded the cart into the back of the truck, then hook up the camper. well that got to be a pain in the a$$, so a friend suggested that i weld a reciever hitch to the back of the gulfstream and get a trailer to carry the cart on.
Did that......So now I look like a train coming down the road....not to mention causing tremendous stress on my already overworked transmission.
So.....after a few of those trips, I decided to get rid of the cart.....only to become interested in cruising motorcycles.
After a while the camping trips were less frequent and motorcycle trips were more popular.....yet i still enjoyed camping.
Sooo.....the next logical step was to get a toy-hauler. OK.......thats about $20,000+ (waay out of my budget) Hmmmm....what to do, what to do.....
Not long after purchasing the bike, I had purchased a 6x12 single axle enclosed trailer. I decided to sell the gulfstream and embark on converting the enclosed trailer into a camper/ mini toy-hauler.
I constructed a fold down bunk and the kitchen was located in the front nose of the trailer. Well that design did great for me but after a year I had to sell it for financial reasons.
(which actually i got more than what i paid for it)
I never lost the love for the great outdoors......so now about 18 months have passed since i sold the trailer/mini toy hauler/camper, and I'm ready to start camping again. Still have the bike but it hasn't run in a few years. The trailer that i was using to carry the golf cart is still in possesion which is still in my back yard, and now about 12 shades of a nasty moss green and overgrown with weeds and flat tires. but As you can see from the 2008 photograph, the frame is extremely heavy duty....(I could probably construct a 2 story on it)...
This looks to be the likely candidate for my build. 
So for the past few weeks I've been reading forums on micro campers and teardrops and i decided.....yeah....."I could build that"
Although I really like the lines of the teardrop shape, it won't provide the area for what i want to include in my micro camper. I believe its called the renegade design.... a little like this one: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=61487
so currently i'm brainstorming designs for my micro camper. And although I like the rear hatch outdoor kitchen design, I'll need to make the back flat and squared off. but will probably stick with the slope on the front, but with one difference......I plan on constructing a micro slide-out that slides forward towards the tongue of the trailer.
It will be a standing design so the ceiling will need to be 6ft. the kitchen area will be on the rear wall and i'm thinking of someway to make it double sided to where i can access it from inside the camper or outside from the back. (any ideas or brainstorms/hints are welcomed)
It will have a full height camper door which will probably be located at the rear of the trailer. I really like the PMF technique that you guys came up with.
I'll use that for the roof and to keep the weight down will probably use the luan-rigid insulation-luan sandwich.
The floor will have to be 3/4 or better straight ply as well as the two side walls for strength (maybe 1/2" for the sides.. the slide out will be of the luan, foam sandwich type as well as the rear wall.
I found some skylights, hatches, and windows from a guy on craigslist that was disassembling a camper. He didnt have a door though...(which i think i may just construct my own)
I have been brainstorming multiple space uses....
1. The dorm refrigerator will be on the floor with a cabinet on each side. the bunk will fold down from the wall and sit on top of the cabinets.
2. Since mini stainless sinks are outrageous costwise, I will use a 12" stainless mixing bowl for the sink with a little drain in the bottom of it. A 2 gallon water jug placed above the sink will be my basin. as in most campers, I will construct a wood cover for the sink giving me a counter-top for eating and such.
3. even though my area is extremely limited, I want to somehow add a shower/toilet in there. not sure how small they make those tiolet and shower combos but I'd really really not have to have the need for a nearby campground bath house...
(at minimum...some type of toilet....for those middle of the night pisses)
4. brainstorming some type of fold up 2x4 bracket where i could hang a custom mini swing right there on the trailer...
Well....thats where i'm at right now....the planning stage. read some of the posts about budgeting everything first.....but that never follows through, so i'll just get things as i go.
glad to be here in the group....have picked up a lot of tips from the posts here which will help aid in my design.
