Things We Regret About Our Tiny House on Wheels

Things We Regret About Our Tiny House on Wheels

Okay before we get too far into it, we want to make one thing very clear...we loved our travel trailer. But while looking back there were a few things we regret about our tiny house.

We lived in our teardrop travel trailer for a little over three years and we could not be more thankful for the experience. Not only did living small help us pay off our student loans but it made moving around for our job as travel therapists so much easier.

What We Would Change About Our Tiny HouseAt the time, our tiny home was the best fit for us. It was small and compact making it easier to move around plus it was adorable.

We did not build our tiny house, instead, we bought it from Homegrown Trailers and we love the company. They were willing to do any modifications we wanted but since we were new to the game we didn't really know a lot.

Our model was initially made for camping but we decided to wing it and live in it full time. After a while, there were some things we would've done differently with our tiny home. that would have made trailer living just a little bit better.

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Having a Shower

RV Park ShowersOkay, don't yell at us...we realize this is a complete 180 from our original stance. Phil has always wanted a shower but Kelsey convinced him it wasn't needed.

Just to be clear, Kelsey doesn't hate showers it's just by going showerless we were able to get more mobility from our tiny home. Since we were planning on keeping the trailer at RV parks and we were avid gym-goers we figured those showers would be enough.

The first year went fine, and the second year went okay, but by the third year, we were over it. The variety of showers really got to us.

Some places have wonderful, clean showers and some do not. After many shower mishaps, we decided the no shower life is hard if you have a work schedule to keep to.

Easy Access to Wires

Of course, you want wires out of the way but in a mobile home, things shift and break. Every road trip relocating to a new job assignment would result in something else needing to be adjusted.

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The final straw came when our water pump broke. It was something we COULD have figured out but it would have taken a lot of work.

Just to get to the wires we would have to remove the fridge and solar panel power pack. Again, we realized we could have done but we decided it was the universe telling us to move.

So instead of fixing it, we took it to Kelsey's parent's farm...RIP trailer. It's still standing but not exactly livable anymore.

We could have driven to Washington and Homegrown would have happily helped us out but since we were in California at the time that seemed like too much work. There's a chance that if it would have been an easier fix we would have kept living in it.

If the wires would have been easier to access we would have addressed it ourselves. But alas, we didn't even give it a go once we knew the fridge had to come out.

Separated Bedroom

Separated Tiny Home BedroomOur travel trailer was 94 sqft livable space so it's no surprise it was one room. Since it's just us and the cats we figured the bedroom just being in the corner would be easy peasy...it was not.

It wasn't the worst thing in the world but there were times on the weekend when Phil would stay up watching sports and Kelsey would wake up at 5 am to work on the blog. This slight difference in sleep schedule made the lack of separation difficult at times.

Even a curtain around the bed would have done wonders. Just something to keep the light out and muffle the sound a little.

Our ultimate choice would be an actual wall and door of some type. Our current apartment is a studio but it has sliding doors and a partition separating it from the rest of the room.

It really helps with our sleep experience. Plus we can lock out the cats (sorry boys) if we want even more privacy.

Tiny Home Bedroom

Enclosed Storage

We don't own a lot so overall storage wasn't a big deal but all of the storage in the trailer was open. It was all exposed such as under the bed or on a shelf.

Since we lived in a tiny house with our cats, there were things that would have helped us out that might not be as important to other tiny home dwellers. Our cats are pretty well behaved but after a bout of urinary crystals (a very serious, life-threatening medical issue for cats) our storage became a second pee spot.

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We don't really blame the cat because he was hurting and was just trying to hide away when his bladder would finally release. But since the storage was open, that meant pee all over our stuff.

The items in storage were typically things we don't use all the time like a tent so by the time we figured out what happened it was bye-bye in the trash. Some things were able to be salvaged but it was a full day of deep cleaning.

Looking back, enclosed storage with a lid would have been way better. We have seen benches where you lift up to reveal a secret compartment and having a way to keep it off-limit to cats would have been nice.

Trailer Storage

Our Site Decal

It might seem silly but it would have been such a good idea to have a cute little logo on the back of our trailer. This has nothing to do with the livable aspect and is only for aesthetics.

Living in a small wooden teardrop trailer is pretty unique and gets a lot of looks and questions. Every gas station, every RV park, every rest stop has someone coming over to check it out.

We totally missed an easy and free opportunity to plug our blog. WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!

Kelsey had the thought when we first got the trailer but we decided against it to keep more privacy. We were worried people would look up our website and somehow glean important information they could use against us.

We are very safe with our site. All of our pictures are on a delay so no one knows where we are while we are there and we never share anything too invasive.

Our paranoia got in the way. Next time we'll get a cute little logo to spread the word.

Learn From Our Regrets

So there you go, all the things we would have changed about our little tiny home. In the end, we loved our travel trailer but there's always room for improvements here and there.

If you are looking at joining the tiny house nation, consider some of these factors. If we could do over it again, we would probably end up getting the same trailer but with a few more modifications.

Things We Would Have Done Differently For Our Travel Trailer