Trailer living in CA

[SWbySWesty]

No need to worry! I just finished the gym, drop the trailer at work in the parking lot, and I'm going to happy hour with some friends. Depending on what happens tonight I'll either get back out to Goleta and sleep there, or else it that my friends house in downtown. Either way the trailer is safe and I am safe.
Really this whole adventure has not been an inconvenience at all. If anything I'm hanging out more with my friends. It's been quite helpful

 

[awol]

This is a neat adventure. I have a coworker that wants to do this almost permanently. He keeps asking me to build him an expo style trailer. I'm gonna show him this thread on Monday.


Eric.

Sent from......

 

[SWbySWesty]

Last night I met a new friend at the gym. Random, but I figured why not actually TALK to people and it turns out that he's a fun guy. I invited him to happy hour with some friends of mine and then we ended up staying late. We then bar hopped, met girls, ditched girls, and did random Friday night shenanigans. Crashed in the trailer and now I'm about to head to LA for the weekend so I won't be posting until Sunday night or Monday morning when I'm back up here.


So what's the latest problem? I found out last night that I'm out of underwear. wth? My shorts split at the seam last night so I have to exchange them at the store, but all that isn't really related to crashing, but kinda...I have to do laundry before I anticipated and who knows how the shorts thing happened HA.

 

[kraqus]

Subscribed!





Benny

 

[xkid]

It's great things are working out. Keep us updated.

 

[SWbySWesty]

Coming up: Saturday morning I awake to a FULL parking lot around the trailer. There are people with their kids arriving every few minutes...I'm super self conscious at this point.

 

[rxinhed]

I lived nearly a year in my small Class C until I could afford to move my family to my new work area. I resided in two different RV parks, a few nights at the project site, and a while in a friend' driveway. Over the course of the year, I had to rely on the RV for transportation of approximately 1000 miles around the local area. That time period was very difficult. 'Showering' involved hot water from a coffee maker. One of the parks had no potable water while the well was being replaced, so cooking and cleaning were both impaired. In the driveway, I had no power without running the generator...and couldn't keep things in the fridge. I managed, but don't look forward to that prospect again.

We bought a small ranch, and I promptly sold the RV.

Good luck in your endeavor. :campfire:

 

[SWbySWesty]

So how self-conscious would you get if you woke up in the same spot Saturday morning only to find that there is apparently some kind of event happening and you're blatantly sleeping in a trailer in a parking lot? Well, I felt pretty self-conscious. I slinked out of the trailer and jumped in the Jeep. I went across the parking lot where it was quiet and got ready there. This is what I'm talking about; the trailer is in there somewhere:

.
Last night, after returning from a sad yet fun weekend (Jeff's memorial), I rolled in to SB at 10pm. I cruised to the parking lot, hooked up the trailer and decided to get creative on where I'd stay. Let's head to the foothills away from all the lights. I went through a few neighborhoods, but couldn't escape street lights. I went up into farm country (never been up here, so it was fun) and I'm pretty sure I passed the Merrill company truck in a driveway. I don't want to disclose street names and stuff, but it was a decked out Tacoma with some kind of trailer attached. I didn't want to be a creeper so no photos at 10pm, but there was a fishing boat in the driveway and what looked like a cool camper trailer. Maybe an exec for the company? Anyways, I decided this isn't the place to stay. I went all the way back until it turned into a power line road which was gated. So back to SB - where I found a relatively dark empty parking lot corner near the airport. Wouldn't it be noisy? Nope - the airport closes from 2am to 4:30am, but generally you don't hear flights after 11pm which is nice.
.
Here's a shot from this morning.

.
I can see how inclement weather would require a little more planning in shuffling from the trailer to the Jeep to change, etc. It was quite misty. A quick drive to the gym, shower and at work at 0755. Our full staff returns today so there was breakfast, juice a coffee which is much more than I usually eat for breakfast, but hey, I'm not picky.

 

[Judoka]

My friend I have done this myself...with the exception of having a RTT on the trailerwhich had to be packed down each morning. Gotta love those winter mornings when you are so warm, but must crawl out of the down sleeping bag to the frozen darkness to put on pants, shirt and tie so you still look prefessional at work! :victory: Keep with it my friend. This is adventure!

 

[1leglance]

I am really enjoying this thread and the daily updates....thank for taking the time to let us follow along with the good and bad sides of this.
Who knows how many of us could end up doing the same thing if the economy takes another nose dive.

 

[kingg5]

loving this thread, im about a year away from buying my trailer and leaving the rent/mortgage world behind here in vancouver!

 

[ChsBrgr]

You have a great climate to make this happen without a/c or heat. In the mid 1980's I lived out of my Toyota pick-up, back when they were a mini truck. A cab high shell was my house.

I was a student at U.C. Santa Barbara. Goleta and Isla Vista worked nicely with no trailer to hide. Sounds like you have the basics worked out. If you can get on the University campus, there are lots of options.
Showering at the gym. TV and friends (read coeds) at the student union. Library with a spectacular 6th floor view of the sunsets. Did I mention the coeds?

Good luck with your adventure.

 

[SWbySWesty]

I'm now north of Santa Barbara. Not far but not super close (15min drive). I'm up in the foothills and I have a 180° view from Santa Barbara to Gaviota. The kind of view that I'm looking at is worth millions up here.
It's too dark to take any photos, trust me I tried. I'll get some in the morning before I leave. I don't want to forget this point. Best urban spot yet. Quiet, dark, nobody around.
I drove around for about 30 minutes before I remembered that I had come up to this spot when trying to bring girls up to view sunsets going down over the water. It's also a good reminder for this whole trip, don't try to find somewhere in the dark that you haven't been before. It doesn't work very well when you can't just stop and set up camp. Everywhere I go has the potential to be reported since I don't really know what's there.
Time for a TV show and then bed.

 

[SWbySWesty]

Last night I was so enthused with my parking spot that I just couldn't sleep. I was up until 1:30am watching tv shows and literally laughing out loud in the trailer while watching the full moon overhead and the marine layer roll in. This morning, I was totally socked in with fog so no photos of the awesome view could be taken. There were cows nearby. Up, change quickly outside (chilly!) and head to work. Last night I thought about taking it on permanently, but I don't think I'd be able to do it via the trailer and keep a normal life (traveling would be awesome with the trailer). It's showing that I could really go and stay anywhere as I haven't been bothered yet by arriving late and leaving early from a spot. Sorry for no photos!
OH - last night I got REALLY good at backing up the trailer in the dark and turning it around in tight roads with little room. Good thing it can go over 90 degrees to turn around! That was a downside to exploring in the dark and using google maps on the fly...no real plan or idea of what roads were like.

 

[xjaugie]

Great adventure, Sub'd. After 6 months of commuting 2 hours each way, I took a tiny studio apartment minutes from the office and life has never been better. Living where you work has its advantages, even if in a camper.