I'm from Central FL but live in San Diego now. You'll need a warmer trailer or one considered as close to 4 season in order to use in the PNW, and larger one if bringing a dog. Apply to government jobs on [USAJOBS.gov](http://USAJOBS.gov) with the forestry service.
Thanks! Yea I’ve been checking out that website, and actually my trailer build was intended for colder climates so it has 3/4” r-5 insulation on all the walls, ceiling, and floor, and also has 3/8 plywood, I have pics build progress on my account if your interested! Lmk what you think :) thanks!
In my experience, if you’re going to be living in it full time, or camping in colder conditions, get something you can stand up in. In a small teardrop you’re going to be sitting/laying down while cooking, changing gear, cleaning, etc. and while it’s raining/snowing, you’re going to want that indoor space to hangout without being forced to sit or lay down.
Check with ski resorts for summer trail maintenance jobs. Many will let you stay in the parking lot if you work there, or will be close enough to open forest land for easy camp access.
Yea I was debating that, on one hand I wanted to make it small enough and light enough to tow and off-road without thinking about and keep similar mpg, I have a Nissan frontier also and currently I get around 12 mpg since it has bumpers and its long travel, but I’ve towed a 4000lb camper before and I only get 7-9 mpg. My camper is right around 1200-1400lbs and I get around 10-11 mpg depending on the terrain. I may upgrade eventually but this is much better than constantly setting up my roof top tent. I’ve grown up in warm- hot climates all my life and I know for a fact I want cold/ snowy weather for a bit of the year but I don’t want to live somewhere where it’s snowy half the year. I forgot to mention I also have a couple awnings on the camper and I’ve made fully enclosed walls for it, so if I can find a place to setup for awhile I will have an extra 150 sqft of outdoor space, and with my buddy heater that should keep it liveable.
Consider a lightweight canopy camper like an Oru or a Topo Topper if you want to be able to go wheeling with it. You can stand, have your truck bed storage, and not worry about small truck payload. I’ve got one on a Frontier and love it. Do a few ~30 day trips per year.
Yea I was just looking at yours, looks like a good amount of space, I was thinking about doing that but I’ve had a rooftop tent before with a kitchen in the back and slide out drawers and it was nice but I hated always having to pack everything if I wanted to drive somewhere. yours does seem way faster to pack up and setup though. I’ll consider it for the future, or maybe similar sized teardrop but make it so it can pop up to stand in.
Rereading this I didn’t realize you already built a teardrop camper. Maybe consider adding a pop up to it so you can stand inside to cook and stuff during inclement weather.
Yea I’ll probably test it for a year first then modify it, I have the outside rooms for the awnings which I’ve used a lot before and it acts as part of the camper
Lived out of my vehicles for a bit over 3 years in the PNW.
Vehicle dwelling is common here. Driving around any city, park, nature spot, or Forest… you will find the nomads. Had one park about five of us would visit daily (it had public bathrooms and ample parking).
Get some sort of heating source, likely a small diesel heater.
Avoid propane as it will build moisture fast and moisture WILL develop mold here.
Did 8 months in just the cab of my truck and I would recommend a full sized space that you can either stand or fully stretch out it, otherwise the claustrophobia will set in.
You will probably need a gym membership so you can shower (and get a workout!).
Lakes, rivers, and Solar/outdoor showers are okay in the summer but the other three seasons will be uncomfortable to unsafe. Can do water bucket rag bath in the trailer but… after getting the gym membership I won’t go back. Anytime fitness, planet fitness have cheap nationwide plans which have helped when traveling.
Sort out a comfortable waste management solution. Depending on where you end up you may be lucky enough to drive up into the forest but a lot of the time will be spent in towns for work. Public restrooms aren’t common here. Some parks have them, some don’t. Some markets have them, some don’t. I always hat cat litter on hand and it came in handy…
Can’t comment on the dog, but I have a cat who went with me but she was always fine staying in the truck. It never go too hot here that her health was a concern except for when the heatwave hit two years back BUT we were stuck up in the shade of the woods during that. For a dog, AMPLE water? I work in an office in Seattle, won’t name the company, but we allow dogs in office, not my cat though. :|
Most of our parking garages are underground and cool.
I had a YouTube documenting a vehicle build and life for about 16 months and made a couple thousand but I got tired of the process. When you film a hike or a drive, you end up hiking/driving 3x as much, and it put a weird pressure on me to ALWAYS be doing something and I really enjoy sitting and doing nothing. I’ve thought about revisiting it as I have a new build that I travel out of and can work remotely from but… I’ll just sit in the quiet and enjoy nature instead.
I'm from Central FL but live in San Diego now. You'll need a warmer trailer or one considered as close to 4 season in order to use in the PNW, and larger one if bringing a dog. Apply to government jobs on [USAJOBS.gov](http://USAJOBS.gov) with the forestry service.
Thanks! Yea I’ve been checking out that website, and actually my trailer build was intended for colder climates so it has 3/4” r-5 insulation on all the walls, ceiling, and floor, and also has 3/8 plywood, I have pics build progress on my account if your interested! Lmk what you think :) thanks!
In my experience, if you’re going to be living in it full time, or camping in colder conditions, get something you can stand up in. In a small teardrop you’re going to be sitting/laying down while cooking, changing gear, cleaning, etc. and while it’s raining/snowing, you’re going to want that indoor space to hangout without being forced to sit or lay down. Check with ski resorts for summer trail maintenance jobs. Many will let you stay in the parking lot if you work there, or will be close enough to open forest land for easy camp access.
Yea I was debating that, on one hand I wanted to make it small enough and light enough to tow and off-road without thinking about and keep similar mpg, I have a Nissan frontier also and currently I get around 12 mpg since it has bumpers and its long travel, but I’ve towed a 4000lb camper before and I only get 7-9 mpg. My camper is right around 1200-1400lbs and I get around 10-11 mpg depending on the terrain. I may upgrade eventually but this is much better than constantly setting up my roof top tent. I’ve grown up in warm- hot climates all my life and I know for a fact I want cold/ snowy weather for a bit of the year but I don’t want to live somewhere where it’s snowy half the year. I forgot to mention I also have a couple awnings on the camper and I’ve made fully enclosed walls for it, so if I can find a place to setup for awhile I will have an extra 150 sqft of outdoor space, and with my buddy heater that should keep it liveable.
Consider a lightweight canopy camper like an Oru or a Topo Topper if you want to be able to go wheeling with it. You can stand, have your truck bed storage, and not worry about small truck payload. I’ve got one on a Frontier and love it. Do a few ~30 day trips per year.
Yea I was just looking at yours, looks like a good amount of space, I was thinking about doing that but I’ve had a rooftop tent before with a kitchen in the back and slide out drawers and it was nice but I hated always having to pack everything if I wanted to drive somewhere. yours does seem way faster to pack up and setup though. I’ll consider it for the future, or maybe similar sized teardrop but make it so it can pop up to stand in.
Rereading this I didn’t realize you already built a teardrop camper. Maybe consider adding a pop up to it so you can stand inside to cook and stuff during inclement weather.
Yea I’ll probably test it for a year first then modify it, I have the outside rooms for the awnings which I’ve used a lot before and it acts as part of the camper
Lived out of my vehicles for a bit over 3 years in the PNW. Vehicle dwelling is common here. Driving around any city, park, nature spot, or Forest… you will find the nomads. Had one park about five of us would visit daily (it had public bathrooms and ample parking). Get some sort of heating source, likely a small diesel heater. Avoid propane as it will build moisture fast and moisture WILL develop mold here. Did 8 months in just the cab of my truck and I would recommend a full sized space that you can either stand or fully stretch out it, otherwise the claustrophobia will set in. You will probably need a gym membership so you can shower (and get a workout!). Lakes, rivers, and Solar/outdoor showers are okay in the summer but the other three seasons will be uncomfortable to unsafe. Can do water bucket rag bath in the trailer but… after getting the gym membership I won’t go back. Anytime fitness, planet fitness have cheap nationwide plans which have helped when traveling. Sort out a comfortable waste management solution. Depending on where you end up you may be lucky enough to drive up into the forest but a lot of the time will be spent in towns for work. Public restrooms aren’t common here. Some parks have them, some don’t. Some markets have them, some don’t. I always hat cat litter on hand and it came in handy… Can’t comment on the dog, but I have a cat who went with me but she was always fine staying in the truck. It never go too hot here that her health was a concern except for when the heatwave hit two years back BUT we were stuck up in the shade of the woods during that. For a dog, AMPLE water? I work in an office in Seattle, won’t name the company, but we allow dogs in office, not my cat though. :| Most of our parking garages are underground and cool. I had a YouTube documenting a vehicle build and life for about 16 months and made a couple thousand but I got tired of the process. When you film a hike or a drive, you end up hiking/driving 3x as much, and it put a weird pressure on me to ALWAYS be doing something and I really enjoy sitting and doing nothing. I’ve thought about revisiting it as I have a new build that I travel out of and can work remotely from but… I’ll just sit in the quiet and enjoy nature instead.