A new trend on the travel trailer market is the popularity of mini travel trailers and, considering the movement to be eco-friendly, to use less gasoline, and to leave a smaller footprint on the environment, it should come as no surprise that this mini trailer movement is picking up steam.
Whereas, in years gone by, people searched for the largest travel trailer available, with the most amenities, trailers which could only be towed by one-ton pickup trucks, today there are mini travel trailers, in the travel trailer for sale section of the online newspaper, which can be towed by your average passenger car, many weighing less than a thousand pounds.
With that in mind, what follows is a general guide to mini travel trailers; call it Mini Travel Trailers 101.
How long are mini travel trailers?
Technology has reached the point where our minds are blown daily by the latest inventions/designs, and so it is with travel trailers. I saw one on YouTube the other day which was a pop-up and only four-feet in length. It weighed 250 pounds.
I’m not going to list all of the brands and styles in this article. Suffice it to say you can easily find a travel trailer under ten feet in length. It may not have all of the amenities you are looking for, but don’t count technology out. They are squeezing quite a few things into smaller spaces in the trailer industry.
How much do mini travel trailers weigh?
The lightest, small travel trailers I have seen, so far, is the aforementioned 250-pounder I just talked about. Quite a few of the mini trailers are under 1,000 pounds, meaning quite a few passenger cars will be able to tow them. There are probably twice as many trailers in the 1,000-2,000 pound range, which is good news for those towing with half-ton pickup trucks and SUVs.
What amenities can you find in mini travel trailers?
Now we are getting into the nitty gritty of this discussion. The smallest self-contained travel trailer, with kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping space, is probably in the thirteen-foot range. It’s possible that there are smaller ones than that, but I am not aware of them. Most, if not all, of the minis have a sleeping space. Many of them, especially the teardrops, have a kitchen area in the back, accessible by lifting a hatchback cover at the rear from outside. Wet baths are problematic in such small spaces, but there are a few which have them. What is slightly more common is an outside shower attachment, and a portable potty which can be pulled out of a cupboard when needed.
Other amenities like air conditioning are more common, and a great majority of them have a heater of some sort.
What do you need in a tow vehicle for a mini travel trailer?
As mentioned earlier, there are quite a few mini travel trailers which can be pulled by passenger cars. More, still, which can be pulled by SUVs, and many, many trailers which can be pulled by half-ton pickup trucks.
Rejoice! There is something for practically everyone.
That’s the bottom line regarding this topic. There really is something for everyone in the RV life. I have purposely kept from naming specific brands and styles, simply because I do not endorse any of them, and I don’t want to influence your decisions. Choosing a mini travel trailer, or any trailer, should be a personal choice based on very specific desires. What I consider to be a great trailer might seem ridiculous to someone else, and that’s fine. Find what works for you, get out there and begin your RV lifestyle adventures, and have a blast!
Hi Liz! It took me awhile to realize what a caravan was when I first started researching RVs. They make some pretty good ones in the UK. There are a couple made over there that I would have purchased if available here in the States. Anyway, thank you for being so supportive. I hope this finds you well.
I am learning a lot about the RV world from reading these articles. I am also starting to get familiar with the vocabulary. In the UK I think the equivalent of travel trailers would be caravans. They come in all sizes and are towed by cars and SUVs.
As a child I recall my parents having a tent trailer. This was basically a tent stored in a trailer, which could be opened up and pitched when we got to the campsite.