Up until a year or so ago I had a Taiwanese roommate named Ta-Chien. His name means “Big Thousand” in Chinese. Obviously his mom was thinking of money when she named him, or perhaps she named him after waking up from a very long nap of counting sheep. Anyway, his non-Mandarin-speaking friends have difficulty pronouncing his name. “Big Thousand” (in English) is too awkward as a name, and isn’t trendy enough for a debonair guy like him. So his freinds sometimes just call him “Big K”.
In his younger years, Big K was a small-time thug in a Taipei motorcycle gang. He would wear wild clothing and dark sunglasses just to look cool. He also sported neon-red hair – a tell-tale gang tag designed to catch any policeman’s predatory eye. He sometimes tells me stories of how, after he had gotten away from the “bad guys” (the police), he would ride up into the mountains beyond the outskirts of Taipei for a relaxing jaunt in the countryside. Afterwards he would ride back into town and grab some dim-sum with his buddies. Ah…That was years ago, and those were the days. Would you like a chicken foot?
Big K is now a devout Buddhist, but he still eats dim-sum. He is also a successful hair stylist working on the Indianapolis north side, and a proud single father of a wonderful little boy named Alex. Given Big K’s domestic situation in recent years, it’s easy to deduce he has settled down – well, mostly. As roommates, he and I were both busy: we both had two jobs; I frequently wrote and tinkered with various projects in my free time; and Big K had Alex to care for when the ex was out of town, or when he is not out dating a local chickadee.
Between our hectic schedules Big K and I made time to sit out on the porch and drink Dong-Ding Oolong tea (or sometimes some really good sake) and talk about cool places we’ve lived before – for him in Taiwan and Tibet, and for me in the Sonoran Desert and eastern China.
Among our reminiscences, the one common theme that stands out for the both of us are the fun times we spent traveling either as solitary sojourners or with a small group of good friends. It was the countryside we loved – for the out-of-doors in any land is a beautiful sight to behold.
Once in a while, Big K would get a wild gleam in his eyes that disrupted his otherwise calm demeanor. I knew Big K long enough to recognize that look, and knew exactly what he was thinking – harkening back to his long motorcycle rides to the countryside, he had gotten that traveling urge. What this means: if we had a free weekend coming up, he and I most likely hit the road for a day or overnight trip, or went for a quick jaunt on the river in some rental kayaks.
Two years ago Big K, Alex and I went on a quick weekend trip to a local lake. As our chosen means of transportation, Big K and I had decided to go big. We split the cost on a rental RV. Alex was too young to pitch in, so we made the poor guy clean up the RV when we were all done. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share from this adventure. Aside from a few small mechanical problems, the trip went pretty well, and of course it was altogether too short.
Because we had rented the RV for such a short time, the rate for the rental was rather high. In addition to this, the RV was a gas pig: fuel cost almost as much as the rental, a double whammy. Traumatized, we vowed never to rent an oinker again.
SEPARATE PATHS
Big K and I ended up living in separate parts of town, but we still get together for tea and some great chow. Both of us have kept in mind our desire for some vehicle that would transport us to the temporary freedom we need from the responsibilities of life.
Ever the trendy guy, Big K ended up buying one of those box-shaped Honda Elements. Aside from making Big K look incredibly fashionable, his car is actually quite spacious and comfortable – perfect as a small camping vehicle.
Because I drive so much every month, my priority was to stick with fuel efficiency. I already had my Volkswagen Jetta TDI with a high-efficiency diesel engine. If I drive at or under 65 mph, I can get about 47 mpg on the freeway. Wonderful as this car is, the interior is not all that spacious. Sure, I can take this car camping. I can tote a tent and some supplies. But what about stretching out flat to wait out a bout of harsh weather conditions such as high winds, heavy rain, or winter weather? I wanted something a little bit more hardy. Besides, I wanted something a little more real than a tent. Possibly a small home away from home.
THE SEARCH
My first idea was of course to retain the fuel efficiency of the diesel engine for a long trip to a camping site. This meant my only option was to go with a trailer of some kind. Power-wise, this was not a problem because a diesel engine has loads of torque and can handle heavy loads such as towing a trailer. My Jetta is rated for towing upwards of 2000 pounds. So, I installed a towing hitch on the Jetta and went hunting for a decent trailer.
I looked at a lot of options, ranging from fold-up trailers (such as the awesome ALiner), to tent trailers (such as Coleman / Fleetwood), and teardrop trailers (such as the wonderful T@B RV).
All of these are wonderful products. But the price tags accompanying them as new items were way too high. Unless you could find a used one as a steal, these babies could easily approach the price tag of a regular car, especially with a few bells and whistles as options.
At best, a used trailer could translate into “a real fixer-upper”. With the thin-to-flimsy building materials many camper manufacturers use (justifiably so, in order to keep weight down), fixing a hole in the floor could lead to a major project like cutting away at the wooden platform under the linoleum. One could find the wood underneath had rotted all the way through, thus rendering the camper unrecoverable. Unfortunately, buying new camper would have saved all the heartache. But it could trade you in for another heartache – like having to take out the equivalent of a car loan to pay it off.
My personal tastes factored in also. I felt these camper trailer s were a little too much for one guy. As a bachelor who lives now only with a small 3-ounce Amazon parrot (who, by the way, loves to go camping, hiking, bike riding – a veritable feathered GI Joe named Chico), going with a camper trailer was too much of a maintenance and cost prospect. Also, a heavier trailer would have cut too severely into my beloved fuel efficiency.
I looked for a long time, and had no luck finding a decent used one. This is not to say they aren’t out there. But in the end, going new or used, or even with a regular camper was pretty much out of the question for me.
I wanted something Spartan – very Spartan.
EUREKA!
One day recently I lucked out. I was driving in the countryside – there it was! Some clever soul had gotten the idea to mate a home-made utility trailer with a truck-bed shell and oila! – a mini-camper.
It was… well… mini. Very mini. In fact, super mini! For some, ridiculously mini. Even Mini-Me may have found it too small!
Sorry, for those of you who need a shower, a bidet, and a vanity table, buy a greyhound bus and deck it out. I just needed something in which to flop my noggin and catch a few noisy z’s before I grabbed a rod and reel to snag some trout. This little thing called out to me from the side of that country barn next to which I saw it standing. I slammed on the brakes and did a u-turn to ask the farmer-in-residence whether the trailer was for sale. Sure enough it was. Within a few days, I drove off with my new toy.
It needed a little fixing up: on the way back into town it blew a tire (thank goodness for flat fixer in a can!), and registering it as a new vehicle has been a pain in the rear. For a tinkerer such as I, it’s a small-project goldmine. It has a few rusty spots I want to grind off and repaint. For the cold weather, I was thinking about kind of reflective insulation and a 12-volt heater you can buy at a truck stop. Maybe install a small 12-volt swamp cooler for summer camping? I could put some solar panels on the top to charge a battery and provide power for the appliances. If installed correctly, the panels could also act as a sun barrier if mounted a few inches above the camper roof. And then…
I know what you’re saying now – geek!
SUMMER UP
Overall a good little investment. For an asking price of $175, I couldn’t have been more happy. At least my friends love it because we can throw their stuff into it when they move to a new home. U-Haul lost their business, and I get a free lunch for helping out with the move.
You can always go full hog and buy a big camper or RV, especially if you have a family. But for a low-maintenance guys like me and my bird Chico, going mini (super-mini) is good enough.
Have fun and happy camping!
– John
(Hey! Read my other articles here. )
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Melendez wears two hats: both as a technical writer and industrial machinery procurement consultant. John is the former Managing Editor for Computer Associates’ Windows Tips & Secrets, a monthly technology newsletter with a circulation of 35,000 subscribers. His knowledge specialties include: business with China; biodiesel centrifuges; and overseas procurement of industrial goods.
John Melendez worked several years in Hong Kong and Shanghai for A/S Det Østasiatiske Kompagni (EAC), a Danish trade company with offices worldwide. John served as Regional Manager for a EAC’s cargo transport JV established with Beijing City Planning Commission.
An alumnus of the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chinese Studies, John speaks, reads and writes Mandarin Chinese, German, and English. John telecommutes from Phoenix, Indianapolis and mainland China.
Read John’s other articles at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/johnmelendez
Subscribe by RSS Feed: http://www.associatedcontent.com/rss/user_76423.xml
