This past Labor Day weekend found me on the road to New Mexico to pick up my new custom teardrop trailer. My idea is to trick out this tiny micro-trailer into a self contained living/workspace with a solar powered computer setup, bed and kitchen.
The beginning of the Technopod
Well… off I went to New Mexico. My window of opportunity was fairly narrow and I had to fit this time into the Labor Day weekend to work around different projects, teaching and work. Unfortunately this particular weekend was right in the middle of a mercury retrograde cycle – mercury retrograde is when the planet appears to be moving backwards to an observer on earth. This has astrological implications and typically, communication, travel and technology suffers through some setbacks and reversals. I am aware of these things so I made sure I was extra prepared, had my car serviced, planned out the trip very carefully and left very early. Still, sometimes you just have to be able to “go with the flow” even when things don’t go according to plan.
Such was the case with my trailer experience. I managed to arrive early hoping to pickup the trailer from Wolfgang Bohm of “Tears of Joy”, the builder of these wood trailers and turn around to make a 10 hour drive to a KOA campground I reserved in Flagstaff AZ. Well… mercury retrograde was in full swing and Wolf wasn’t quite ready with the trailer! Just a few minor items needed to be taken care of – one of these was a trip to the local DMV to secure a title to the trailer. This turned into a half-day adventure that found me traveling to the next town and waiting for an hour to get the appropriate papers, then returning to have a box built, wiring and a jack installed at the front of the trailer. Mercury retrograde can force us to slow down and you just have to let go and play along with things as they happen. This gave me a little more time to get to know Wolf and his wife while I waited for the work to get finished.
The Workshop with almost finished trailer
The Bohm's in front of trailer
The work was finally finished about 5 hours after my arrival and I was finally on my way…
I was towing this tiny trailer with my Toyota Camry and, though I was a little worried about the extra load on the car, driving was quite smooth and easy. There was little impact on fuel efficiency as I was forced to drive slower than I normally would. All in all, it was very easy to tow and I was able to drive normally and pretty much forget about the trailer while I was driving.
I managed to stay awake until I made it to the campground around 1 am – spent almost 1/2 hour hunting for my site in the dark but I finally found it and spent my first night in the trailer. I found my little cocoon quite warm and comfortable. The next morning I found that I was quite the sensation in a campground filled with giant motorhomes and travel trailers!
My tiny trailer in front of a neighboring motorhome
The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful and I made it home safely. Now the work begins to customize the interior, install more wiring and a computer system and basically work out how I’m going live and work in this space! Stay tuned for more posts as work continues on the Varis Technopod…
Awesome!
I started off five years ago looking at clamshells this size, then settled on a larger Tab clamshell that I installed solar panels onto.
Then once I upgraded and added a girl to the mix, we moved into a slightly larger 17′ fiberglass egg.
Road life is great, I look forward to meeting you out there sometime!
– Chris // http://www.technomadia.com
Thanks Chris,
I’ve been learning from your site – Ben Willmore turned me on to it. I hope to make it to Burning Man next year but maybe we will bump into each other sooner. Stay tuned for more as I get my rig outfitted.