Home is where our converted cargo trailer is!
You know those moments you’ve been waiting forever for, and want to be perfect?
You’ve funneled so much expectation into how you’ll showcase it…in my case, that revolved around pondering how to go about writing it. You know, so it would be perfect.
And then it happens.
You find yourself stalling, because you’re not sure you’ll be able to hold up your end of the deal.
How can I display this in a way that does it justice, that depicts how beautiful it is?
Of course, what I’m talking about here is our new 14 foot long 98 square foot home. A home we built.
Ok, he built.
From scratch.
In January, 2021 we drove from Placerville California to Portland Oregon to buy a 2021 cargo trailer.
The sales guy opened the door, and Chad and I stepped inside. It was the end of the day and the raw plywood gave off that warm, somewhat sweet, freshly cut wood scent.
The air inside was stuffy.
There were no windows.
I looked around the dimly lit little wooden box and realized, holy shit. We (ok, ok!) Chad’s got a lot of work ahead of him.
I’m so proud of it, and want to show you as well. What follows are pictures; what it was then, and what it looks like now. Imperfect pictures from my out-of-date iPhone, but they do a fine job of conveying the gist our converted cargo trailer home.
Chad pried off the plywood, insulated the space, and nailed the wood back in place. Wired the electricity for solar and shore power, ensuring that the solar could handle my heavy-duty blender and accommodate my 2,000 watt a day morning smoothie habit.
He put in the ceiling, with two rows of six recessed lights.
Framed out the bed adding storage below, built the benches with storage underneath and behind, and made drawers and a slide out table.
Cut out 5 windows, including an emergency hatch through the back.
Added a kitchen; even snuck in a bathroom and shower. A refrigerator, too.
Did the plumbing with the help of his stepdad, and watched, his head cocked, as his brother-in-law put in the floors.
His mom did an excellent job sewing the cushions on the bench seats.
I’m glossing over a ton here, as people tend to do when they’re excited. Sometime we’ll put together a more detailed account of how it was built.
Until then though, here it is. The first reveal!
Below are the photos on instagram. Follow along if you like, we’re going places.
TRAVEL & ADVENTURE 
From these photos it looks pretty close to the inside of a regular travel trailer. Any ides of the differences in cost and weight after transformation?
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We spent a total of around $10,500 on the build. This includes things like the toilet, solar, and wood burning stove, which still needs to be installed.
The build added about 1,100 lbs additional weight to the trailer.
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