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Old 02-08-2021, 09:45 PM   #1
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Weeks in a 17A

John and I are planning a likely cross-country move in 2022. I’m entertaining the thought of living in the 17A for a couple of months while we are in between houses, including taking it across country. We would always stay places with facilities, and while we house-hunt we could be in it a few weeks at our destination in possibly a commercial trailer park with showers and laundry. (Have never stayed at those kind before, only state parks and BLM).

Does anyone have experience of living out of a 17 or 19 for 2-3 months? With two cats also? We’ve only ever done little short 4-day local trips in it and not yet with the cats. What do we need to think about as we imagine this plan? Am I nuts or could this be OK? Would it be hard for the cats? I’m considering it because our belongings would all be in storage/on the move, and in the 17 we’d have everything we need for sleeping and cooking and some changes of clothes, and we could be very flexible about when, where and how long we need to stay somewhere before settling into a new house.

(I guess mostly I’m concerned about the cats. I could perhaps board them with a friend until we had a new house). So, please, any input about this kind of use of the trailer without cats, and also with cats?
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:01 PM   #2
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It depends

It depends.....on the cats, right? Do their personalities tolerate change and disruption? If not, then not. If so, give it a go.


Same goes for 2 humans living in a shoe box for months.


Or all of us, for that matter, in the midst a pandemic.
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:25 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Small but Sweet View Post
John and I are planning a likely cross-country move in 2022. I’m entertaining the thought of living in the 17A for a couple of months while we are in between houses, including taking it across country. We would always stay places with facilities, and while we house-hunt we could be in it a few weeks at our destination in possibly a commercial trailer park with showers and laundry. (Have never stayed at those kind before, only state parks and BLM).

Does anyone have experience of living out of a 17 or 19 for 2-3 months? With two cats also? We’ve only ever done little short 4-day local trips in it and not yet with the cats. What do we need to think about as we imagine this plan? Am I nuts or could this be OK? Would it be hard for the cats? I’m considering it because our belongings would all be in storage/on the move, and in the 17 we’d have everything we need for sleeping and cooking and some changes of clothes, and we could be very flexible about when, where and how long we need to stay somewhere before settling into a new house.

(I guess mostly I’m concerned about the cats. I could perhaps board them with a friend until we had a new house). So, please, any input about this kind of use of the trailer without cats, and also with cats?
We spent about 2 1/2 months in our 15A in 2014. While we do not have cats, it is a bit smaller than your 17A. Easily doable when at full hook-up rv/campgrounds with facilities. It was nice. We also do go on 4- 6 weeks trips. Sadly just not right now....
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:30 PM   #4
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We have spent months at a time in an Alaskan camper, a Bigfoot 9.6 camper, a 18’ cheap travel trailer, and are getting our largest RV, an Escape 19. Of course before that, we spent months living in backpack tents. When we moved from the arctic to SE Alaska, we lived in a tent and pickup camper shell for 3 months. When we moved from SE Alaska to Kansas, we lived in the Bigfoot for 5 months. So is the trailer big enough, sure, but can you enjoy life that way? We can, but not everyone can. It can certainly work well.
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:44 PM   #5
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With facilities available, it is certainly doable. And with a vehicle available, that's all you need.
We did it in our 17A after hitting a deer right after leaving Custer SP in the Black Hills of SD. We were in the Rapid City KOA for 2 weeks while our tow was being repaired. We were positioned by staff very close to their bath/shower/laundry building, so even in very inclement weather we were OK. It would have been nice to have a vehicle available, but friends who happened to be out from NY came by and broke us free from our mini-home.
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:56 PM   #6
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It depends.....on the cats, right? Do their personalities tolerate change and disruption? If not, then not. If so, give it a go.


Same goes for 2 humans living in a shoe box for months.


Or all of us, for that matter, in the midst a pandemic.
They’re not quite a year old yet and they really haven’t had to be tested so far. Only home and quick vet checkups in their lives. I guess we’d have to start driving around with them during errands to see if they tolerate car travel.
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:56 PM   #7
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We spent about 2 1/2 months in our 15A in 2014. While we do not have cats, it is a bit smaller than your 17A. Easily doable when at full hook-up rv/campgrounds with facilities. It was nice. We also do go on 4- 6 weeks trips. Sadly just not right now....
Very nice to know, thank you!
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:59 PM   #8
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Scott (sclifrickson) was full time for a year with a family of four, including two small children in a 17B.
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Old 02-08-2021, 10:59 PM   #9
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With facilities available, it is certainly doable. And with a vehicle available, that's all you need.
We did it in our 17A after hitting a deer right after leaving Custer SP in the Black Hills of SD. We were in the Rapid City KOA for 2 weeks while our tow was being repaired. We were positioned by staff very close to their bath/shower/laundry building, so even in very inclement weather we were OK. It would have been nice to have a vehicle available, but friends who happened to be out from NY came by and broke us free from our mini-home.
That must have been such a strange time! Was it as frustrating as it sounds? Nice to know the 17A was up to the job.
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Old 02-08-2021, 11:00 PM   #10
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Common stories. We had to spend 2 weeks in Rapid in a backpack tent getting a transmission rebuilt in our truck. Not our best camping adventure, but we relaxed, took walks, and went to a couple of movies. The hardest part was getting groceries.
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Old 02-08-2021, 11:01 PM   #11
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Scott (sclifrickson) was full time for a year with a family of four, including two small children in a 17B.
Wow! That is amazing. I think the cats will be easier than keeping two children happy :-)
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Old 02-08-2021, 11:06 PM   #12
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That must have been such a strange time! Was it as frustrating as it sounds? Nice to know the 17A was up to the job.

There were days when we were just holed up due to weather. I can say that by the end of two weeks I was able to beat my wife at Scrabble, but, now she can beat me at Backgammon.
Edit: also, internet was fine at the campground until Saturday nights, when all the 40 ft. mongo RV's pulled in, and then it was bandwidth max. time until the football games were over on Sunday.
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Old 02-08-2021, 11:12 PM   #13
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Growing up, mom dad, my sister and I, two foster kids and my grandma spent 2-3 months traveling in the summers with a Dodge Dart and a 13’ Mobile Scout trailer. We had a blast and thought it was a huge upgrade over the tent. It really depends on you more than the trailer. It might have been different in the winter!
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Old 02-08-2021, 11:17 PM   #14
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Growing up, mom dad, my sister and I, two foster kids and my grandma spent 2-3 months traveling in the summers with a Dodge Dart and a 13’ Mobile Scout trailer. We had a blast and thought it was a huge upgrade over the tent. It really depends on you more than the trailer. It might have been different in the winter!
Our goal is Vermont, and this is making me think we’ll want to do it earlier in the season so that the whole house buying is done before it cools down. I’m getting more and more sure that we could use the 17A this way!
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Old 02-09-2021, 01:07 AM   #15
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We spent over 2 months in our 17B and loved it. And we are planning to do it again after covid.
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Old 02-09-2021, 03:14 AM   #16
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I couldn't do it. Maybe a 17B, not a 17A. The 19 for sure. The bathroom makes the difference.
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Old 02-09-2021, 11:37 AM   #17
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Scott (sclifrickson) was full time for a year with a family of four, including two small children in a 17B.
Did they all survive?

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Old 02-09-2021, 11:40 AM   #18
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They’re not quite a year old yet and they really haven’t had to be tested so far. Only home and quick vet checkups in their lives. I guess we’d have to start driving around with them during errands to see if they tolerate car travel.
I think we could live in a 17A for an extended period of time but I would carefully map out every destination along the route and not only confirm they have nice clean bathroom facilities with showers, but confirm that their bathroom facilities are indeed open. Many campgrounds and RV Parks now (due to the pandemic) have temporarily closed their bathroom facilities. Hopefully (fingers crossed!!) this will no longer be an issue for you (and us all!) in 2022 but something to keep in mind.

As for your cats, I think their youth is a great advantage for you. If you can, you could take your kitties out in the trailer and just sit in there with them (maybe read a book or watch a movie?) and let get them acquainted with it and see how they do. And like you said, drive around with them in your car or take them out on a trial run, a weekend camping trip to see how well they tolerate that. Here's a link to a thread that shows how others here have incorporated their cats into traveling companions.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post346267

Just love all the mods these folks have done to make their kitties happy in their trailer. I wish we could travel with our cats, but the older one is a rescue cat and way too old and I fear she would poke and claw the white wall panelling.... Nope, she's not going in the trailer! Our younger cat, only claws the cat scratchers (as far as we as tell) and would probably transition into a great traveling cat, but I don't want to separate them, so they hold down 'Camp Mi Casa' with wonderful kitty sitters in our absence. Really hoping David Murphy will pipe in here with all his cat traveling experience and knowledge! Best wishes, -Bea
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Old 02-09-2021, 12:48 PM   #19
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Our goal is Vermont, and this is making me think we’ll want to do it earlier in the season so that the whole house buying is done before it cools down. I’m getting more and more sure that we could use the 17A this way!
Depending on where in VT you definitely want to watch the calendar. We often use our camper in Nov but the campgrounds are limited even after Columbus Day here and they may be open but no water....We have had a foot of snow on Halloween Here in the Mtns of S VT!
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Old 02-09-2021, 04:29 PM   #20
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I think we could live in a 17A for an extended period of time but I would carefully map out every destination along the route and not only confirm they have nice clean bathroom facilities with showers, but confirm that their bathroom facilities are indeed open. Many campgrounds and RV Parks now (due to the pandemic) have temporarily closed their bathroom facilities. Hopefully (fingers crossed!!) this will no longer be an issue for you (and us all!) in 2022 but something to keep in mind.

As for your cats, I think their youth is a great advantage for you. If you can, you could take your kitties out in the trailer and just sit in there with them (maybe read a book or watch a movie?) and let get them acquainted with it and see how they do. And like you said, drive around with them in your car or take them out on a trial run, a weekend camping trip to see how well they tolerate that. Here's a link to a thread that shows how others here have incorporated their cats into traveling companions.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post346267

Just love all the mods these folks have done to make their kitties happy in their trailer. I wish we could travel with our cats, but the older one is a rescue cat and way too old and I fear she would poke and claw the white wall panelling.... Nope, she's not going in the trailer! Our younger cat, only claws the cat scratchers (as far as we as tell) and would probably transition into a great traveling cat, but I don't want to separate them, so they hold down 'Camp Mi Casa' with wonderful kitty sitters in our absence. Really hoping David Murphy will pipe in here with all his cat traveling experience and knowledge! Best wishes, -Bea
Wow, some good ideas. I love seeing the table leg wrapped up as a scratching post. It’s funny that we already bring wood pellets with us for the emergency toilet bucket, so of course those would be perfect as litter. Yes I always love to see David Murphy’s cats and his tips! Until now my son has always watched the cats for us so we’ll see. There’s plenty of time to practice. If it doesn’t work well for cats or “parents”, Plan B would be to leave them here at the old location for 2-3 months with a good friend until we are settled and can fly back to get them.
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