Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 09:25 PM

A friend lives in one and deals with the limitations (no overnight stays for six weeks Feb-Mar, telephone cost a fortune to connect, expensive gas has to be bought through the site, etc) for the benefits of living in the countryside (great variety of bird-life including the occasional woodpecker just outside the windows).

The requirement for "another address" is to meet the fiction that this accommodation is not your permanent address - during the six-week lay-off mail would be forwarded to the nominated "permanent address" - maybe that of a co-operative friend?

The same park has a few permanent sites which cost about twice as much to "buy" (you still won't own the land, and the park owner still has a big say in what alterations or additions you might want to implement.)

Ross

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: romanyman
Date: 11 Jan 10 - 04:06 AM

born in one brought up in one moved to bricks an mortar not by choice would be back in one at first chance, if done properly it ok but sadly many people by a holiday trailer as opposed to a residential, theres a difference in structure insulation electrics and pipework
as for "just gettin land and move on" hope ya do, but aint holdin me breath, i can tell of hundreds of travellers that bought land got plannin and still get slung off latest case in essex, a family had been livin on thier own land for over twenty years, had all proper paperwork and they got notice three weeks ago, got nothin to do with the new housin estate next door i suppose. good luck

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Rumncoke
Date: 10 Jan 10 - 10:52 AM

In the UK there can be charges and regulations which put up the cost of living in a static caravan - such as the 'taking down the fence' charge for getting one onto or off the site, 'letting tradesmen in' charge for not using the owner's family for installations and repairs, 'not being burgled' charge for when you are absent for a weekend - though of course they have other names on the bills.

When you sell the thing you can get a massive bill for 'making good the plot' plus a request for part of the proceeds, so you really do need to check what the regualtions are, and be sure that the person you are taken to see to get a residant's opinion isn't the manager's auntie.

Anne Croucher

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 09:52 PM

In Maine if you remove the wheels you can avoid that pesky vehicle registration. But then there's the property tax. You can't win.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,awils
Date: 09 Jan 10 - 04:28 PM

I fix these things.
1.Single? ok to live in.
2.Stinking hot in summer.
3 If in country, can be prone to vermin damage inside, mice etc.
4. Anything previous 2000 date in age, likely to leak from rooflights,doors etc. due to sealent mastic going hard, so water can get past.Also same problems can occur with silicone sealed models in newer vans, usually caused by poor manufacturing, or rough transporting, or rough handling when site-ing.
5.Annoying drafts from permanent fixed (Legal Reqirement) vents, floor and upper ones.
Seen these taped over etc, can cause gas appliances to not burn correctly, flue's not to perate correctly when covered.
6.Winter living in all vans are generally crap. Think statics as a tin box in the middle of the field !
Frost damage biggest problem, blown pipes fittings, appliances blow to bits!
You can have c/heating on full blast inside, but water pipes outside can and will freeze solid if temp keeps around -5 degree or worse for 12 hrs say.
When water freezes, it cant be compressed, air can though !
So what happens is frozen water freezes, compresses air in the water, this gets forces up to hundreds of punds per square inch!
These forces is what blows fittings apart, splits tap blocks, splits shower valves, and also blows centra heating boiler/water heater components apart !
7. That covers a few probs , have fun!!!

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 16 Aug 09 - 04:19 AM

Two Gundulfs have just gone north to live in one, but due to a slight glitch in their plans (and UK "holiday home" regs) they may be under canvas from December to March. One is about 60 and the other about 50. It may not be fun...

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 08 Jul 09 - 10:02 AM

GUEST,julie,

Re your query above, I think its to do with the law on mobile home dwellings.

In order to avoid poll/ roof tax, other taxes/rates, if you live in your van for 50 weeks each year & move out for the other 2 weeks,then your van's classed as temporary.

Check out the govt. website

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: open mike
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:45 PM

to me the terms R.V.(recreation vehicle) and motor home are synonymous.
this is a unit that has both an engine and living quarters...but i do not have a washing machine. I have heard of Airstreams that have bath tubs, though!

here is the small er type www.vixenrv.org

and the larger one..twice the size..
http://www.rvusa.com/rvinventory_item.asp?id=535301

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 07:14 PM

In the UK,Janie,a Caravan is what you call a Trailer.Like you,we also have Mobile Homes,often called Park Homes nowadays,since they generally only make the one journey in their lives (on the back of a Transporter,usually !!). But......many people in the UK tend to use the generic term "Caravan" when describing both caravans AND Mobile / Park Homes !! OK ??

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,Kenny B
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 02:57 PM

All Year site in Fife is Leven Beach

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Janie
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 08:01 PM

I'm not real clear about what all is included under the UK term "caravan."

I lived in a 27' Airstream travel trailer for 6 years. We did travel in it some, but mostly kept it stationary, set up on a farm out in the country where the owners traveled a lit, and wanted some one there to keep an eye on the place.

I have also lived in what here in the States is properly called a "mobile home,   One was a small "park" model, 10' x 30' with a fold-out that made the living room a bit wider. I rented it. The other was a 12'x60'. I purchased it and also owned the lot it sat on. It was in a mobile home park, but everyone there owned both the lot and the mobile home on it, and all had to be on permanent foundations. They are not intended to be hauled around, but can be relocated to a different site if need be, provided they have not been placed on a permanent foundation. It is expensive to move them, and the older ones are often damaged in the process.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Cats
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 06:03 PM

My sister had a very nice Park Home in Sussex until she went into sheltered accommodation but it was slightly more up market than a static caravan. We see lots of them down here and generally they look very tired after a few years, are very cold in winter, suffer from massive condensation problems and become an eye sore very quickly if not tended with countless hours of love and affection and pots of money. I would never buy one to live in permanently, OK for a break, but to live in, never.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 05:33 AM

I lived in a 33-foot "Mobile Home" ( ie static caravan !) in Carterton, Oxfordshire,with my wife ,for two years,and we loved every minute of it ! It was a Brittania BK 33, no longer made,sadly,and had an end double-bedroom,and a small single bedroom that I took out in order to enlarge the kitchen (good move !).There was a comfortable "lounge" at the other end,with bay windows,and a cosy solid-fuel stove that also gave hot water.The bathroom was "bijou & compact" of course----the bath rather narrow,the hand-basin tiny,and the spin-dryer function of the washing machine made the whole 'van shake somewhat suggestively !! There were gardens to either side,two good sheds,and loads of parking!
          If I had the money ( £650-00 in 1974,but much,much more today !!),I'd go and live in one tomorrow (it would certainly be more spacious than the tiny c1649-built Alms House that I inhabit today !).

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: open mike
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 06:58 PM

well, since my cabin burned down i am now living in a motor home,(r.v.)
i am getting a bit claustrophobic, and am hoping to re-build a cabin soon.   I say i am getting callouses on my elbows from walking thru the narrow aisle.

it beats living on the street, though.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 01:33 PM

In the US we have single-wides, double-wides, and modulars, in increasing order of size, mobility, and, usually, quality. I also have seen regular RVs made into all-year non-moving homes of varying quality and with varying amounts of added-on rooms or linked mobile modules.

The single-wides are known fire-traps, according to fire chiefs I met on-scene when I worked Red Cross. Burn in a flash, few exit options, too hot to escape, etc. The few double-wides I have been in are quite nice, durable, spacious, have great-add-on possibilities (stick built and modular), but I dunno anything about their behavior in fires. They do have more exit doors, tho.

(Because our area has so many of these (singles and doubles), our local stores also carry tiny air conditioners to fit tiny (narrow) windows, which we found helpful when we had a tiny attic window to fit.)


The modulars, on the other hand, are often nicer and better-built than a lot of older (non-code) housing stock. They all have their strong points. Just good to know how each are built, etc.

~S~

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,julie
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 12:46 PM

i want to move to skegness next year. I have seen the site that I want tolive on but dont understand what's meant by "you must have another address" can anybody explain this?

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: open mike
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 11:52 AM

the added cost (in U.S.) is that even though they do not use the roads,
"trailers" that have been on foundations for years, even decades, need
to pay a fee to the dept. of motor vehicles each year. as if they were cars.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: kendall
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 09:14 AM

I lived in a 40 foot patrol boat with one other Warden for three years, then alone in a 24 foot motor home for three months. Never again.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 06:40 AM

John mentioned the high number of trailer parks hit by tornados in the American midwest and I second that one. What isn't widely discussed though well understood is that tornados by their very nature are going to be "attracted" to trailer parks. The classic and deadly spinning of the tornado creates more than the wind which we are all familiar with. Adding conditions of moisture and high soil content, the twister's spin sets up a magnetic field. The higher the moisture and soil content, the stronger the field produced. This "charged" type of tornado when strong enough, at least to F2 strength, will literally hone in on the higher metal content places such as warehouse roofing and of course, trailer parks.

All of the above is just complete and total bullshit but I had one guy so convinced that he wouldn't believe me when I told him it was a joke. He had been renting in a trailer park but went out and found an apartment within a couple of days.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jan 07 - 06:08 AM

anyone got a plot of land for sale with planning for a static [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Puff The Magic Dragon
Date: 03 Dec 05 - 01:15 PM

i used to drive a 1985 dodge caravan
but now i drive a 1999 gmc safari conversion van

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: bazza
Date: 03 Dec 05 - 08:13 AM

I have lived in one since 1992,and love it ,mine is a single with an extention I had put on it measures 49 feet by 10,you can also buy doubles ,a new single on the site I am on go for £80,000,and second hand ones from about £50,000 We are on mains gas and electric the ground rent is £27.50 a week and they take %10 of the selling price when you sell it.I live in Surrey if you would like to have a look or want any more info send me an email,all the best Bazza

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,lynne
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 05:37 PM

does anyone know of any residential sites in the llandudno area of wales?

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: yrlancslad
Date: 23 Nov 05 - 12:37 AM

We (wife and self) spent 9 months going round America and southern Canada in a 5th wheel(camper) 19 ft long by 6.5ft wide ( including bathroom) after leaving a 4500 sq. ft house. Sure its a little cozy but with a bit of forethought ( and provided your VERY compatible) it's no problem. We liked it so much we rented a condo for Thanksgiving and Christmas then lived in it again for another 9 months! I could have lived in it for ever, and found no problem stashing CDs,instruments and even backpacking equipment for the two of us. Like the person above we found we never used the couch so we just replaced it with a large homemade sideboard thingie which held pots and pans, CDs, video tapes, backpacking stuff, old Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all. Go for it youll know in a couple of weeks wether youre meant for it or not so rent one for a while first.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Gervase
Date: 22 Nov 05 - 04:17 AM

Well, we finally moved out of our static caravan at the weekend and not a moment too soon. With the frosts has come the permanent condensation and a chill that seeps into your bones, and I was fed up with always being able to smell last night's supper on everything in the van.
Question now is - what do do with 32-foot behemoth in the farmyard. Any offers? I can see it ending up, like a lot of other caravans around here, out in the farthest field as a lambing hut. Gas fire, bottle of rum and a radio and you're set up for the worst the lambing season can throw at you!

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Davetnova
Date: 22 Nov 05 - 04:01 AM

The two month closing period in UK parks is to avoid being eligible for council tax. Apparently this makes it "not" a permanent home and therefore exempt.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Mr Red
Date: 21 Nov 05 - 01:14 PM

Joy's aunt lives in a residential caravan (sorry mobile (huh?) home) They don't seem at all bothered with winter (mind you this year will be a test) but it is a modern edifice. Not that much room, no grandchildren. Just enough garden. They are scrupulously tidy! Which is a pre-requisite I reckon. And lived in a modest modern terraced house before they retired. Cheltenham. Very nice - no kiddies playing games, no parking on the tarmac (we have to walk a bit) and ground rent - don't ask. Security of tenure - looks good but there are RULES!

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 21 Nov 05 - 01:05 PM

Ebay?

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From:
Date: 21 Nov 05 - 07:12 AM

Hi,
I am looking to buy a residential caravan anywhere in uk but cannot find any that are sited on a 12 month site. Do you have a list ?
Thanks
Denise

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Rasener
Date: 16 Jun 05 - 01:55 PM

>>I don't understand that, Villan. AND I've read it three times <<

"If I had to do it again I'd shoot myself."

^^When you gonna do it then The BigPinkLad LOL :-)^^

Yes we need to keep Solano well rested to help us win the league next year :-)

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,Queequeg
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 05:30 PM

No, but I once travelled across Morroco on a camel caravan.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Grab
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 05:22 PM

Ben, "all you need is land"...?

What planet you on? All you need is land...and the money to buy it...*and* planning permission. Many cases of gypsies turfed off land they legally owned, bcos they'd not got planning permission for vans.

If you have a static caravan park near you and they've got room, great. But it'll cost you. Finding a place to put it will be *the* major problem.

Graham.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 05:06 PM

I don't understand that, Villan. AND I've read it three times ... (congrats on getting Nobby to quit Peru, BTW)

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Rasener
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 01:59 PM

When you gonna do it then The BigPinkLad LOL :-)

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 01:07 PM

Live in one for a week before you move in permanently. I lived in one for three days and it wasn't the life for me. If I had to do it again I'd shoot myself.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Rasener
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 11:17 AM

There are residential parks, but very often, the units are almost as expensive as a house. Coupled with that, there is generally an age limit such as over 55's only, no children living on site etc.

There are plenty of holiday ones where you live for 9/10/11 months, but have to be living somewhere else for the rest of the time. That is great if you don't have children - schooling problems.

I have been searching for a long time, but not found anything suitable for a family where the costs aren't the same as the cost of a house.

Some sites to look at
http://www.ukparks.com/residentialhome.asp?sltParkType=parkhomes

http://www.parkhome-living.co.uk/nphc/index.php

http://directories.thecaravan.net/residentialparks/

Like everybody says - read the smallprint very carefully and really make sure you know what you are taking on.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: C-flat
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 10:50 AM

My understanding was that sites in the UK had to close for a certain periods each year to avoid offering permant places of residency and all the red-tape that follows.
A friend of mine has recently sold his house and is currently living in his (very luxurious) "van". He will have to be off site for a short while over Christmas but as he plans to divide his time between the UK and Australia it won't present a problem to him.
I think I would have to rent storage were I ever to make the same move.

C-flat.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,julie
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 08:53 AM

I live in one near Nottingham. It's great - i am just renting though and it's dead expensive and I won't live here permanently. It's so nice and close to Nature though. Having said that I would never play instruments in it as it is no way soundproof and my neighbours are close by and since I moved in I have not sung properly at all which i really miss doing! plus i have to have the radio right down.
And it's a complete mess at the mo as there is no storage space!
Julie

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 08:34 AM

There was a lot on radio 4 prog 'You and yours' this lunchtime ! Seems
that a lot of registered 'Holiday Parks' are illegally letting people live permanently - NO security of tenure or proper facilities , so BEWARE !!

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,Ben Kipling
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 08:00 AM

16 year old,

Just about to buy my own caravan in england and settle down to work.
have not found suttible land yet but still looking.

have just brought a 3 bed room static for £2ooo, with a genarator two water tanks and two large gas bottles all for £500-bargin.
all need now is bacttires and land and im sorted-
any advice before i move??

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 03:24 PM

In Oregon and Washington state, trailer parks are far more often utilized by the retirement community than by the transient, judging by my observations. They plant gardens, have large fenced in back yards, and landscaping in front. The ones I'm familiar with are leafy and green.

My sister and her husband owned a 'double-wide' for years (althugh to say that one takes two trailers and bolts them together is somewhat misleading, because the two halves are usually very dissimilar) because he was a construction superintendant and they were frequently sent out of town; living in the park was a safety element when they left their home unoccupied, sometimes for months at a time. After he died, she bought a very large trailer home (four bedrooms, two baths, large dining room) and made a home for a handicapped sister of ours; they lived there year 'round.

In Oregon the rent for the space varies widely, dependent on footprint and location (corner lot or on a busy street or in an overlarge secluded spot alongside a stream, for instance.) Most of the monthly rents seem to range from $250 to $450, which includes sewer and water and electri hookups but does not pay for their use.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,M.Ted
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 02:33 PM

I don't have anything to add, except to say that I love trailers and trailer
parks--I particularly like the ones from the fifties and sixties--don't have one, and have never lived in one for any period of time, but I love the trailer park culture, and think that a some of those old numbers are real works of art--

I suspect that it is different in countries where they are called "Static Caravans", but here(at least in the remote areas) trailer parks tend to be temporary homes for the habitually transient, and c the last refuge for the permanently disenfranchised--which gives them a special sort of poetry all their own--

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 05:51 AM

I thought about this but was put off by difficulties over the sites. The main reason was that a site can demand that a van be removed when it reaches a certain age. I had visions of being a homeless pensioner.

There are plenty of sites where you can stay all year round incidently.

If you enter "park home" into your search engine you will come up with a host of advice and also plenty of sites vacant and vans for sale.

Good luck

Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 05:07 AM

In the US, the semi-movable structures that are intended to be more or less permanently placed for living are generally called "trailer houses." Those intended to be regularly moved about get a variety of names, like "campers," "travel trailers," or even "house trailers."

Most communities in the US have one or a few "trailer parks" where people have a "trailer house" moved in and anchored to at least a partial foundation. The "foundation" in this case often resembles a set of jack-stands or an assortment of concrete blocks, but often there's at least a slab of concrete, electrical hookup, and a sewer connection. Most use propane for heat and cooking. Usually wheels and axles are removed and sent back to the factory; or they're owned and kept by the guys you hire to move it for you. You commonly have to sign at least a one year lease for the lot, and pay monthly rent. Some places require rather longer leases - up to 10 years, I've heard.

In most places where these "parks" are found, there are mandatory requirements for anchoring the "trailer" to the foundation, and most places require "skirting" to close the gap under the trailer. The skirting does help a lot in keeping a strong wind from lifting the trailer and turning it over, so it's not just to keep the pipes from freezing. Wiring in these is nearly always straight 110V AC, the same is in permanent houses.

In my area, the "anchoring" that's required is largely so that when the tornado takes the trailer away, it also takes all the loose pieces of foundation along as well, leaving a nice clean slab for the next victi.. occupant.

Double-wides are quite popular, where two trailers are parked side-by-side and bolted together. You can assemble a 20 x 60+ foot "house" this way.

Places where you can rent space intended for campers, travel trailers, or house trailers - what's being called caravans - generally are called "RV Parks" here, even if residents are mostly fairly permanent. In many parts of the US its possible to find a year-round RV Park, but until you've confirmed that there is one available at your destination you probably shouldn't depend on it. The majority of RV Parks shut down in the coldest part of the winter, and in whatever they consider their "off season."

Zoning and construction restrictions prevent you from putting a "temporary" structure, trailer or otherwise, on your property and actually living in it in many cities and towns, and in some fairly rural areas; but in quite a few places it's possible to set one up if you get far enough out of town. Quite a few farmsteads in my vicinity have a crumbling abandoned old farmhouse in front with a trailer "in the back yard" that's the actual residence now.

John

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: CarolC
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 10:38 AM

What country / part of the world are you asking about, Vanessa?

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From:
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 09:33 AM

do you know of any sites that you can live on all year round

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: GUEST,CarolC
Date: 18 Mar 05 - 12:52 PM

We've been doing it for almost two years while waiting for immigration issues to be sorted out (we don't know where we want to settle down yet, but we can't leave this area until these issues are resolved).

It's actually not a bad way to live (I can think of plenty of worse ways). We own everything outright (no payments to the bank), so our monthly living expenses are quite low. We have a shed on the site where our stuff is parked for extra storage, as well as serving as an office/art studio for me. We've resolved the problem of storage in the trailer to some extent by using inexpensve and lightweight plastic drawer units that we picked up at Walmart. We put them on top of some of the existing cabinetry and also on the couch. We never use the couch anyway.

We were very fortunate in finding a mobile home park with big lots (and fences around each lot), so the noise issue isn't anywhere near as bad as it would be if the trailers were packed in more tightly. Also mobile homes are probably somewhat more sound proof than our trailer, so even if our sound travels outside our wee hoose, the other people probably can't hear us inside of their mobile homes.

Condensation can be a problem, but we've resigned ourselves to the idea that there are parts of the trailer that will be wet from time to time and we try to avoid letting anything absorbant touch those parts. And we have to clean mildew off of stuff from time to time.

You can winterize your trailer to some extent by putting rigid insulaton as skirting around the underneath of your trailer area. We saw some people doing this in Michigan (very cold winters), just before we left there for the sunny south (US). When the temperature is going to go more than a couple of degrees below freezing at night, we turn the water off at the source outside the trailer and just use the water in the freshwater tank (which is heated) until the temperature gets up to just above freezing. If you can't do this, you can winterize using heat tape on your outside water line. But we have pretty mild winters here overall, so we only had to turn off the water maybe ten or fifteen times this winter, and we used no heat tape at all.

You do have to re-think how you use space and how you approach storage issues, but with practice you can get pretty good at it. After that, it just starts to feel like the normal way to do things and you don't think about it so much. Another plus is that if the electric goes out (as it did for a few days shortly after we moved in to our trailer), we can still have lights, refrigeration, and heat. The lights run off of a battery that can be charged up using our van or with a generator, and the refrigerator can be run using LP gas (along with the stove and the furnace).

I am looking forward to the time when we aren't living in the trailer, but for me it's mostly because I really need more space for the kinds of work that I do. Right now my abilty to work on some projects is very weather related. Some things I need to do outside where I have a much bigger work surface than what I am able to have either in the trailer or the shed. And it's a much bigger challenge finding room to play my accordion with the trailer. And because it's necessary to be much more careful about how we do things, stuff that normally is simple and quick to do tends to be more complicated and time consuming for us.

On the plus side, I feel so much closer to nature than I ever have living in a house or an apartment. On warm days, I leave the shed door open and I can hear all of the birds and crickets, and watch the squirrel watching me. I'm definitely glad I had this experience.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Mar 05 - 09:53 AM

D'ya know...? Demi Moore started off as a squinty speccy trailer trash teen......!

LTS

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Midchuck
Date: 18 Mar 05 - 08:06 AM

U. S. joke for our British cousins:

Why is a Redneck divorce like a tornado?

Either way, someone loses a trailer.

Peter.

Subject: RE: Static Caravan, Anyone live in one?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Mar 05 - 07:45 AM

Some distant relatives by marriage recently moved into one up near Morecambe. Beutiful van. 3 bedrooms - loads of space - lovely site etc. They were however seriously mis-advised about some of the regulations. Dunno if it is the same everywhere - I suspect so because it seems to be something to do with either local or national taxation. Anyhow, they were led to believe they had to move out for 4 weeks a year. No problem they thought. With all the cash left over from the sale of the house and the reduced costs in the van they could afford a month in Spain every winter. Come last November there was a knock on the door. Only then were they advised that the site had to be cleared for the whole of December and January apart from a few days over Christmas and new year.

They are selling and still fighting a battle over who mis-sold it:-( I would have thought it was covered by the same laws as buying and selling houses but, apparantly, it is not always the case.

Check out how long you can stay there is the moral of the story!

Cheers

DtG