Hello New Here Live In San Francisco And Looking For Advice And Don't Know Where To Go.

My name is Adrian I am looking to buy a truck trailer fill it with my earthly possessions hire a driver to pull it to the southwest this is a one way trip. My question is I will need an insulated box type for the weather and once on the land cut windows build stairs and move in. Ever done this or hear of this being done? Any help is much appreciated the other forum I go to is cheaprvliving.com thanks

That is a really bizarre plan on so many levels. Why would you want to go through all that? There are millions of campers, RV's, and vans already built and ready to live in. What you're planning on doing would be 50 times more expensive, would be subject to God knows how many regulations when attempting to move it and park it somewhere, and would ultimately accomplish nothing over simply using an RV, camper, or van.

I checked out that other forum. You're going to have a lot more luck finding people with helpful information over there than you will here.

So you want to buy a truck and trailer which will cost just as much as a house.

Lets not forget about insurance and all that other costly expenses as well as fuel.

Then you want to spend a few grand to hire a driver to take you a few thousand miles.

You want a refrigerated trailer so you have the added expense of a temperature-controlled unit.

Then you want to turn it into an RV except it won't look as good at all.

You also want to take the truck and trailer to a location of your choice to live there. You do know that 90% of the roads aren't truck routes so you can't just go anywhere you want. Want to go camp in the forest? You won't fit. Want to hang out in a city? You won't fit or won't be legal.

Honestly, that's a feasible goal. It's called an RV. It'll cost the same if not less than your plan plus it comes built with everything. So if you're serious about this then think about purchasing an RV, otherwise the plan will not work and will lead you into financial turmoil. Not trying to sound rude man.

If you are looking at going the "custom" route. You might be better off customizing a bus.

Dave

That is done a bit here in NZ... I would say get a 40 foot insulated shipping container instead and fill that and have it shipped, a scissor-lift container hauler can offload it on the ground at your new site and you aren't paying for the chassis/wheels/brakes/lights and everything else that goes into making a trailer. Plus being so much lower you won't need steps or stairs up into it.

That is done a bit here in NZ... I would say get a 40 foot insulated shipping container instead and fill that and have it shipped, a scissor-lift container hauler can offload it on the ground at your new site and you aren't paying for the chassis/wheels/brakes/lights and everything else that goes into making a trailer. Plus being so much lower you won't need steps or stairs up into it.

I have seen where you can build a home out of multiple containers.

Dave

OK...I"ll admit it...I watch Doomsday Preppers...and they showed using them for a living space...not a bad idea...if its partially buried, to help insulate it.. But Brett's right...this isn't the forum for that kinda stuff...

I'm a very practical person and to me this idea doesn't really make sense. To me it's one of those things that you could do if you didn't want to do something that made a lot more sense. I've lived in pickup trucks, vans, an old dairy ice storage building converted to an apartment, and all that. I get it. But have you seen how cheap you can get a really nice pull-behind camper? I mean, for a few thousand bucks you can have a nice 28 foot with a kitchen, bathroom, central heat & air, running water, insulation, and plenty of bed space. It's easy to move, comfortable to live in, you can park it anywhere you like, and you don't have to worry about any sort of licensing or insurance regulations.

It really just doesn't make sense on any level other than doing it for the sake of doing something different.

Well Brett, we are talking about San Francisco and California. You know. San Francisco, whete you could get a nice loft or one bed room apartment for just under $750 thousand. Or in Malibu were you can get a mobile home for $1 million, not including the rent on the lot.

Dave

Yeah, that's true when it comes to apartments and houses. But not campers & RV's. You can still buy those cheaply enough.