My wife and I lived full time in a 40’ 5th wheel for about 5 years. It was a good experience and living with two adults and a big dog in a space that size, was some effort. It allowed us to travel all over the country for my work in industrial construction, frequently moving for new projects/more money.
While we lived in a camper, we didn’t really “camp.” We just lived full time in RV parks.
We eventually wanted to do more traveling and camping so we bought an old off road military trailer below with a tent, added an awning, amongst other things. We did a two month, 8000 mile trip with this setup. We slept in it every night but 2 or 3.
We sold the large 5th wheel about a year and a half ago and got an apartment as I have a longer term contract job right now. As good as the military trailer/tent was at a lot of things, we live really close to the beach and the temperatures on the Gulf of Mexico are brutal much of the year. We wanted something with an A/C so we could camp during the 8-9 months of the year when it’s still too hot (for us) to camp in a tent.
Fast forward to last summer - and we got this Casita. It has been amazing. We bought it used, (it’s a 2016) from a lady that only used it for horse shows a few times year. It stayed in her large storage unit the rest of the time, and was in mint condition with a few thousand dollars in thoughtful upgrades.
We bought it mid last summer and have probably stayed in it 25 times or so. We can take it out to the beach and have full amenities (including AC with our little generator). It has a bathroom, kitchen, shower, etc. We live near a major city and when we have late events there, we’ll bring it up to an RV park in town and it saves us the long drive home, or a hotel. The RV park is about 1/3 the cost of a hotel, plus, we are able to bring our dog which we don’t like to board. It has a side dinette (that I’m sitting at on the interior picture) and the bed can also convert to a much larger dining room table.
Having lived in a “regular” stick built trailer, the fiberglass molded Casita is, in my opinion, most well built/reliable trailer of this size. Things break in life and on trailers, but there’s a reason the Casita’s hold their value.
All of that in mind, these are just our experiences and the joy and convenience this trailer has brought us. Due to my work, I get the opportunity for sabbaticals between jobs. This trailer will be perfect for the next sabbatical, whenever that comes.
They certainly aren’t cheap so it really depends on your financial situation, income, expected amount of use, etc. I work a ton (and make a lot) so it wasn’t a big dent to our savings.
We love our trailer and I couldn’t be happier with it. Not a single doubt of regret. They aren’t for everyone, but for those looking for something similar, I think it’s a very good option.