gojunebug.com

You never know where you will find a trailer for your new tear drop.  A site that you are sure to use to scrounge up a good deal on a trailer is Craig’s List.  Personally I don’t like checking everyday to see if there is something new  posted to the site.  Fortunately Craig’s List provides an easy way to keep track of what is new in your area.

When you browse a category or do a search on Craig’s List there will be a RSS link.  You can use this link to add the newest listings to a RSS reader.  Some email programs provide allow you to RSS feeds to them like a new email box so everytime you check your email you will also check the newest listings.  If you use a start up page like iGoogle, Yahoo, or Netvibes they will allow you to add a new section for your Craig’s List RSS feed.  So anytime you start up your browser or check out your start page you don’t have to do anything extra to see that trailer just waiting for you.

One of the hardest parts of going on vacation is figuring out where do you want to go and what to see while you are there.  Recently we found a book called 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die which is good for finding places to go categorized by state.  We started by looking neighboring states for some vacations that we could do more vacation than driving.  This book gives about a page of info on each location along with website addresses to find more information which makes your job easier.  My only problem with the book is there are a lot of events listed when interesting places are left out.  If you like food festivals and flower shows this won’t be a problem for you but I was a bit disappointed by some of the entries.  Over all this is still a good guide to find places of interest to you.

After finding places that look interesting searching Google is always a good way to find more info but a couple of sites can really help you out along the way.  The first is Trip Adviser where people write reviews of different areas.  It is a good resource for filling out your vacation itinerary.  The second site which is really helpful and a little less obvious is Flickr.  Tons of people use Flickr to post photos and you know everyone has vacation photos.  For example if you search South Dakota Badlands  you are bound to find pictures of places to go while in the area that might not show up in the travel guides.

There are  a ton more sites out there to fill out your vacation itinerary but these are the ones we always end up using.  A quick tip if you don’t like getting junk mail don’t sign up for the print version of the state/area travel guide don’t sign up for it.  You will be surprised what kind of “mail offers” you will get.  If you do find that your only option is to give them your address a little trick that I learned long ago is to fill in your name with an alternate middle initial.  So if start getting mail for John Z Doe, you will know exactly who sold your information.  Most places are pretty good with keeping your information to travel related businesses in their state but other states just make a quick buck from selling your name to every mass mailing list out there.

Have a favorite travel planning resource post it in the comments.

So the idea of going camping in a Tear Drop / Tiny Travel Trailer interest you.  Of course it does!  There are a several routes you can go.  You can buy a completed Trailer or build your own.  There are several manufactures out there that you can purchase from and you can always find some one who is selling their project trailer.

If you go the route of building your own you can find many plans online or come up with your own from scratch.  As always Google is your friend you can find old Popular Mechanics plans and newer plans that are made available for free.  Most of the free plans are basic drawings with basic dimensions to get you going.  If you are looking for something a bit more complete, you can find plans for sale online that include more detail or pictures from the building process.

Don’t feel like sorting through Google Results all day long?  A good all around source of info is the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers Forum, there are tons of people sharing there expereinces and construction know how.

Just a word of warning get a special bookmark folder ready or you will never be able to keep track of all the links you find.