After our kids got old enough to move out and go to college, my wife and I started adapting to an “empty nest” at home. The kids’ departure left me with fewer excuses to go out camping and backpacking every month, but my wife made an offer. She said she’d be interested in spending more time camping with me – but with certain conditions, revolving mostly around accessibility of bathrooms and not having to sleep on the ground.

We found the solution in a teardrop trailer. We did some searching and settled on a used, but relatively new, 2022 NuCamp T@G, a 13.5′ trailer that is light enough to be towed with our minivan. It’s basically a bedroom with an outdoor kitchen attached, and it is the perfect minimalist shelter with the level of comfort my wife was looking for. We’ve had it now for just over a year, and been out almost 20 nights in it.

About half our nights have utilized some combination of power and water, and about half have been “boondocking”, self contained with our onboard water supply and relying on solar to keep our power supplies up. We’ve gotten pretty proficient (in good weather) at managing these resources to keep everything running through a three day weekend.

Our big power draw is our DC refrigerator/cooler. By cold-soaking it ahead of time, though, we’ve been able to trust it and keep everything cold through a typical weekend out.

Like most owners of teardrops, we’ve made minor modifications, and the refrigerator is what kicked off the construction. Our used trailer basically had a big opening on the right side of the galley, sized for a fridge or a cooler. In order to make this useful, I was tasked with putting in a large drawer on ball-bearing slides so that the refrigerator could easily slide out for access. Having done that, we decided that we had room above the refrigerator to add another drawer, ostensibly for eating and cooking utensils.

So, last week, I made that modification as well, and decided to document it in case any other T@G (or similar) teardrop owners wanted to duplicate what we did.

Basically, I used a 1×6 board of finished pine, and cut several sections to match the width of the available opening on the trailer. By stacking three of these, I created a drawer 16.5″ deep. (For the refrigerator, I stacked 4, which add up to about 22″).

I then used a 1×2 to create a rail around the perimeter of the drawer, using a miter saw to cut each end at 45 degrees so that the result is a nice, pretty finished joint. The left and right rails cross the several boards used to create the drawer bottom, and so by screwing these in first, it helps tie the bottom solidly together before installing the rails at front and back.

Having completed the wooden part of the drawer, it’s then a simple procedure to add drawer slides to the sides of the drawer, and the inside of the hole in the trailer, and then hoping everything lines up correctly. In order to accomplish this, you have to first make sure the trailer is level, and then use a level to mark rail locations inside the trailer. Note that for the refrigerator (the bottom shelf, in my case), you have to account for the sloping floor on the T@G – it’s very important to make sure the shelf will extend above the clamshell door latch, and the sloping floor is a horrible reference. Using a level is imperative!

Each of my shelf projects took about an hour and a half. The result (for us) is a much more useful space!

The T@G also has an auxiliary propane line running under the rear of the galley, so I’ve modified a small grill to remove its regulator (the trailer already has a regulator), so that we can have a tabletop grill next to our kitchen when we want. This propane source would also feed a lantern.

In the future, we’re considering removing the microwave and adding shelves or other storage. However I’ve had to admit that when we’re on shore power, the microwave really is nice to have. AND, now that we’ve got an extra storage space for all our utensils, we may not NEED the extra room. We’re currently keeping plates in the microwave during travel, and that’s about it, so maybe we’ll keep it?

Our little trailer is a far cry from wilderness camping and backpacking, but it is minimalist enough that we don’t feel like we’re living in a mobile house. The outdoor kitchen is particularly nice, as we can be cooking next to a picnic table and a burning campfire – we really are outside for that whole evolution. Importantly, we’re USING it, and spending time together. That’s what really matters!

Get Out There!