Hamlet: FAQ's About Our Vintage Camper

No, Airstreams are shaped like upside down hot dog buns. Hamlet is a “canned ham” style with straight sides, but rounded front to back.  Airstreams are very popular and can be very expensive, and are still being made with their classic look today; but even the smallest new models start around $40k. 

 We found our canned ham on eBay for $900 in 2010.  He had been a vintage hunting trailer and was in need of repair, but he had great bones.  We did nearly all of the labor ourselves and put about $3000 into it, including the solar power system and the custom bike rack.

 Hamlet's dimensions  are 15’ long (from tongue to tush) by 6’6” wide.   Interior height is about 6’2”.  Dry weight is around 1,500 pounds.  His name has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s tragedy.  He is a “canned ham” style travel trailer and he's a small house = Hamlet!  

 We don’t actually LIVE inside it much.  It is a place to sleep and eat or hang out when it’s cold or rainy.  Mostly, we live outside because we want to enjoy the outdoors through hiking, cycling, kayaking, snowshoeing, etc..   Our 2015 Nissan Frontier, Lotus, serves as both our vehicle and garage. 

Amazingly well!   Solar power is a simple technology and how much you can use all depends on what you can gather and store. Figuring out how to balance that equation varies between individuals and depends on your energy demands.  If you love vintage but want to update it with solar power, check out our Solar 101 video.  It's designed for beginners! 

 As of 2022, we’ve traveled about 150k miles with our Nissan Frontier 6-cylinder 4x4 truck. We started with a 2000, but recently upgraded to a 2015.  The old truck, Billie Jo, made it to 265K miles, nearly half of these miles were with us!    

 We typically park or camp within a short walk to a toilet.  If we are boondocking, we have a handy bucket toilet.  It’s not usually a problem, and the space trade-off gained from not having an interior bathroom is simply huge. Check out our Virtual Open House video for details.

 Creatively! We can always clean the “important parts” in a variety of ways. With this said, many campgrounds, recreation centers, truck stops, gas stations, and some laundromats have clean showers.  And if we can’t find an indoor shower, we use our solar outdoor shower and privacy tent.  We fill our Nemo Pressure Shower with water and let it sit in the full sun or heat water in a kettle for just a few minutes and transfer.

 Instead of A/C, we park in the shade and open all the windows and turn on the Fan-Tastic Vent Fan, which runs off of solar powered system.  In the summer, we like to head north, coastal and higher in elevation to stay cooler.  For heating, we have a Mr. Heater Portable Buddy propane heater that is designed for campers, boats, or small workshops.  Even on the chilly days, it heats up the entire camper in about under 30 minutes.  We typically spend about $125 on propane each year for both heating and cooking.