People who don't need junk can live in a small space like that, retire earlier, and live in good weather most of the year. Conventional people, such as the Dilberts and putzen-frauen of the world, have a hard time understanding how circular and futile their lifestyle is: they are tied down in some place that has two months of good weather for the sake of the job, which then permits them to buy a big and expensive house, since they live indoors all year. The enormous expense of the house, and all the toys and junk it holds, then keeps them working until age 65. On and on the cycle of futility goes.
A second surprise was in finding an unusual floor plan for the little travel trailer. The door was in the rear, like a pickup camper. (Skyline Layton Model 150.) There wasn't even the need to follow my usual advice about customizing an RV, which is to lob a hand grenade into it and then to rebuild it right.
What wrenching changes the RV industry must be going through right now! This is a perfect example of the Creative Destruction that is supposed to happen in a market economy. It's easier to see the destruction as creative when somebody else's job is at stake. But what is the alternative? Think how many billions of dollars are wasted on motorized toys like RVs, boat, ATVs, etc. Then they spend most of their "useful" lives depreciating in a storage lot, while the owner makes interest and insurance payments on them all year. What madness it is!
What would de Toqueville say of the RV industry if he were alive today?
What will the future bring to the RV industry, besides a decrease in the number and average size of RVs? But it's doubtful that the downsizing will be this drastic:
But there must be more fundamental changes to the retirement lifestyle than this, coming in the next few years, as a result of the ongoing Depression. If Baby Boomers find that retirement turns out less comfortable and luxurious than they thought, who will they blame? There are a lot of things like this to ponder and plan for.
