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Trailersteading: How to Find, Buy, Retrofit, and Live Large in a Mobile Home (Modern Simplicity Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Anna Hess (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 453 ratings
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All the advantages of a tiny house at a fraction of the cost!

Imagine what you could do with your time if you didn't have to spend $16,000 a year on rent or a mortgage. Old single-wide mobile homes can often be found for free (and installed for a couple of thousand dollars) in rural areas, so trailersteading is akin to dumpster-diving. A trailer allows you to live without debt, to keep your ecological footprint to a minimum with energy bills at or below the national average, and even to blend right in alongside traditional-house dwellers after a few years.

Trailersteading profiles thirteen mobile-home dwellers who have used trailers as a stepping stone toward achieving their dreams. Some have spent the cash saved to expedite renovations involving extra insulation, pitched roofs, classy interiors, and even basements, while the found money has allowed others to go off the grid. Many also took advantage of a low-cost housing option to pursue their passions, becoming full-time homemakers or homesteaders.

In addition to the case studies, this book presents easy methods of minimizing the negative sides of trailer life and accentuating the positive. For example, did you know a single-wide is easy to retrofit for passive solar heating? That a simple plant-covered trellis can break up the blockiness of the trailer's external appearance? Learn which parts of installing and upgrading your trailer are easy for a DIYer and which parts should be left to the experts, along with how to cheaply heat and cool a mobile home.
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  1. Book 2 of 5
    Modern Simplicity
  2. Print length
    226 pages
  3. Language
    English
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    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    December 19, 2012
  6. File size
    34423 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Live Amazingly, Simply!" --- Jeannie Kieselburg

"I have been reading the Permaculture/self sufficiency/homesteading literature for a number of years now and have amassed quite the library in this genre. It has become rare to find something really new and exciting and that fires up my imagination. Trailersteading did that for me." --- Tommy Bleasdale

"An old, abandoned, windowless mobile home, hauled to a new homestead, became the hub of a vibrant new life for Anna Hess and her husband-to-be Mark Hamilton. Her engaging prose and rich illustrations from half a dozen trailer-homsteaders are likely to entice others to consider this often-overlooked option for building a rewarding, debt-free life on the land." --- Richard Austin

"If you have any desire for either simplistic living, or homesteading, you need to read this book. Its a phenomenal read, and I can't recommend it highly enough." --- Andrew Ayers

About the Author

Anna Hess dreamed about moving back to the land ever since her parents dragged her off their family farm at the age of eight. She worked as a field biologist and nonprofit organizer before acquiring fifty-eight acres and a husband, then quit her job to homestead full time. She admits that real farm life involves a lot more hard work than her childhood memories entailed, but the reality is much more fulfilling and she loves pigging out on sun-warmed strawberries and experimenting with no-till gardening, mushroom propagation, and chicken pasturing.

She also enjoys writing about the adventures, both on her blog at WaldenEffect.org, and in her books.  Her first paperback, The Weekend Homesteader, helped thousands of homesteaders-to-be find ways to fit their dreams into the hours leftover from a full-time job.  In addition, a heaping handful of ebooks on Amazon serve a similar purpose.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AR0T8DI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wetknee Books; Second edition (December 19, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 19, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 34423 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 226 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 453 ratings

About the author

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Anna Hess

Anna Hess

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Anna Hess is a homesteader, writer, and blogger whose first paperback, The Weekend Homesteader, helped thousands of homesteaders-to-be find ways to fit their dreams into the hours leftover from a full-time job. Her complete works include:

Homesteading:

The Weekend Homesteader

Trailersteading

Growing into a Farm

Microbusiness Independence

Low-Cost Sunroom

$10 Root Cellar

Gardening:

Homegrown Humus

Bug-Free Organic Gardening (formerly titled "The Naturally Bug-Free Garden")

The Ultimate Guide to Soil (also available as four smaller ebooks as "Personality Tests for Your Soil," "Small-Scale No-Till Gardening Basics," "Balancing Soil Nutrients and Acidity," and "Soil Amendments for the Organic Garden")

Chickens:

Getting Started With Your Working Chicken (FREE ebook!)

Incubation Handbook

Pasture Basics

Thrifty Chicken Breeds

Building a DIY Chicken Waterer

Eating the Working Chicken

Download a free ebook and dive into a wealth of information when you join my email list at https://wetknee.com/free-books/

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
453 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Pedrules
5.0 out of 5 stars A very entertaining study of modern homesteading pragmatism
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book is a wonderful resource for those who are intrigued by the idea of getting back to the land, embracing a simpler life and thrive while doing so. The narrative reads in part like a conversation between close friends; each discussing the pros and cons of choosing a recycled home as the anchor to which you moor your homesteading dreams, and the author sharing with the reader the highlights of her own journey to personal independence and the fruits of a successful experiment in self-sufficiency.

This account reads as a very entertaining study of modern homesteading pragmatism, versus the materialism advocated by modern culture. It will provide inspiration to young and old alike, although I feel it is of most value to those young adults who have discovered early on that the rat race of American modern society is nothing but a jail cell with padded walls and shiny trinkets. The author is a very real success story, accomplished through hard work, education, persistence and creativity. This is not your typical account of the Mother Earth News retiree with lots of money to finance the back-to-the-land retirement lifestyle. No white-washed accounts of well-off ex-hippies trying to atone for the sins of their past money-making ways. Nor is this book the product of a fly-by-night blogger looking for a quick buck in e-book sales. All the information contained in the book is from real people doing real advances towards independence, in a realistic, attainable fashion.

The author makes a full frontal attack on the first, and biggest, challenge of choosing to live in a recycled home: the term ‘trailer’ and all its connotations. The author makes a very convincing case debunking the associated conceptions to the term, and even explains to the reader how some of the disadvantages are not really disadvantages at all.

The book candidly and honestly shares what has worked and has not worked for the past 9 years of independence. Neither crazy ex-hippies nor fringe idealist need apply here. The narrative shows you how you can blend modern day technical advances with old-timey folk knowledge that gets things done in an efficient, sustainable way. You might not agree on 100% with the author’s approach to the challenges encountered, but herein lays the beauty of this book: The author is not selling you an idea, nor trying to brainwash you into the lifestyle: The intent seemed to be to clearly inform and offer a different point of view with experience that backs it up.

The read itself is easygoing, with plenty of beautiful pictures and a well thought structure. If you are someone who’s just looking to carve a place of your own in this earth, then this book will provide you with an insider’s view of what is possible today.
9 people found this helpful
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Jeff Lester
4.0 out of 5 stars I'm not the intended audience but I enjoyed it anyway.
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014
Verified Purchase
Took time out from Walden to this, figuring it would be at least thematically sympatico.

Since I grabbed this book during a period when it was free on Amazon, I'm probably not the ideal audience and so my grade should be taken with a big ol' grain of salt: it wouldn't surprise me if this book was a perfect fit for the reader who is actively researching using a trailer to enter or transition to the homesteading lifestyle. Hess covers a wide range of questions and considerations for someone contemplating a low-financial investment, and I found a wide range of interesting tidbits about trailer construction (including an eye-opening section on fire safety).

And best of all, Hess has an entirely engaging authorial voice, personable and informed. Turning the pages never felt like a chore, at least until some of the more practical DIY projects were explained in detail (and then it was only because I wasn't interested in the actual projects themselves).

On the flip side of things, it's possible that the reader with a very definite approach looking for a very definite answer about the best way to convert and utilize trailers might be frustrated with the book? Maybe? Hess is always on point, but she weaves enough examples in and out of her book that she returns to with enough frequently there were times I wasn't sure if and when a topic was going to get covered. It's possible someone would want a book that is more an instruction manual than this book here? Personally, I wouldn't have traded the book's tone for anything but, again, I think I'm probably atypical and barely in Hess' intended audience (if at all!)

If I did decide to pursue the homesteading life, I'd make a beeline right to Hess's other books. But as it was, I found Trailersteading to be a pleasant and informative diversion.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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The Woman in Bed for a While
5.0 out of 5 stars Trailersteading - I'm gonna get me a trailer
Reviewed in Spain on April 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
Fantastic book full of insight. Live big by living small. Let's hope this is as easy to do this side of the pond as that side.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for anyone interested in low cost housing
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am planning to do many of the activities/steps outlined in this book. They have a few strategies for a phased trailersteading implementation and great feedback from people who have tried the methods along with priceless anecdotes of things that went wrong and how to avoid such traps.
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Andrea Casalinho
5.0 out of 5 stars I don't live in a trailer ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
I don't live in a trailer nor am ever likely to, but this was a really interesting book none the less. Like all of Anna Hess' books, it was very engaging and easy to read and you know that the advice within it has been tried and tested.
2 people found this helpful
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Mary
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting read.Thank you.
Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2013
Verified Purchase
We have lived in a triple wide for over 20 years.At first it was a nightmare but we persevered and now have a really nice home far from the Madding crowd.I could relate to so much of what you wrote
.
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Anna
5.0 out of 5 stars devoured every page
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2013
Verified Purchase
Brilliant, informative and inspiring. It also comes across as realistic about the pros and cons. I want to live this lifestyle, just have to work out how to do it in the UK
3 people found this helpful
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