When we bought our tiny home we were excited about all of our road trips. With our home behind us, we could save money on hotels and make our cross country trips easier...at least that's what we thought.

It turns out we were not fully prepared for road trips with a tiny home. Towing the tiny home around is not always an easy feat.

Simple road trips become planned out missions. Rest stops are not as common as one may think and not all gas stations are built for towing of any kind.

We also need to find trusty spots for our home while we are off at work or galavanting around. Having to park a tiny home can be more of a challenge than you think.

Now that we have had the tiny home for longer we are much more prepared and road trips are a cinch. Here is how we tackle road trips with our tiny travel trailer home and make it look easy.

Disclosure: Links throughout the Mindful Nomadics site may make us a small commission at no additional cost to you. See our Affiliate Disclosure for more information.

Towing

The first part about road tripping with the tiny home is pulling it along with us. We are pretty efficient with attaching the tiny home and going about our way. Watch our video to see how it's done.

As for actually towing the tiny home, our main concern is always safety. We never go faster than we feel is safe and take our time with changing lanes.

We make sure to be extra aware of our surroundings and adjust accordingly. If the weather is bad we slow down and give even more driving distance.

We have now driven through rainstorms, snowstorms, and wind tunnels. The biggest thing is also just to slow down and ensure you have control of what you are towing.

Rest Stops

The best invention ever made for long road trips are rest stops. Combine this with towing a travel trailer and rest stops have quickly become our go-to stop locations.

Bathroom Breaks

We both like having some tea or pop to drink while on long road trips which means bathroom breaks. Most places with bathrooms do not have spots for a car and trailer towing behind.

Long gone are the days of saying "let's get off here I have to use the bathroom". Instead, we are always looking out for rest stops.

If we have a rest stop coming up and we even think there's a chance we have to use the bathroom, we stop. It is so easy to pull on in then quickly pull on out.

We could technically use the bathroom in our tiny home but we like to use theirs. This way we don't have to empty anything while road tripping.

Overnight Stops

One of the best parts about owning a tiny home is that we now have a place to stay overnight during long road trips. Hotels can be expensive, hard to book while on the road, and not always in the best conditions.

Now, all we have to do is find a rest stop and we can sleep in the tiny home overnight. We don't pop the top of our teardrop trailer but we do set down the jacks and wheel blocks.

Most rest stops work since they are free but make sure it has a bathroom nearby. We learned the hard way not all rest stops have bathrooms.

Gas stations

Towing a trailer behind our crossover SUV means our gas mileage goes from 25 MPG to 15 MPG. Therefore we have to stop for gas a lot.
We never knew how much of a nightmare gas stations could be until we doubled our length and added in an axle/hitch.

So far in our travels, we have scratched up a yellow cement pole, had to get a semi-truck driver to help us get out, and spent over 30 minutes maneuvering out of a spot.

We have now learned our lesson and we know exactly what kind of gas stations we can and cannot go to. The three gas stations you need to be on the lookout for are:

1. Love's Travel Stop
2. Pilot Travel Center
3. Flying J

All of these gas stations have plenty of space to easily get in and out while still getting right next to a gas pump. There is also parking so if you wanted to go in and buy snacks or use the restroom you can.

Most if not all of them have showers which can is not a necessity but can be handy. When we road trip we go with the "dirty grungy" look but it's at least nice to know we have it for an option if needed.

We have also stayed overnight in these gas stations parking lots. This is helpful since we can fill up our tank at the same time. We have found though that these spots fill up quickly with semi-trucks and other road dwellers.

Road Trippin Trailer Life

Road trips are always fun and full of adventure but adding in a trailer can make things more complicated. Having to tow a travel trailer requires extra planning and unseen setbacks. Luckily we have now mastered road trips with our tiny home.