Yurt and/or hardsided trailer?

[surfingbodi]

Some of you may know from my previous threads that I am looking into traveling with my kids and dogs via a truck pulling a popup camper. However, I do want to have downtime here in New Mexico so am considering also buying a hard sided camper and/or a Yurt to live in when we are here. The idea would be to help us stay warm when we are here during the winter. I know Yurts are not traditionally insulated but I would need to insulate this one obviously.

Anyone have any experience with any of this they can share? Ultimately I do not want to have to continue to pay rent/mortgage rather travel and have a very simple homebase here for the next few years until my kids are old enough to be on their own or I get tired of living that way. I need internet access to work so I am intending to eventually purchase a satellite system as well. Ultimately I am anticipating it taking about 24 months to purchase the yurt and/or hardsided trailer, the satellite system, and the initial popup camper.

I would probably live primarily in northern New Mexico at first where I know I will not be harassed for zoning issues (for those of you who have seen Off the Grid - one of those places is my old 'house').

ty !Splat!mucho!!!!!

sb/gari

[Zoebird]

I like Pacific Yurts (http://www.yurts.com) a lot, and would definitely live in one. DH is not so keen on it per se, not as much as I am.

A friend of ours lives off-grid on one. The main yurt has housing and kitchen, with a wood-burning stove for heat in winter, and they have a separate "bathroom" which has a composting toilet and then a solar shower. In winter, they tend to wash inside with water boiled on the wood burning stove, but of course still use the outhouse. She says that sometimes in the evenings, they'll use a chamberpot and then take it out before bed, simply because it can get cold.

Hard-sided trailers tend to be colder, because they are metal. So, they require more insulating for winter, often more than what they already have. This can be quite a bit m ore expensive, too, than -- say -- putting rugs/sheepskins on the walls of the yurt (wool!) which is what mongolians do. Or, wearing an extra sweater and relying on the wood burning stove.