Ok, I’ll admit it; I am a gadget guy. I love gadgets and love owning them. So, what kind of gadgets do I use in my Travel Trailer? Well, as I think if the things I use, I realized that I have a lot of stuff that I bring with us.
We have a set of personal radios from Radio Shack. These are two-way radios that we use when I am backing into a space or if we are hiking. They are also weather radios and we keep one with us in the car to monitor any nasty weather that might be on the horizon.
Of course, I take my laptop. My laptop is a ‘desknote’ because it is pretty large with a 17” screen. In our previous trailer, I also used the laptop as a Television. That worked great and I was very happy with the hi-res screen as my own little portable HD TV. I built a stand that allowed me to set the laptop on for TV viewing. Also, the laptop can be used as….well…a computer! To lookup area sites, maps, etc.
My wife and I love movies and so when we are not outside roasting marshmallows or socializing with our camping friends, we are usually watching a movie. We especially enjoy an old black and white movie when we are going to sleep. We don’t carry very many DVD’s, but we do carry about 400 movies with us.
Now, you are probably wondering how we might be able to carry so many movies but actually it is quite simple. This is one of my favorite gadgets. It is a portable media player. This one is by Mvix and the one I have has a 700 gb hard drive. Here’s how this gadget works; you connect via USB to your computer and it becomes an external hard drive. 
The next gadget is something I really appreciate. It is a rear view camera mounted on the rear of the trailer. Of course, now that I have a new trailer, I am going to have to mount it on the new one. Anyway, what I found is that even though I have trailer mirrors, when people tailgate me, I still can’t see them. With the camera, I know if someone is there so when I do a lane change, I can see if someone is there.
Then, there is my bumper mounted generator. Like the camera, I will have to fit that on my new trailer as well. The generator is a nice luxery. We don’t do much boondocking, but we have used it a couple times…..usually at a rest area where we want to use the microwave or have the AC running. We also used it one day last year when my son and a friend wanted to go to Six Flags and so my wife and I drove them and we stayed in the parking lot in the trailer with the generator running and with that, of course, the AC and my trusty laptop (as a tv).
When we bought the new trailer, one of the other cool gadgets it came with is XM radio. I am looking forward to activating that. I love old time radio shows and there is a channel that is dedicated to them. Since the XM radio is also portable, I look forward to having those radio shows on the drive!Then, there is the dust buster, the shortwave radio, the flashlight with a recharger and many other items.
As you can see, I really do like bringing some gadgets with me on our trips. You could probably imagine what kind of gadgets I have at home. They might actually fill all the storage spaces in our new trailer! My poor wife….I really don’t know how she puts up with me!
You know, I would love to hear from all of you! Tells us what gadgets you bring on your camping trips! I think it would be fun, educational and just plain interesting to hear what others use!
Happy camping and see you next Sunday!