My husband, Jim—he’s a saint—entertained all of these big questions. The idea of leaving behind our beautiful home in the suburbs somehow wasn’t scary to him. He was actually excited by the idea of paring down and living small. It was his genius idea that the house should be on wheels. “Sophie,” he said, “it will be like camping every day. You’ll just have a slightly bigger backpack.”

So we set about making our dream come true. We researched and planned until we settled on a team to work with. We found a flatbed trailer to build on, next came the frame, then the roof, and finally the doors and windows. Before we knew it we had hitched our new life to a Ram Truck and we were on the road.

We drove past farmlands, through forests, climbing up mountain passages until we arrived at our ultimate, remote campsite. That night we sat under the stars and smiled. There was so much space! As it turns out, living small makes room for much bigger things.

1. 1. Secure your trailer. Use wheel chocks to keep it in place. Safety first!


2. 2. Line it up. Back up your truck, lining it up underneath the ball hitch. If you’re driving a Ram 2500, use the available bed-lowering mode and the available 360° rearview camera to help.


3. 3. Secure the safety latch. Once the ball and coupler are connected, secure the safety latch. Further secure it with a pin as an additional safety measure.


4. 4. Connect safety chains. Be sure to cross them for further security.


5. 5. Hook up the breakaway cable. This keeps the trailer from coming forward should your truck and trailer separate.


6. 6. Connect your electronics. Hitch your seven-pin connector to the receiver in your bumper to ensure that your brake lights are functioning correctly.


7. 7. Remove your wheel chocks.


8. 8. Hit the road!