Portability

Cellphones are really useful. You can be most anywhere and stay in touch with friends or business. Most adults and teenagers have a cellphone because of this utility.

Laptops are useful. They let you do work wherever. Wireless connections let you access the internet using that laptop or cellphone wherever.

Thumb drives are really useful, particularly since they let you carry important documents, and modify them as needed, without using any power. No battery needed. It just sits there till you plug it into a USB drive on a computer. They're also cheap.

Digital cameras are really useful. You can take pictures, see if they're any good, store hundreds of them, make photo albums and upload their contents online to share. You can even use Optical Code Reader software to interpret photos with text on them into text documents, which is very popular with doctors and professionals of many kinds.

MP3 players are really useful. Good ones will hold days of music, maybe even your entire collection. You can swap files with them too. Or store movies. The better cellphones will act as music players and store data and transfer it wirelessly or a common Mini-USB cable everybody has.

Debit cards are really useful. Instead of carrying around wads of cash, you have a secure card that can't be used without an encrypted reader and your 4-5 digit PIN which only you know. Its convenient and can be used for many many things. Even buying a car.

Minimalism, on wheels.

Now that I know that stronger passenger cars and most pickup trucks are capable of pulling trailers you can live in, the size of a studio apartment, I know that you can take the above devices and turn your life portable, following the jobs. Fuel isn't free, but you don't have to use that passenger car or pickup truck for your daily commute, though you can certainly park that trailer close to your work to minimize fuel use. After all, its a trailer. Its on wheels. You can move it to wherever.

Many technical jobs today are portable and short term. They basically treat you as a contractor because you're competing with Call Centers in India using Remote Access computer systems and the internet to do the information processing and account setup and security remotely. All from a boiler room in Mumbai. The hardware installation is something you do in days or weeks, then tow your trailer to the next contract job. You'd think that IT temp agencies would be all over this, but from what I've seen they just headhunt and forget you after they get their commission. Finding your own jobs is cheaper for the company and more profitable for you. Temp Agencies are too greedy today.

You need the right contract and with carefully negotiated terms and staged payments, in thirds usually. First payment for showing up. Second for halfway point. Last for approval of completion and sign off. This approach is easy to replicate and portable, but you have to lay out the terms exactly so you're both satisfied.

Living in a trailer, most of which are built for the summer so have poor insulation, won't be very comfortable in places that are too cold or too hot. Buying a quality one is probably expensive. A used one is cheap, but often broken in many ways and will need carpentry and possibly welding work done, even electrical. If you do buy a fixer trailer and have the skillset to repair it, by all means add the crucial stuff like a Wireless 802.11n loop on the roof, with Ethernet jacks on the walls, and put in Solar co-generation panels for power and heat, and replace the batteries with new marine deep cycle batteries, and the refrigerator with a modern and more efficient one. Remember you'll be living there. And if you can replace the insulation DO SO! It will make you much more comfortable and save you money.

Most people just rent an apartment, but that's hard to do today if the contract is too short. Most places either want a 6-12 month lease signed, or direct you to an Extended Stay motel, which costs around the same as an apartment. Not all of those have kitchens, and some charge you extra for heat and internet. They are affordable, up to a point. However most trailer parks are just a few hundred a month for a space with hookups (power, water, sewer, cable TV, and sometimes internet). This is why I say you should look hard at your needs and see if they can be met with a trailer.

Everything in life is a tradeoff. We can't change that. We can only choose, or let others choose for us.