Little camper gives builder a big thrill

“I wanted to do some traveling, and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money doing it,” he says.

In particular, he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on hotels when all he was looking for was a place to sleep after a long day’s drive.

He found the solution in a rest area near Mandan, N.D. That’s where he found a flier for Big Woody Campers, a teardrop-shaped camper small enough you can tow behind a car, but big enough to sleep two.

Early sent away for the plans and received 176-page packet of plans including paper templates for the sides and doors.

“The guy who built the original was so meticulous and precise,” Early, a car enthusiast, says.

Early used his retirement gift from his MSUM colleagues, a gift card to Home Depot, to buy supplies for his new rolling home-away-from-home.

The structure is built on a standard, store-bought 4-by-8-foot utility trailer. Early cut the two side walls and had to special-order the aluminum roof exterior. The interior is lined with 3/4-inch cedar, giving it a nice, woodsy fragrance.

He built the whole thing at home with a few basic power tools last summer for about $3,500. The biggest investment was getting a quality mattress.

“It’s not hard to build,” Early says, estimating that he spent 160 hours on the project.

“Somebody younger and more energetic could’ve got it done faster.”

“Give John a project and he gets going,” says his wife, Liz Severn.

While the Big Woody camper and Early’s ongoing project, restoring a 1948 Plymouth, are parked in their garage, Severn doesn’t mind.

“This is beautiful. It’s a work of art,” she says.

While they’re both happy with how it turned out, Early explains that others have customized their trailers in more luxurious ways. Some have more electronics inside while Early has a basic light and a few outlets. His galley is left pretty raw, used more for storage, while others have created stylish kitchenettes in theirs.

All total, Early’s camper weighs about 750 pounds. With only a slightly higher profile than his Subaru Outback, it is easy to tow behind the car without too much drag.

He took it to the Black Hills for its maiden voyage late last September, the first time in 30 years he wasn’t teaching.

“He looked so happy. He tried to hide it,” Severn says.

The smiles didn’t last long after he returned as Early needed to put it in storage for the winter.

“When he came back without that camper, it looked like he left his best friend behind,” she says.

Once spring came this year, he got the camper out of storage and towed it down to Texas and across the Southwest. The trip kept him on the road for 12 days, during which his total spent on lodging was $221, averaging $20 a night for a campground.

“It’s a nice retirement project,” Severn says.

Online: Read more about Big Woody Campers and get plans at https://bigwoodycampers.com