Why a Winnebago Micro Minnie is a Great Fit for a Traveling Elopement Photographer

Why a Winnebago Micro Minnie is a Great Fit for a Traveling Elopement Photographer 
How a business owner uses her travel trailer for work and play.

By: Dom Carson

I’m Dom, my family and I call a small piece of land at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta home. I’m an elopement photographer, content creator, and mama to a fierce little toddler, Aster. 

My husband, Reid, works away from home most of the time, so when he’s not around I solo adventure a lot with Aster and the dogs. And when he is home, you can usually find us all out in the woods. We do a little bit of everything, from camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, to just being outside on our property.

Outside is definitely our happy place. We believe that being outside is not just fun, but also healing for every part of ourselves. It's where we disconnect from technology and connect with each other, building a bond that will never grow old. We have made a conscious decision to raise our daughter in the great outdoors, giving her the opportunity to explore, learn, and have an adventurous childhood, surrounded by the beauty of the wild. 

Our family has embraced a slower pace of life that prioritizes simplicity, mindfulness, gratitude, environmental responsibility, self-sufficiency, and community above all else. We aim to foster a deeper connection with both nature and one another and hope that we can inspire other families to get outside together and experience the magic of the world. 

We have had a travel trailer for many years, but in the summer of 2022, we downsized (and upgraded!) to a Winnebago Micro Minnie 2100BH. It’s the perfect trailer for our family and for my job, where I use it most weekends in the summer on work trips. 

Why I Love My Winnebago Micro Minnie as a Traveling Elopement Photographer

As a traveling elopement photographer, I spend most of my time on the road, traveling from one stunning location to another. The majority of my shoots are in Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, each a few hours away from my home. To save time, money, and give me a home base while I'm shooting, I usually bring our Micro Minnie to make my life a bit easier. 

Here are some of the reasons why my Winnebago Micro Minnie is so useful as an elopement photographer:

1. The convenience of towing a small trailer solo.

First, my Micro Minnie is small enough for me to comfortably tow it behind my vehicle solo. This means that I can easily navigate through the winding mountain roads and confidently park it in the small (usually tree-lined) spots in the national park campgrounds. 

I love that I am able to easily and quickly unhook it from my truck so I can take off for my shoot, but still have everything set up when I get back (one of the main reasons why I went with a travel trailer instead of a van).

2. The comfort and flexibility of having a home base while working on the road.

Notably though, despite its compact size, my travel trailer is still big enough for family adventures. I often bring Reid, Aster, and the dogs along on my work trips and we've found that our trailer has everything we need for a comfortable and enjoyable trip. 

We have cozy beds to sleep in, a kitchen to cook our meals, and a bathroom to make life with a potty training toddler easier. Plus, being able to take my family along means that we get a really fun family adventure on either end of me working.

It also means that when I unhook the truck and head off to a shoot, the family still has a base to nap, cook, play, and hang out while I am away working for the day. 

Some of my favorite things to shoot are sunrise mountain elopements. For these elopements, the couple and I meet at the trailhead as early as 1 a.m. to start hiking up the trail in the dark to be on top of the mountain before the sun rises.

In the past, this would mean that I was leaving my house at 10:30 p.m. the night before and basically not sleeping at all before the shoot. 

These days though, I can haul our trailer to a nearby campground the day before and be sleeping by 9 p.m., catching at least a few hours of sleep before we meet at the trailhead. I can then come back to the trailer after the elopement wraps up and nap before I either head home or on to the next shoot. 

It’s made those early morning days much more enjoyable, and also much safer now that I’m not driving on no sleep as much as I used to.

3. The advantages of solar power for remote work.

One of the most significant advantages of my travel trailer is that it has solar power. This means that I can work and charge all my devices (cameras, phone, Garmin In-Reach, drone, etc.) without having to worry about finding an electrical outlet. 

When I'm on the road, I need to be able to work remotely and having a reliable power source is essential. With solar power, I can easily edit all day and get a bunch of work done between shoots, or when Aster naps. This is a true game changer for us.

4. The cost savings of camping in a travel trailer compared to hotels.

Another advantage to bringing the Micro Minnie when I work is that it saves me a ton of money. Campground fees in the parks are usually around $35/night, compared to $200+/night for the cheapest hotels.

We also make all of our own food in the trailer, which saves money on eating out and also means that we can stay in our routine and cook healthy and nourishing meals for ourselves. 

All in all, my Winnebago Micro Minnie has been an invaluable asset in my career as an elopement photographer. Its small size makes it easy to tow and park in the small spots in campgrounds, it has solar power for reliable and portable electricity, and it's also big enough for family adventures, while saving us money. 

I couldn’t go back to tent camping or staying in hotels while I am working now that I have experienced how great travel trailer life is!