Architect Christopher C. Deam, Dwell founder Lara Deam's husband, designed Airstream's newest travel trailer, the International Sterling.

Texas. The Cricket Trailer, made in Houston, can sleep up to two adults and two children. With integrated fresh water and greywater tanks along with a water heater, campers can live off-the-grid in the easily towable unit.

Night settles in around the wanderers sheltered in El Cosmico's teepees and trailers. As El Cosmico shows, understanding a small space involves understanding the infinitude of the world beyond them.

With the residents awake inside, this trailer's burnished glow reflects the sunset.

The Leaf House is a lightweight, mobile trailer that was carefully engineered to weigh less than 5,000 pounds. The designer, Laird Herbert, used a metal-mesh, open-joint rainscreen as the cladding on the front end, and spruce pine at the back.

A sky-blue vintage trailer blends in with the sky.

"I like the more boxy, modern look," Herbert says, "and I think it fits the small space better. You have more space in a box. As soon as you put a peak on a roof, you lose a lot of that usable space."

By reducing the bedroom to its essentials and filling it with windows, the El Cosmico staff has made this small space as expansive as the desert beyond.

A super-insulated envelope and a heat-recovery ventilator help keep the Leaf House comfortably warm, even in the brutally cold Canadian winters.

The structure is super-insulated, making use of quad-paned windows and vacuum-insulated panels.

“When we first set out on this crazy adventure, we always pictured parking Woody in a place like this,” Brian says. “We honestly couldn’t have imagined it would be this spectacular.”

With a built-in sofa and sleeping loft, ATLAS can accommodate three adult travelers.

Howard and Shumate in the living room, where Commune designer Steven Johanknecht introduced custom built-in daybeds with storage beneath. The carpet-fragment pillows are from Commune, as is the table, designed by Joshua Tree–based sculptor Alma Allen. The poster is by Mike Mills.

Brian and Joni Buzarde’s self-designed home sits on a customized chassis by PJ Trailers that’s just eight and a half feet wide. The 236-square-foot trailer is clad in cedar.

The kitchen cabinetry echoes the new blue ceiling. The brick tile is from Heath Ceramics, as is the dinnerware. Behind the Viking stove is powder-coated corrugated metal (“Very trailer,” says the designer). The refrigerator is from Big Chill. On the table is a bowl by Victoria Morris.

More fragment pillows adorn the bed, which is covered in a reversible bedspread by artist Jane Kifer. To the left of the window is a painting by Shumate.

Milgard sliding doors were added with the future in mind. “We really wanted it to feel big since we planned to live in it full-time,” Brian says.

Inside the renovated Airstream, a woman prepares a meal. The skylight above the cook top lets fumes escape the small space. Photo by Sadamu Saito.

With a last-minute deadline, architect Burton Baldridge transformed a decaying trailer into a modern green home for Stubb's, an Austin, Texas club. Baldridge teamed up with Branson Fustes of Pilgrim Building Company to work on the interiors and building custom furniture, such as a bar on one end.

With a last minute deadline, architect Burton Baldridge transformed a decaying trailer into a modern green home for Stubb's, an Austin, Texas club. Baldridge teamed up with Branson Fustes of Pilgrim Building Company to work on the interiors and building custom furniture, such as a bar on one end.

Unpacking the deck and awning reveals a glass wall that opens the trailer to its environment, wherever that may be. The ATLAS can be hitched to a truck to travel easily from campsite to campsite.

A 55-inch Samsung Smart TV, a gift, is one of few indulgences.

This stylized vintage trailer is the image of small-scale luxury.

The all-wood interior features standard home appliances, such as a sink, induction cook top, and refrigerator.

Generous windows and a split indoor-outdoor benchtop help bring the outside in.

Fed up with boxy trailers that blot out their scenery, F9 Productions developed ATLAS as an airy alternative for road travel. Part of a series of projects that experiments with practicality, the trailer clocks in at 7,500 pounds, with 192 square feet of interior space spread across two levels.

Container Store finds, like galvanized-steel shelving in the kitchen, maximize storage.

Airstream partnered with Victorinox Swiss Army—the same company that makes the iconic pocket knife—to commemorate the tool's 125th anniversary. Only 125 of the special edition trailers were produced.

Herbert used laminate bamboo flooring inside the Leaf House. An inexpensive light fixture, which Herbert found in a thrift shop, hangs from the birch-plywood ceiling.

An animation shows the structure inflating.

The shower, as seen through the main entrance. The metal-mesh open-joint rain screen is designed to rust over time.

A custom Murphy bed occupies the rear end of the trailer, next to a wall of cedar shingles. The wall at left, which Herbert painted white, is tongue-and-groove pine.

Give the trekkers and travelers in your life a boost with new gear and inspiration.

Herbert fashioned the custom kitchen countertop from a foam-core backer board, which he coated with a concrete microtopping. The wood is clear-grain cedar.

The result, which will be available commercially in early 2015, is a teardrop-shaped caravan that can be towed behind a vehicle or parked in a backyard.

Don't rush the bidding process. Many experts recommend obtaining bids from three different contractors so you can compare and contrast. Wait until you’ve heard back from a few different options so you can accurately analyze the results and make an educated decision.