Humble cargo trailer with a private jet interior (See Tetravan.com/trailer for more pics, video)

For several years I worked for a company building the interiors of $60+ million private jets, complete with handmade curved cabinets, highly polished Corian countertops, and custom upholstery. It was challenging and fun to recreate the warmth and comfort of a well-decorated home within the confines of an aluminum tube.

I left that job with a variety of skills and an appreciation for the design of small, oddly-shaped living spaces. However, my work was always narrowly defined by the specifications of engineers, designers (and ultimately customers) above me. This left no room for my own creative expression. I wanted to design and build my own jet interior from start to finish, choosing the materials, lighting, layout etc. that fit my own aesthetic, rather than the whims of an anonymous billionaire.

Of course, buying my own private jet for the purpose of artistic expression was not in the cards. Even a mothballed, unflyable 1970s Learjet was out of my price range. After working for a Van up-fitting company, I considered the Sprinter van route. Then the pandemic sparked a craze in Vanlife, pushing the prices of Sprinters to an unattainable level.

Driving on the freeway one day I noticed that nearly every work truck was towing a small trailer. These trailers were so ubiquitous that I hadn't noticed them before. Usually somewhat beat up and plastered with the logo of a local landscaping company or contractor, they were used to haul tools to worksites and typically were tall enough to stand in. It immediately occurred to me that these trailers (made from aluminum just like the jets I had worked on) were the perfect container to build my own "private jet" interior.

Soon after, I purchased the highest quality enclosed trailer I could find from a small lot in Iowa and hired a guy on Craigslist to drive it to my little workshop in Salt Lake City. (Side note: The trailer barely survived the journey when a huge snow and wind storm nearly pushed the light, empty trailer off the road on a notorious stretch of I-80 in Wyoming.) For the next 14 months I transformed the interior of the low-key cargo trailer into a luxury off-grid mobile base camp.

My goal for the interior was warm sophistication, a subtle rebuke of the "fifty shade of gray" interiors that I had been installing into client's jets and vans for the past 5 years. The color palette includes curved teak cabinets, earthy red Marmoleum floors, slate black Paperstone countertops and an ochre Ikat style seat fabric by Knoll. In order to maximize usable space I designed and fabricated a folding shower system as well as a dinette that converts to a second bed. Creature comforts, including a fridge, 12 volt air conditioner, stove, hot water system and speakers, are integrated into the interior in as unobtrusively as possible. Virtually unlimited power comes from a 600W solar system nestled into a custom aluminum roof rack, making this trailer ideal for truly remote work.

The completion of this trailer gives meaning to the better part of a decade I spent building toys for the ultra-wealthy. I was finally able to take full ownership over my technical skills and apply them to something I wanted to build, rather than something I had to build. I'm ready to pass this trailer off to someone who appreciates it. There is something undeniably fun about showing up to a remote campsite with a little white cargo trailer that is covertly decked out like a jet on the inside. This trailer gives a wink and nod to the inherent absurdity of the vanlife/glamping movement while fully engaging in the best parts of it.