by Kate Houle
When I was in high school I always thought it was so strange that there were kids my age who knew exactly what they wanted to do with their life… I have always placed the utmost importance on decision making, sometimes to the point that it paralyzes my process. I am constantly evaluating and reevaluating. I have had to continually grow and establish that which is important to me and actively bring it into my life. I endeavor to cultivate skills, values, experiences and relationships that are meaningful. I also really like to help others. I have found that I have a deep need to learn and try new things and eventually become bored if I don’t change things up every now and again.
This quote that I recently read from Mahatma Gandhi really speaks to me,
“Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
Maybe I thought it was strange that my peers already “knew” that they wanted to be a lawyer and a mom or some such things because my soul was reaching and searching for something radically different. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted and found the prospect of deciding that sort of thing with such little life experience somewhat overwhelming. The one thing I have always known is that I want to lead a fully conscious, meaningful and purpose driven life. It just hasn’t always been easy for me to determine what that purpose is. I have never had a lack of goals, the problem is that I tend towards having an unreasonable number goals.
It has been four months now since we have moved into our tiny space, our 21ft. travel trailer. We have approximately 162 square feet of living space. So far we don’t mind a bit. We had the heat on almost every day last month and our electric bill was only $60!
In this blog I am going to talk about how our lives have changed since going from an 1800 square foot house to an 162 square foot travel trailer. I am going to talk about what our life is like now and how and why this is working for us.
I have to say that while there was some adjusting that had to be done, and still does, the vast majority of change that has taken place is positive. We even enjoy coming up with creative solutions to new situations in our tiny abode; whether they are storage related, heating and cooling related, moisture related or ant related…. We are figuring this out one step at a time and this would probably be a good topic for a future blog post.
I do think that we were absolutely mentally prepared to do this. It is truly what we both wanted and we can finally see the reasons for our move really coming to fruition. This would and could not work if we were not BOTH on board. We have goals and we are actively involved with them. It is difficult to forget about your goals and how serious you are about them when you live in a small space. Your daily life is a constant reminder of why you are there and what you plan to accomplish. Sometimes Rob finds himself surprised by what a big deal this isn’t. RV living suits us well. Our fantasies about where we will live next never include a “Mansion” or “Large Single Family Home”, it is always about our next RV or the Tiny efficient house we plan to build with our own hands.
The Goals and Values we are committed to:
- Save Money – to have an emergency fund, be debt free, taking care of our medical issues and concerns, travel more, spend more time with friends and family, buy land in cash and build a small home without a mortgage, dance more, play more music, continue learning and education.
- Leave a smaller footprint by wasting less, buying less and embracing minimalism.
- Establish a deeper connection with Each Other, God, Nature, the Universe and ultimately our Health and Quality of life by focusing on that which is truly important to us, our core beliefs and values.
(Notice that none of our values and goals includes having more stuff or material goods. I am not saying this as a bragging point. I think most people have similar goals and values, but they get distracted by status items and mistakenly begin to believe they are important. Living the tiny lifestyle helps us stay focused on that which is most deeply important to us and helps us avoid both distraction and the distortion that the meaning of life lies in material goods and status symbols.)
The Lifestyle / What it is like?
- We are finally saving money! It took 4 months for this to actually happen. The cost of moving in combination with several very large unexpected expenses such as Sunny the cat being hospitalized made it hard to notice our reduced costs initially.
- We don’t spend money on stuff we don’t need because we have absolutely no place to put it.
- Even though we are both working, living in an RV campground environment is relaxing and when we go on walks there is a very vacation-like atmosphere. We all wave to each other. It is very friendly.
- While we do have a small shower in our camper, we typically go to a shower room at the RV park. It is nice. There are four separate bathroom/shower rooms, each has two shower heads, hot water and good water pressure. They have key code entry and deadbolts. Walking to the shower rooms in our bathrobes with our shower caddy in hand very much reminds me of summer camp. We like it. Showering is more of a ritual now instead of a daily inconvenience.
- We have both a propane heater that is standard with most RV’s today and a small electric space heater. Either do a fine job heating our tiny space.
- We cook with propane as well. We have to go on a short rural drive every once in a while to get our propane tanks filled at Direct Propane.
- Coin Laundry, it has its advantages and disadvantages
Change Breeds More Change:
- Short hair – I cut my hair really short. It is more manageable and less hair for the drain and my comb…
- Off of Facebook – I took a 2 month break from Facebook and have recently resumed with less interaction and spaced-out, zombie-like scrolling. This could probably be an entire blog in and of itself.
- Cutting other expenses – We have pretty much stopped going out and we have given ourselves a weekly grocery budget. It is fine by us for now. We love eating out, but we know how to have a good time with our grill at home for much less money. Baking and cooking new recipes is also a cheap form of entertainment. We are willing to give up some instant gratification in order to achieve our long term goals.
- Reading about finance – A really great book to kick your butt into gear is, How to Manage your Money when you Don’t Have Any. I highly recommend it!
- For entertainment we play music, sing, dance, play with our cat, go to the gym, watch movies, documentaries and TV series at home (basic cable is free at the RV park). One of our favorite activities is walking around the RV park and looking at the new coaches, trailers and rigs that roll in for the weekend.
- Work – our work keeps us pretty busy and stimulated as well. We work on a variety of projects. In the future I will write a post about what we, “do”. I am sure some people are wondering by now….
By all accounts, we live a very fun and full life in our tiny trailer.
My sister asked, “so are you driving each other crazy being in such a close space together all of the time.” The answer is no. Maybe we are just lucky, but this aspect is not hard for us. And honestly when one of us is gone for more than a couple of hours, we start to miss each other. We enjoy being together, working together, traveling together and truly these are the things that bring us the most satisfaction in life. Like any couple we argue and get our feelings hurt every now and again, but the good most definitely outweighs the bad.
Kate Houle is a RV and tiny living geek, writer, musician, and Yogi always lusting for the next adventure. Blogs about the full-timing lifestyle, minimalism, RV travel and much more at MassiveTinyDreams.com
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