Last weekend I was invited to attend the Tiny House Conference in Portland, OR! This year they had a special Track C for people who had attended a conference or for those who already live in a tiny house. Of about 30 people who signed up for this track, I was one of about a third who already live in one so it was fun to hear what other people had done and their learning lessons as well as the questions and comments from the soon to be tiny housers. We also discussed advocacy and what's in motion at the state and national levels that will potentially shape the future. Finally, of course, we toured the tiny homes people had brought from all over the country.
I have to say though that since I have built and lived in mine, I could live with even less. I originally started with a 20' design, then 18' and finally 16' because in addition to the design challenge, I knew that smaller would be easier to tow around and to find places to park. Some time after building my home, I sketched out a 12' plan and learned how to maximize space even more. After moving mine twice I realized some limitations of taking it on the road and finding a place to live. In some ways I want to be more mobile but still have a solid home base (which will hopefully be the strawbale house on owned property).
I have been looking at Sprinter van conversions with my boyfriend lately and we have been thinking about buying one and building out the inside to travel and live out of for periods of time. Van living is an attractive idea to me because it enables a similar level of the hand-made customization of tiny homes but eliminates the need for a towing vehicle, is more compact and stealthy to live out of. It has a solid shell that you could paint to give it some character and can be easily set up to live off grid. Wheels are turning...
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| Just a few of the tiny homes in the parking lot. |