My Tiny House Adventure

Why?

One word “Freedom”. Freedom to be anywhere for long periods of time at a moment’s notice. Potential financial freedom, where you are no longer paying down a mortgage. If you want to see the “extended” version, head over to my private post, where I detail the motivations behind this project.

Brainstorming solutions

How do you move without actually moving? With wheels. We explored the possibility of living out of a van or an RV. Van life did not appeal to us because of being cramped for space. Plus, if you needed to go places in a new town, you have to drag the whole van or RV with you. The other option is a camper trailer (e.g. Airstream). Even though it gives you the option of separating out the living space from the vehicle, it too can be quite cramped. High cost is a factor as well in both options ranging from $30K to $80K. My budget is $20K. The other factor is that we love the sun, and having a pre-built RV/camper/van means sacrificing lots of windows that let light in.

The ultimate transitional living space for us turns out to be a tiny house on wheels. You can custom build it to your specifications and needs. We want to be able to use it for road trips, “glamping”, and ultimately as a place to call our second home away from home. If we go somewhere for an extended period, we can use the big house as an AirBnB space (for extra income towards our mortgage).

Design constraints

• Budget $20,000
• Needs to be sized just right. I should be small enough that it can be parked at a campground. It should be able to fit in a standard sized parking space, as well as a RV spot on my home property.
• The ideal size seems to be an 8 x 16 flat bed trailer.
• Ideally, it should be towable with my SUV (which can tow up to 5000 lbs). Would hate to buy a pickup truck just to tow this thing.
• The big decision right now is cost of the framing materials. Steel (lighter, higher cost) or wood (heavier, cheaper).
• Would rather go with a flat roof and forgo the loft area because I don’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb when on the road. Also, I don’t want to worry about going under small bridges in which it may not fit under.
• Lots of windows to let in sun light. I saw this Atlas tiny house with a full window wall and a huge fold down deck. I knew I had to incorporate it into my own design.
• Solar option for off-grid, and RV hookups for when I need to be on-the-grid.

The Plan

In order to stick to the budget, I would need to do most of the work, as opposed to hiring someone to do it. Right now, I am putting down as many ideas as possible into a private Pinterest board. As I learn more about building a tiny house, I will post on this blog.