In the Future, Everything's Smaller.

I have been obsessed with an idea for half the summer.

Back in July, hhw mentioned that Jay Shafer, the designer of Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, was passing through Oregon with his own tiny house. I clicked on the link and was mesmerized. I really wanted to see it! But the best I could do from Hawaii was to talk ah and colorfulveggies into going to see it for me. To their credit, they not only went, but documented the visit and even purchased books on my behalf (thank you so much!).

The initial appeal is obvious: It's sooo cute! And it's super efficient! And it goes places! I like to go places. I sought out and consumed as much information as I could about these houses. I looked at other tiny lodgings, too, and found that Tumbleweeds were my favorite by far. I was delighted and inspired by the story of tiny house dweller Dee Williams (video, article), even though her lifestyle is a little more stripped-down than I would want. But as much fun as this research was, I expected the charm of the daydream to fade after a week or two.

It didn't. I just kept thinking about it and thinking about it. What would living in a tiny house be like? How would it make my life better? What would I have to give up? Where would I want to park it? And: If I decide I'm serious about this, how could I make it happen?

That last question is the most vexing one. I lack both the funds to purchase a tiny house outright, and the skills to build one myself. I mean really, I am not even good with a hammer. I have a major asset in the form of a house, but I believe it would be unwise to sell it -- it's an unbelievably great investment, and the market is terrible right now anyway. Then again, I put an awful lot of money into it for the amount of time I've spent there in the past couple of years. And I'm not tired of traveling yet, oh no.

So... I haven't made any decisions. But I have mulled it over to the point where I'm pretty sure that, if I could find a way to acquire a Tumbleweed without selling my "big" house, I would. My reasons include:
- save money on cost of living
- save time/effort on housekeeping
- simplify and streamline my lifestyle
- be nicer to the planet
- can leave it empty for months at a time at no real loss
- can pick it up and move to other interesting places (and back again)
- can live in community with others, yet maintain personal space
- can move on-site to assist parents if they get all feeble on me someday
- still have room for guests, if guests aren't claustrophobic

It's just an idea. But that's where everything always starts. So don't say I didn't warn you.

And if you think you might be interested in renting out about 100 square feet of your yard for any period of time, let me know!