How did I get here continued...

     Once I finally hit the road, I headed from Vermont down through West Virginia, truly amazing views, and into Ohio. After visiting friends I continued on my way through Tornado Alley and I must say that the little shack held up great during high winds and torrential downpours. I think the only problem while driving would be when driving seventy mph or greater, one becomes susceptible to cross winds. I thought I was going to lose it outside of Columbus. Climbing through the Rockies in Colorado, was a truly  transcendental experience. The views really need to be experienced at least once in ones lifetime. And although it did get quite cold, I was snug as a bug. (yes sometimes cliques are required writing) Overall, I think my little Nissan did a pretty good job towing the Itty Bitty. It was a struggle going up the mountain passes, but the bed of my truck was fairly well loaded, other than that it pulled great. I would estimate the trailer is still under the 1000# mark. Other than a quick trip out to the coast, Hello Pacific Ocean! of which my little rolling cabin was a trooper-rough washed out dirt roads to nowhere-i've spent most of my time camped out next to my good friend Grady's  house. My house acts like a detached bedroom, I have full access to the main house which has been a godsend. I definitely don't want to spend another winter living in quite so confined a space. Thats all for now. I'll try to cover some of the not so magical aspects of living small next time and work my way to what do I do now.

 

     

The Genesis of my Tiny Travels, or How the Heck did I end up here?

     So, how did I end up in this situation that I am in. Let me go back a year or two. I had already traveled cross country a couple of times, sleeping in the drivers seat of my truck, and had decided there had to be a better way. Since the back of my truck was full of all my worldly possesions of which I was reluctant to part  (having already purged my junk over several moves), I came to the conclusion that a travel trailer would best suit my needs. Being that my little truck is only capable of towing a fairly light amount and that my funds are somewhat limited, I decided building something from scratch would be the best possible option. Lucky for me I already owned a small utillity trailer. I had used this to transport my motorcycle which I sadly had to sell, and this seemed the perfect base to build my little home on.
     I then proceeded to spend most of last winter planning the build. I knew I wanted it to be small enough and light enough to fit into my 4x7 trailer and easily removable in case I want to use the trailer for other uses. I found some interesting ideas on the internet and was once again lucky in that I had a carpenter friend. I would have liked to do it on my own, but time was running short, the Vermont winter was coming to a close and I wanted to hit the road as soon as possible, not to mention my carpentry skills are somewhat lacking.
     And so in the month of May, I went with my friend Dave to the local big box building supply store (which I conveniently worked at at the time) and loaded up my truck with 2x4s and plywood, not to mention loading up my credit card ( atleast I did get my employee discount- woohoo.). In about a week, including rain delays, my little hippy shack was complete...or atleast ready for me to paint. Thats about all to tell for now. Since I didn't take part in the actual build, I don't have a lot to report. The finished project is about five feet high inside and aprox. seven feet long and almost six feet wide where it kicks out over the sides of the trailer. The one window and rv type roof vent provide plenty of light and ventilation. There is rigid foam insulation in the walls and roof and a small space heater works fine even when its down to single digit temps outside.
     I did build the little bookcase and when I take some more pictures they will show the cabinet my friend Jeff built as well as a little fold down table. I do plan to take a more active role in my next tiny house. But that is a story for a future post. I will try to write more of what it has been like the past eight or nine months living so small and what went write and wrong and how I hope to rectify any problems on any future build.