The Tiny House Trial – Two Months Later

I honestly can’t believe it’s time to write this post. When I wrote the two weeks in a tiny house update and said I’d do another one after the full two months, it seemed ages away.

But here we are. My two months living in a tiny house are over – in fact, they have been over since last weekend, but I haven’t had time to write this post till now.

Time just seems to be flying by right now…

So, was I sad to leave the tiny or happy to move on?

To be honest, it was a bit of both – bust mostly the former. I absolutely loved living in the tiny. It was so comfortable and cosy, and the surroundings were so peaceful. But, I was excited to be moving on to a housesit close to the beach.

From the tiny house, the closest beach was about a 20-minute drive. It’s not really all that far, but it was too much for me. By the time I had driven to the beach, spent an hour or so and then went back, at least two hours had passed. At other times, it might not have bothered me as much, but I’ve been busy lately with work and writing my next book and have also been feeling a bit low energy. Most days, I didn’t have two hours of spare time ­– nor the energy to get in the car and drive. In addition, getting to the beach meant passing through an area that gets quite a bit of rush hour traffic, so those 20 minutes could quickly turn into half an hour and more at certain times of the day.

Since last weekend, I’ve been housesitting in Red Beach, less than five minutes walk from the beach – and it makes such a difference. I love that I can just wander down to the beach for half an hour whenever I have some time during the day. Just seeing the ocean every day gives me energy and makes me happy.

That is probably the most valuable lesson I’ve learned from the tiny house experiment.

I expected to absolutely love the location. It’s rural, quiet, with few neighbours, away from the city noise and businesses. I didn’t think I would mind having to drive 20 minutes to the beach in exchange for living in such a peaceful spot. Turns out I was wrong. Red Beach is much busier and noisier, but I like it better here.

Maybe I’m not made for the rural life after all.

But I am definitely made for living in a tiny house. I loved living in a small, cosy space and it’s been great to have this opportunity to live in a tiny for two months. I’ve learnt a lot that will help me design the perfect tiny for myself one day.

Here are some of my biggest learnings:

• The importance of having a proper, designated workspace with an ergonomic chair. For the first few weeks, I worked in the dining area sitting on the bench, and ended up with a pretty sore back. I bought an office chair second-hand, and shortly after, my back was better. Luckily, there was space for the chair at the dining table. But it did annoy me having to switch between office desk and dining table all the time, so when/if I design my own tiny house, I will make sure I have a proper work area.

• When you have a small bladder like me and you have to get up at least once or twice during the night, sleeping in a loft is a bit annoying – but it’s doable. However, I would make sure to have a good handrail along the stairs so I can get down safely even while half asleep.

• I don’t need a big bathroom – but the one in this tiny house was a bit too small. I want to be able to access everything without having to move stuff around and still be able to move comfortably.

• While tiny houses are easy and quick to clean, they also seem to get dirty faster. I guess you bring in the same amount of sand, grass and other dirt, but there is less room for it to spread out so it’s more visible.

• This tiny had a shared dining/lounge area. While that’s convenient and space-saving, I missed having a proper, super-comfy sofa. That’s something I would definitely plan room for in my own tiny house.

• Black sinks in the kitchen and bathroom look great, but they look dirty quicker – especially in the bathroom (I guess white toothpaste stains are less visible on a white sink).

• If I have a sleeping loft, I would try to have the wardrobe downstairs by the bathroom. It’s just so much easier to access stuff when you don’t have to crawl to get to it.

• This tiny house has 800 watts of solar, which is the minimum needed. Any less, and I would struggle in winter. I’d probably aim for at least 1000 if I had an off-grid tiny house.

• Speaking of, off-grid definitely has its pros and cons. I love the idea of being off-grid, but in reality, I would probably connect to mains power if possible. It just makes life a little bit easier (no need for sunshine to do the washing, no problem using the microwave late at night, no worries charging the eBike, etc.).

So, am I going to get my own tiny house now? Probably. One day.

A few weeks ago, I was pretty much ready to commit to a tiny house. I even started the process of talking to builders. Since then, I’ve slowed down a but and might just wait another year or so. I still think I would love living in a tiny house, especially one designed for me. But there are a couple of things that make me hesitate:

• The unclear legal situation around where you can park a tiny house to live in full time.

• The cost of a good tiny house (the top quality ones are north of $200k now).

• The toilet situation (I didn’t love the composting toilet, but all other options also seem to have pros and cons).

• I just don’t know where I want to live long term, and while you can move a tiny house, it’s not cheap. So I should probably figure that out before I get one built.

I still plan/hope to live in a tiny house one day. However, it might be a while before I make that dream a reality. At the moment, I’m in no rush. I want to spend next winter on the South Island, and then I will re-evaluate after that. Maybe I just keep being a full-time housesitter for a while longer :)

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