Thursday, January 2, 2014

Do We Really Need All That...




Meet Nadise.   She wanted to live in a small and affordable home, but she doesn't like apartments (she grew up on the 20th floor and wants to be more grounded) and she doesn't like all the rules of trailer parks (especially concerning private gardens). So when she found a retro RV for rent in a backyard in her Northern California town she snapped it up. 
The trailer is just a couple hundred square feet, but it's not missing anything: there's a kitchen with double sink, a refrigerator (even a freezer), microwave, dining table, living room with 2 easy chairs, double bed and bathroom complete with flush toilet, shower and bathtub. It's wired for 12 volt so the AC is actually a swamp cooler, but it came installed with central heating (something Nadise doesn't use).
Squeezing into 192 square feet meant getting rid of stuff. Nadise admits she used to indulge in retail therapy, always hoping that next bowl might make her happy. Today, two years later, she has downsized her belongings and limits new purchases just to thrift shops and garage sales.

Could you do this?