TINY. Why I’ll be Living Aboard a Sailboat. Big News: I’m going to live on a sailboat.
Full time. I’m giving up most of my possessions and trading it for a life on a boat, out on the bay or in a dock. For those who don’t care to read the lengthy explanation below, let me summarize why I’m making this change: freedom, romance, frugality, pride of ownership, it’s darn cool, and because I can. It’s not a joke. I’ve already purchased the sailboat, a 1972 30 foot Islander MK II. My new home How it began My friend, Kym, invited me to her sailboat.
Riley with Kym. Ethan Waldman's Tiny House. One of the things that few people know about me, is that I’m building I built and live in a tiny house on wheels.
This is the story of how that came to happen. On June 1, 2012, I packed up the contents of my desk into two plastic tote boxes, left my ID Badge on my desk, and walked out of the office. It was my last day as a full-time, salaried employee. I got in the car and drove about an hour- to the Morrisville airport in Morrisville, VT. There, in an empty airplane hangar was a brand new 22′ trailer loaded down with about $1000 worth of lumber. I had done it. Of course, the real story wasn’t so simple… After I returned from my bicycle tour, I knew that I couldn’t last in the corporate world for much longer. I knew that I wanted my own business, too. I knew that being in business for myself could mean fluctuation in income- the feast or famine business cycle, and general uncertainty of being on my own. I also knew that my current lifestyle, though not extravagant, would be threatened. 1. 2.
Smalltopia. RowdyKittens. LA tiny house. Tinyhousefamily. TINY. Clothesline Tiny Homes. We have been living in our tiny house full-time since mid-May 2012 – a year and a half now.
Sometimes the house feels WAY TOO SMALL and my busy brain starts wondering (again), “WHY are we living like this???” Why don’t we just get a loan? One reason we chose to build our own tiny house was to escape the debt of a MORTGAGE, the typical requirement of home “ownership.” (I use quotes because we often say that we own our homes, but if we’re paying a mortgage, the bank is actually the owner.) Read all of our reasons for going Tiny on our Why Tiny? During one recent period of tiny house discontent I started thinking about interest rates – only 5%!!!!
(Personal note: I have never had a mortgage, always rented, primarily due to a deep loathing of debt, and secondarily due to the fact that I never could have gotten the funds needed to buy a condo in L.A. or Denver, especially not after the crash of 2008 – in 2009 I applied for a mortgage loan and was approved for $80k.
Tiny house too tiny? Small Home. Big Life. Littleyellowdoor. This Tiny House.