It's interesting how your view of these trends is exactly the opposite of mine.
To me, tiny homes and "van life" are about raising our standards of living. To me, living in a van with the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want, sounds amazing. If you lived in the midwest in your van last week, you could have simply driven away from the polar vortex.
I hate the idea of living in a large house. I don't want to spend my weekends doing chores like sweeping floors or mowing the lawn.
There are practical obstacles to overcome with these alternate living styles, but it works really well for some people.
I lived in a van for four months this past summer but I have a hard time explaining why I loved it so much. The experience was visceral.
During the day I'd run my company. Cell service is so great now that I could be tethered to my phone doing video calls while camping out on BLM land.
Then in the evening I'd go do an outdoor adventure, usually a short one. And then I'd devote my weekends to being active, like a two day backpacking trip.
The result was that I felt like I was using my full self for the first time. I'd be completely exhausted mentally by Friday and physically by Sunday.
That sounds amazing! I hiked the PCT a couple years ago and I'd love to be able to go back to that kind of lifestyle while still making money and being relatively connected to the rest of the world.
Fingers crossed, I should be making more progress towards that in the next year after my fiancee finishes grad school.
I’ll venture to say that “standards of living” are largely subjective, beyond some basics like access to food and shelter from the elements. Nothing wrong with wanting a big house with a big yard. Nothing wrong with wanting a tiny house or living in a van.
To me, tiny homes and "van life" are about raising our standards of living. To me, living in a van with the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want, sounds amazing. If you lived in the midwest in your van last week, you could have simply driven away from the polar vortex.
I hate the idea of living in a large house. I don't want to spend my weekends doing chores like sweeping floors or mowing the lawn.
There are practical obstacles to overcome with these alternate living styles, but it works really well for some people.