The Move.
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012:
One of the many things that attracted us as we considered building a Tiny House was the concept that we’d always have our home, no matter where our lives may take us. We said goodbyes to our Southern Illinois community and the many dear friends who helped make our dream possible and hitched our tiny house up to a 14′ one-ton U-Haul to pursue a Ph.D. and a new job coordinating a university outdoor program.
At 7,800 pounds, the tiny house was quite a load, but hauled smooth and steady. Aside from keeping the speed between 55 and 60mph, after a while it was hard to tell it was even there.
Our first experience of having a house that goes where we go came as we pulled into a rest stop for the night, about half way to our goal. We parked the U-Haul and crawled straight into the loft. While others slept in their vehicles, we were right at home.
This entire experience has been incredibly educational and paradigm changing. An example of the drastic adjustment in our lives became clear as we realized how empty the U-Haul box still looked once we’d finished loading all of our things. We had filled only a small portion of the front of the 14′ box, only 1 layer of packing boxes deep.
To put this in perspective, I had moved to Southern Illinois exactly 10 years prior and had completely filled a 24′ U-Haul with just one person’s stuff.
A satisfying moment of clarity, to say the least.
