Monday, August 27, 2018

Tiny Living

I admit that while I generally try to not judge people, I can't quite help but wonder about people who decide to live in tiny homes. The people who, willingly, decide that living in 134-ish square feet is for them. I wonder if they realize how difficult it will be before they start.

I live in a truck cab, so I know tiny living. 134 square feet would actually be an upgrade for Ace and I. We have bunk beds and storage cabinets and, as a treat, a fridge (we aren't sure if the microwave will work now, so we will have to test that soon). There is no where to really cook anything more than canned foods really. All our clothes stay in bags, because the storage space is taken up with food, drinks, and other things that make life easier on the road (like DVDs, apparently). The only time Ace and I are apart is when we take showers, unless we share one, or are in a hotel room. We have about 3 weeks worth of clothes that we haul around, because that is easier than trying to wash them weekly, but that is more of a trucking thing than a tiny living thing.

We have very little mystery in our lives at this point. At least from each other. The good news is that we figured out how to share small spaces without fighting before we started living on a truck. And we quickly realized that having our own computers was a must, otherwise violence might ensue. We are both fairly calm people, but a lack of privacy (we usually only have a curtain separating us) and constantly being together can still get any two people to fight. And after a certain point, you know what your spouse/partner/whatever sounds like when waking up or just breathing when you spend this much time in tight quarters. My husband knows all those things that women usually prefer to pretend don't happen with their husband, because it's not like I can really hide anything.

Small spaces can easily be overwhelmed with bad smells (sweaty socks/sweat in the recirculating air/burnt food/farts/whatever other bad smell), because there is only so much room for them to dissipate. We use Fabreeze to help, but that requires us to be able to spray it and let it sit for a bit sometimes, which we can't always do (and it doesn't really help the recirculating air much). Air fresheners can only do so much. And if we go to any dirt/gravel lots (which happens), the inside of the truck gets dirtier than usual. It's bad enough with no dirt/gravel lots and just food particles.

I understand the pull of simplifying your life and getting rid of stuff, but after living in such a small space for so many years, I want multiple rooms and a few hundred square feet (minimum) of living space. I want to be able to have room away from Ace, so we can both grow and then come back together.

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of living in a small space, there are benefits to not having much stuff, and Kindle is a good way to have a mobile, portable library (with lots of free or inexpensive books, as my laptop can suggest). Realizing how little you need to have a happy, comfortable life is not a bad thing. But keep in mind there are downsides to tiny living. And one of them is that not having much stuff means not being able to always get more stuff as you want it. You have to keep your stuff fairly pared down to stay living tiny.

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