One definition of a house is - A box to store all your stuff in. (so the bigger the box, the more stuff you'll buy to fill it with)
If I did a study of where I spend the majority of my day inside my house, it would be: My desk, lounging on the sofa, bed, a short time standing in the kitchen, short time in the bathroom. I don't use much of the space.
So could I do all of these activities in a smaller space? Have a look at the campervan interior below, it's not exactly what I'd like, but it illustrates my point: There's standing room in the 'kitchen', there's a sofa to lounge on, fitted with a table it could become a (paperless) office space, the sofa converts to a bed for sleeping. The only thing missing is the bathroom.
Advantages of living in a smaller box:
- You have room for MUCH less stuff.
- Easy to heat. It's so wasteful heating a whole house when you only occupy a tiny part of it.
- Much less living expenses - No council tax (local tax in the UK), no electric bill, no gas bill etc
- It forces you to radically simplify your life.
- It forces you to get out more, no-one wants to spend ALL day in a tiny box
- Less money on food, you only buy small quantities at a time (most of us have cupboards full of food, spices etc we never use)
You could almost call it an exercise in voluntary simplicity. Here's a great book I read on this subject, 'Walden on Wheels' about an American guy that managed to save enough money by living in a van that self-funded his way through college & left with ZERO debt:
What I, & I think most humans want, is PRIVATE SPACE. A campervan allows you to take this private space around with you! Imagine travelling to some historical town or picturesque beach and you've brought your living room, kitchen, office & bedroom along with you!
My project for this year is to build a camper so that I can carry some 'private space' around with me. I'm not going totally radical & living in a van fulltime, instead I plan to go on trips for 2-3 days at a time, then return to 'base'. Because I work online, this isn't limited to holidays or weekends, I will travel work online ...explore the new location, then return home with adventures to tell!