In the beginning, there were Pikeys.

Quick outline:

• Why we decided to go tiny house/off grid.

• Things we considered before committing/spending money.

• How we've decided to go about it.

• Our budget vs. our goals.

• "Before" photos of our new old tiny home/camper.

1982 Shasta Friendship 16'

My partner Mitch received a job offer that would relocate us from Atlanta, Georgia to the Santa Cruz/San Jose, California area. It seemed like a sure thing, but then that changed. Our hearts were already set on living on the West Coast (again, for Mitch), so we decided to make it happen--job or no job (the job is still up in the air). Our current lease ends the first week of December 2014, so we think we have just enough time to prepare.

I (Dianne) have done all of my camping with Mitch who is a pro at living off the grid, in the wild, off the land, sustainably.... If the apocalypse ever goes down, I picked the right dude to procreate with because we are going to be just fine! (No, I don't for see an apocalypse-- but the people who do have great tips for living off the grid!) I've roughed it enough to know that a camper would be much nicer than tent camping for a few months. Mitch has lived in a traveling school bus converted into a home, long dreadlocks to boot, so this is all familiar to him.

Us adults started brainstorming and decided to go the gypsy/hippy/tiny house route. After looking at a couple of motor homes and travel trailers within our budget, and upon learning how much weight certain vehicles can tow, we decided a smaller camper would be the least expensive way to accomplish our goals. Big trucks strong enough to tow larger RV's cost big money between the initial purchase, gas, and maintenance...something we're not into.

If you're going to live in a tiny space and off the grid for months, you want to make sure you have everything you need and a few creature comforts to make life more bearable. For me that meant a camper with a flushable toilet and shower, a kitchenette, and of course room for us parents, our little boy, and our enormous dog to sleep comfortably. Air conditioning was a must for me, since we plan on spending time in some pretty hot places on our extended road trip out to the west coast.

I'll spare you the details of our adventures in camper shopping and just say that there are way too many scam artists out there. It was almost funny watching these folks try and lie to us, though...can't hustle a hustler, son! If you don't have a lot of street smarts or experience hustling, just remember this:

"If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."  --Unknown

Test EVERYTHING before you buy it, and if something doesn't work correctly--renegotiate!

[By the way, our lives were a lot different before we had our son. We weren't bad people...just...experienced in a lot of areas most people aren't. Well, that's enough of that. We're good people, and our lives revolve around raising our son in a nurturing, loving, healthy, safe environment.]

Yesterday, we ended up purchasing a 1982 Shasta Friendship 16 foot camper for a final renegotiated price of $1700. It has a full bathroom (toilet, sink, stand up shower, medicine cabinet), full kitchenette (propane-and-propane-accessories 4 burner stove/mini oven, mini microwave, mini fridge), a/c...a dream come true for the girly girl in me. This thing absolutely needs a makeover, but that's the part we're most excited about!

Even though we live inside a major city, we are lucky enough to have a gravel driveway to park our Shasta camper in at our current home. We plan on ripping out the walls, ceiling, and floor to treat for rust and reseal it to fix and prevent leaks. The camper needs a new freshwater tank to replace the punctured one (we talked the seller's price down to cover the expense of this issue). After the plumbing, electrical (which seems 100% fine), and sealing issues are taken care of--the beautifying can begin. All of this work is going to be a heck of a lot easier to accomplish when it's right outside our front door!

I can't wait to start shopping for the fun stuff, but we are on somewhat of a budget. I'm not trying to go "glamping." Spending $10,000 to restore a camper would kind of defeat our purpose. Another issue--we need a 4x4 truck or SUV to tow this bad boy around. Luckily, it's small and light enough that we do not have to purchase a 3/4 or full ton 4x4 truck to haul it around. Mitch and I both own our cars out right, so we plan on trading them in for one reliable vehicle to tow our new home. By the way, I'm totally okay with Mitch buying me a Caddy after we do end up settling down after all of this.

Another bonus of it being so short--it is allowed into all of California's national and state parks with RV parking. There are limits to how long your camper can be, which vary from park to park, so if you're considering doing something like this and are shopping for a camper--please be aware of this and check those limits out! National parks are the best, but there are a lot more state parks on the coach. The fees are very inexpensive, and sometimes there are annual passes one can purchase which cuts the cost even more.

I'll keep posting pictures and details of our progress in preparing for our journey and new life on the road, as well as our budget. I am trying to keep the total start up cost of this within $5,000. We have a lot of things we will be selling off, which will contribute to keeping out-of-pocket expenses down. For the time being, however, we are $1700 down with $3300 to spare on fixing up this Shasta.

Did I mention Mitch was trained by a master carpenter, has built/restored old houses and restaurants, and either owns or has access to any and all tools needed for free? It helps to have such a manly man with all of his manly skills and tools to keep costs down by doing everything yourself (okay, himself...I can't construct jack to save my life). We also have a friend who used to restore and rent out campers should we need any advice.

I hope that documenting this process will help any other people out there considering tiny home living some ways to go about it. I'm sure our way won't be perfect for everyone, but bits and pieces might be right for you. I've seen photos of a couple living out of their Honda Element, so this plan is luxurious in comparison. On the other hand, have you SEEN some of the multimillion dollar Class A Motorhomes? I'd like to think we're going to exist something like I imagine gypsies do, or like Pikeys in the movie Snatch. Minus the incoherent accent and caravan of other people/families in campers traveling with us.  Although it would be awesome to start one, don't ya' think?!


Check out some the "BEFORE" photos of our new home:

We will be adding a rack to the back for extra storage and our bicycles.

The tiny bathroom is through the mirrored door.

We are going to rebuild and extend the platform for our bed, after we finish repairing the water system beneath it.

We will rearrange the table here so that the dining area converts into our son's bed.

There's so much work to do, and so many things to consider and prepare for...how we earn money for gas and food...I could make this first blog entry 10 times longer and still not touch on everything. One step at a time, though!

Please share our blog with others if you enjoy reading it!  It would help us immensely!

Feel free to comment on our posts or shoot us an email, and we'll do our best to respond promptly:

OGsustainability@gmail.com


-OGs

*Last but not least, please don't be offended by my use of the word Pikey.  It's not meant in any sort of derogatory way.