I am recently back from three tiny house events. My fellow enthusiast and I left the Tampa, FL, area and traveled to Nashville, TN, then to Nags Head, NC, and then back to Vero Beach, FL. It was a long trip, but it was exhilarating to be with the groups of interested people and hearing their personal stories.

To add to the excitement, we made a side trip to the National Mall in our nation’s capital. We met Dr. Ben Carson, who is pushing the need for local municipalities to loosen up on their restrictions to allow tiny houses, which will help with the severe shortage of affordable housing across the country.  It was all very exciting.

At the events we attended, I got to see different kinds of tiny structures that creative people have built. From the tiny houses that we see on TV shows and YouTube, to vans and school busses that have cleverly been converted for people to travel in and live in, too. You may note that the old yellow school busses we are so familiar with, are now being referred to as ‘skoolies’, and have been transformed into absolute clever works of art and displays of creative workmanship.

When you go to your next event called a ‘Tiny House Show’ or ‘Fest’, you’ll have the opportunity to tour all kinds of tiny structures, which won’t all be the typical tiny house, but also skoolies and van conversions. With these, you can see all sorts of possibilities.  I probably will never have a skoolie, but I love viewing the different designs that may give me ideas for interior decorating, as well as inspiration for ingenious storage solutions that can work well in any small living space.

It is sometimes hard to see yourself in the small space, especially when there are several people in that same small space with you, looking at the tiny home, too. Don’t be misled or disheartened. Just take a minute and imagine the space with just yourself and a partner, and you will probably see how you could live very comfortably in there.  Today, families with one or two children, along with the family pet, are living very nicely in compact spaces; and some are traveling the country at the same time.

Individuals from millennials to senior citizens are recognizing that they can live a freer and less encumbered lifestyle without all the things they have painstakingly stuffed their homes with. Unfortunately, with so much stuff to manage and maintain, there is no time, money or energy left for the things we really value in life.  So next time there is a tiny house event near you, take some time to attend and see what all the excitement is about.