With Kai Rostcheck
This week we had a conversation with Kai Rostcheck, who recently introduced the website TinyHouseDating to our community. This concept presents an intriguing angle on the Movement in general. We’d like to hear your comments (below).
Tiny House Blog: Tiny House Dating? Really?
Kai: (Laughs) Sure, why not?
Tiny House Blog: Ok, fair enough. Maybe we should turn the question around. Why create a Tiny House Dating website?
Kai: While researching the tiny house movement, I noticed several themes. One of them was that “other people” just don’t understand our values. Tiny House Enthusiasts on several different blogs and forums commented that they are confident and fulfilled by decisions they have made on their own, but when it comes to companionship something’s missing. They were having a hard time meeting people who shared their perspective on what’s important, so first dates rarely went much further.
Tiny House Blog: And a dating website will fix this how?
Kai: Here’s the thing, Tiny House Dating isn’t about Tiny Houses. Those are objects. Our site (and the movement in general) is about a shift in values. All we are doing is creating a deal-breaker filter, someone who can’t get his head around Tiny House living isn’t going to join the site. This means that everyone who does opt-in, does so with a similar intentions. Their specific choices around friendship, dating or life partnership will vary, but the unifying theme is connection and understanding.
Tiny House Blog: So it’s like a non-smoker knowing she wouldn’t want to date a smoker? She wants to know his preference up front so she doesn’t waste her time, right?
Kai: Exactly. But instead of smoking, our filter is lifestyle choice. Tiny House Dating is for people who place higher value on freedom, flexibility and even sustainability than on “stuff.”
Tiny House Blog: Do you have to live in a Tiny House to join?
Kai: No. We hope that members of other communities (like Minimalism, Simple Living and Homesteading) will join, too. In fact, our profile questions are specifically designed to help people talk about who they are and how they want to live, rather than focusing on where they are living right now.
Tiny House Blog: Has the community really grown large enough to support our own dating site?
Kai: One thing that really blows me away was a statistic I discovered while creating I Love Tiny Houses. Tiny House videos have been watched nearly 27 million times! I know that far fewer Tiny Houses have actually been sold, but this number leads me to believe that there are many, many people wanting to change the way they’ve been living. And again, we don’t expect everyone who joins to end up living in a Tiny House. They might simply be choosing how to purposefully “right-size” their lives. It’s not a bad place to start.
Tiny House Blog: But there are all of those other (massive) dating sites out there already, with so many people to choose from…
Kai: It’s about alignment. Tiny House people know what we are looking for. Our very interest in Tiny Houses defines us as being outside of the status quo. Could we go on a hundred dates through Match.com or OkCupid and find the right person? Sure…anything is possible. But wouldn’t we rather opt for one high-quality connection and a better chance that it will work out? I think so.
Tiny House Blog: We know that your site is brand new, but there is already some activity. Can you tell us what you are noticing, and how people are describing themselves?
Kai: Members of our community definitely crave connection. Their personal profiles and stories reinforce what I mentioned earlier; many Tiny House people want to find friends and partners who share their values. I’ve noticed other important contexts, too. For example, we can see clearly that Tiny House partnership is not just about the house itself. Our friend Andrew Odom says it best, I think, when he advises potential Tiny Housemates to, “Hold your relationship up above all other things.” Then, there is the reality that building/buying a Tiny House together can be very stressful and/or incredibly bonding. Finally, I frequently hear things along the lines of, “The world still thinks we’re nuts. But being ‘nuts’ together makes us stronger.”
Tiny House Blog: Do you worry that people will perceive this website as an opportunity for you to capitalize on the Movement?
Kai: I really do. But I think of it this way: I have seen tons of Facebook posts where a reader chides a builder for the total cost of his or her home. And I read Macy Miller’s recent rebuttal (to her detractors) with a heavy heart. It’s easy for people to misinterpret things or filter through their own experience. The bottom line is that we want to bring people together. If we are able to do so, it’s going to be worth any misconceptions.
Tiny House Blog: What’s the cost of membership?
Kai: Right now membership is free. We are building this community from the ground up. The first people to join have been absolutely fantastic about sharing their enthusiasm and feedback. We are learning from them, and we know that we need to reach critical mass in order to create an exciting platform that gives lots of people many choices. Down the road we’ll consider a nominal fee to cover operating expenses.
Tiny House Blog: How can people sign up?
Kai: Just go to www.tinyhousedating.com and register with coupon code “free2join” for complimentary gold membership.
It’s not “my Tiny Texas Home meets your Relaxshack and makes an outhouse” 😉
Thanks for sharing this post, Kent! We had a huge membership spike this morning, which temporarily affected site performance. All fixed now, so if anyone had difficulty registering, I’d like to encourage him or her to try again. And welcome to the community!
Here is the end to a 15 month great relationship. If you read between some of the lines it was largely due to my desire for a tiny house life.
Yep! Kinda like a non-smoker dating a smoker.
First of all, I NEVER EVER have thought of you as a “failure”!!! I have nothing but admiration for the things you have done in providing for yourself in ways that others would have just given up and taken the easy way out. You could have filed bankruptcy like so many others, but you are man enough to take the responsibility to pay what you owed, even though it was pretty tight for you to do it. You are a genius at finding ways to make a home for yourself using technology that not many would know how to do. I respect the person that you are and feel awful that you would ever consider I would feel otherwise.
I’ve never wanted to hurt you but I have far more than I should. I feel terrible about it and wish I could make it better for you, but aside from telling you how much I still care, and miss “us”, I don’t know what else to do. No a third time wouldn’t work either I’m sure. We are so good together but we also have a lot of things that we don’t see eye to eye on, and never have. The fact that we view family time in different ways, the way we feel about holidays, traveling (unless it’s camping), etc If it could just be us, with no outside differences, we’d be wonderful for each other, but unfortunately, life has given us outside venues that matter too. These things we cannot change. I love you baby and I always will, and if you ever need me, all you have to do is call. I do want to get up there and see your place one of these days after you get moved in. After all, I had a hand in part of that building process too. *;) winking And I must admit I loved being your extra set of hands and working by your side in doing it.
I think this is a wonderful idea. Yes, it is about alignment!
I tried signing up, but it said the resource limit had been reached.
Hi Joy, Gary, Pam and everyone else.
First, thank you VERY much for your positive feedback!
Second, immense thanks for your patience. Things are a bit wonky this morning…the servers are having a hard time keeping up with all of the new members who are registering at the same time! The best thing is to wait for just a little while and try again.
I know this is inconvenient…but it’s also a great sign of how many Tiny House Enthusiasts want to meet each other.
This is a wonderful concept. What better way to start a basis of a relationship. When people have these values in common, there will be an entire realm they have in common. No guarantee of course, but a great starting point. It is difficult in this culture to find kindred folks to connect with that think outside the mainstream of ideas and are not afraid to come out of the crowd. I have often thought how does one meet these people? This is a great addition to enhance the strength of the tiny home movement.
I found the concept very interesting. Would love to see the site but the site has reached it’s limits – validating the very idea that tiny house people do want to connect with like-minded individuals. Let me know when it’s up and running again.
And thanks!
Nevermind – I just got on!
I was one of the people who wrote on a blog: ‘let me know when there’s a tiny house dating sight available’ & am so THRILLED!
Thanks for doing this, Kai & thank you, Kent, for helping to spread the word!
Sue, you are so welcome! Thanks for the inspiration.
Looks like you need to expand…maybe you’ve got a facebook on your hands. 🙂
“Resource Limit Is Reached
The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later.”
Maybe a “tiny” facebook? 🙂 What a great community…thank you for letting me know what’s happening, and for sticking with us as we work out these initial wrinkles.
OMG! Just spent 30 minutes uploading all my information, describing myself, etc. & I click to upload photo & message says: ‘The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later.’
I can’t TELL you how frustrating & disappointing this is!
Sue, I’m really sorry for the inconvenience. We are going to upgrade our servers this weekend, so hopefully that won’t happen to anyone else in the future. Honestly, the response has been extraordinary…and we’re doing everything we can to improve your experience as quickly as possible.
While frustrating, it IS a good indicator of all the interest it’s generating. Difficult to be patient, when we all want to achieve some of the same goals, but…..will wait as calmly as I can. Breathe in; breathe out. 😉
Thanks Kai, again, for providing this FABULOUS service!
I’m signing up today! 🙂
I have tried several times to register …and I receive a auto reply. That the server is not working??? Yet it took my Facebook info, no problem.
Hi Marykay,
We should be able to finish your registration as soon as things settle down. There are these small windows of server availability, but (as with Sue’s experience) the process is timing out very quickly. If you can’t get back in to your profile, I can always reset it for you. Just email at admin@tinyhousedating.com. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Good luck. Great idea.
On reg page, the little image with the verification code is not showing up in Chrome browser so verification is failing.
Server still down…
great idea! i recently met someone on another dating site and found out we both lived off grid in tiny houses. the commonalities were so great that we decided to go further in meeting each other even though we live 1600 miles away from each other! its been the best, celebrating our compatibility, flexibility and values–and having one bed under one tiny roof has served in other ways as well! 😉
Tiny house builders are HOT!
Oh yeah, very hot! This seems an interesting niche. Alas, the old man will not let me join 😉 GL Kai, great idea for singles in the movement.
Anne, your cat (avatar) could join! He’s pretty handsome. PS: I have a black cat, too. 🙂
Cool! Kittens, lots of kittens!
(I must say though, I did have a black cat as a kid (and love them also). I just liked the pic so much, I never changed my Hallow’s Eve avatar 😉 )
Aliza, one of our members is a Tiny House builder. Go find him! 🙂
Tried to change age from 18-35 and upload photo, but it goes to error message in both instances. Also tried to send it under Contact on website, but it’s not working either. Any thoughts on when all that might start working?
I know you’ve got a few glitches, but this is a GOOD thing, since it shows just how much interest there is! How exciting!
Hi Sue,
We got your email…thanks for letting us know what’s happening…and fixed your photo. Working on adjusting the other parts, too.
I am thrilled, also. Thank you, Kari, for originating and Kent, sharing. I will try getting on the site. It is now after i:00pm, so the volume may be slowed down, a bit. Thank you, again.
I don’t know about this. It could get complicated. Park a couple of Tiny Homes next to each other, and then next thing you know….little doll houses all over the yard.
Wendy, that is the best thing I have ever heard! Literally laughed out loud! Thanks. 🙂
Aaaarrrgghhh! I can’t get that picture out of my head now! Crack me up, best laugh of the day. Somebody should do a cartoon.
This is a wonderful idea for sure. I love it! It can be hard finding someone who thinks similar to you or at least is okay with you being that way. If I weren’t already with a good guy, I would definitely join. : ) I see many good relationships coming out of this for sure. : )
Shoot, well, I did that backwards. I meant to say that was hilarious, Wendy. Very clever. I meant the other comment to go in the regular ones. Ooops. : (
Been having some difficulty with the site and activating an account.
Hi Valerie, thanks for speaking your concern. It has been a tricky user experience today, for sure! The spike seem to be settling down now, and I hope you will try again.
If you encounter further difficulty please email admin[at]tinyhousedating.com and we’ll gladly help you out.
Hi,
I signed on, but now that I can explore the site I have this suggestion: Please give the site a much more geographically robust search ability. Right now one can only search by some common cities, and not at all per state or zipcode, at least in any way I can see. Thanks.
~ Michael
It’s an interesting site, and thanks for creating it.
A geographic search (e.g. find everyone within km/miles of ) would be useful.
Also, what about a “most recently added profiles” page, to see who’s new?
I’m happily married…just wondering if there is a way to set up something similar for meeting local friends…a lot of mine think I’m crazy! Lol.
Michael and Neil, those are great suggestions about geographic search, thank you! It’s exciting for us to start developing a robust user community who offer this kind of feedback. And while it will take a bit of time to implement some modifications, I hope you will keep the ideas flowing!
Rose, you could choose to indicate that you are looking for “Friends.” Many members have done so already. I hope that will help you meet local people and agree that there are lots of ways (Meetup Groups, for example) for our community to create connection.
This is exciting!!! And YES, just another YES born in this awesome community!! It isn’t about just the adorable, significant, innovative, ingeniously simple living solutions……It’s the thoughtfulness and the awesome community that never ceases to impress me!!! That couldn’t help but but be a win win in relationship. And yeah, i admit it, builders do it for me too!!! Thank you so much y’all!! Gonna check it out….blushes lol. ~Maggie
It sure would simplify buying wedding gifts if people met and married thru a tiny house service.
Nothing better than browsing the gift registry at a hardware store.
Seriously, I think setting a tiny home as a parameter for a love match is a bit misguided.
What if it doesn’t work out ?
They use a chainsaw to divide the property ?
Oh well..why not? What about a dating site for someone that needs a shortterm girlfriend with a well boring rig ? The wife told me to go for it.
seems there’s quite a need for this. who knew?
Ive been following Tiny House from beginning. I tried registering but not getting through. Help pretty please and thank you.
So, what’s the status on this dating site?
The site says it’s on vacation.