His little “How-To Guide” focuses on how to live a cheaper, lighter existence while still being independent. He discusses van conversions, boondocking, workamping, financial freedom, traveling with pets and children, safety and cleanliness issues, how to choose a vehicle, overcoming your fears, living on a boat, homesteading and working while on the road. He also shows how living a life on a $500 to $1,000 a month budget is possible.

Some of his fellow nomads discuss how they took the leap:

On a fateful day in 2006, I was struck by an idea so powerful that I stood up from my desk, walked to the personnel department and resigned. I would sell my house, the extra cars, all that important “stuff” and live on a boat with my family, and travel the seas as a free man.

Captain Keith of the Kismet

After 22 years of working at the Post Office, I was tired of not being happy with my job or my life and knew I had to do something. I remembered those happy days traveling in the travel trailer and was sure I could be happy again. I already owned my 1983 VW Westphalia, so it was the obvious choice when I decided to downsize. I wasn’t sure exactly how I would do it, or how long I could stand living in a van, but I knew it had to be better than the life I was living. I am delighted to say it has been 2 years now and I have no desire to go back to a more conventional life.

Barb Cotton

Photos courtesy of Cheap RV Living

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

M Skaffari/Flickr

The famous Sausalito floating homes community has a history that stretches over a century. During the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s improvised floating homes made from scrap wood, old tugboats, elegant ships and even old Pullman cars were built by professional artists, and since the dock areas were so small, most of the floating homes stayed small. Some of these homes are now offered as vacation rentals and there are usually a few for sale. Some of the homes have names including the Taj Mahal, the Train Wreck and the Pirate.

Amy Butcher/Flickr

Michael Layefsky/Flickr

M Skaffari/Flickr

A paid walking tour of the houseboats in the Liberty Ship shipyards area and the yacht harbors of Sausalito is offered on Saturdays and Sundays by a local guide. During the tour you’ll also see a few of the battered survivors from the old era of improvised houseboats. Some docks are lined by beautiful flowers in containers that are tended by the owners as their “front yards”, and many of the homes are decorated with ship’s bells and wheels, barometers, compasses, fishnets, flags, pennants and ensigns, colored buoys, paddles and oars, decoys, and other nautical paraphernalia.

NorCal MLS

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

A trawler or pilot house is a usually a boat used for fishing or for the military and the police, but pleasure versions of the them are built as well that have comfortable areas for living and cooking. These boats are called cruising trawlers or trawler yachts and they come in many styles and sizes. Since they don’t have a sail, they rely on fuel and have cruising speeds of around 14-20 knots.

Typical designs of trawlers include a raised pilothouse or offset deckhouse and a “portuguese bridge” which consists of a walkway behind the foredeck, in front and to the sides of, the pilothouse windows, separated from the foredeck by a (generally) waist-high bulwark. The purpose of the bridge is to deflect water from the foredeck up over the superstructure top rather than slamming against the forward windows of the pilothouse. It gives a semi-sheltered area outside the pilothouse while underway. A secondary benefit is that it provides a “safe area” or handhold when it is necessary to be on the foredeck in inclement weather.

Trawlers come in lengths ranging from 35 to 60 feet long and can cost from about $30,000 upwards to $300,000 for a newer, more luxurious model. Most are built for long term cruising. Combined with large fuel tanks they can cruise far before needing to be refuelled. They can be home for between 2 to 8 persons for many days and can be a permanent home.

Usually trawlers have a single engine, though twin engine installations are also available from some builders. They have a large fuel capacity. Fuel range is normally 1,500-3,000 miles on smaller vessels, even greater for those over 45ft in length. When combined with the slower speeds of a displacement hull, these features give such vessels far greater range and economy than similarly sized planing boats. A large engine room under the main cabin is another feature of true cruising trawlers. Many also include a diesel generator of 5-20kW to power domestic appliances, bow thrusters, dinghy cranes, and similar equipment.

Pilot Houses Online

Trawlers Midwest

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

By Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell

Water systems and sewage disposal can be a tricky thing when you are building a tiny house in the country.

This has been an issue for us since we built our Little House over six years ago. First, we had to decide on the water system. During construction, we were running out of funds, so we first had a huge tank system and water was trucked in. That was expensive at $140 a load, (I’m not sure of the tank size, but it was huge). However, when we didn’t live here full time, it worked. I think we typically had to buy 2-4 tanks per year.

Photo Credit Kevin Pieper (Mother Earth News)

After we moved here full time, it just wasn’t economical. Even with trying to conserve water, we went through 1 tank every 2-4 weeks.

We decided to go for it and have a well dug. We estimated the cost, but wells are tricky. The person ¼ mile down the road might have lucked out and hit clean water at a shallow depth, but of course, that wasn’t our experience.

For three days, they kept digging and hitting only mud caves. They finally found water when we were $5,000 over budget. When it started spewing and they told me they had finally hit a source that would eventually run clear, I started yelling as if we had just struck gold!

Since our “clear” water still comes out muddy and is filtered through a small filtration system we can afford, we opt not to drink it, which causes more issues with plastics, etc.
The thing is, when you’re building in the country, you have limited choices for water.

Two other options include:

• Rainwater system that catches the rain. The upside is that if you live in a wet area, this can work and it is free. The downsides are drought and questionable cleanliness for drinking water.
• If you’re building a small house on someone else’s property, hooking up to their system.

Other things to take into account when choosing a water system is to research if your jurisdiction has codes for water systems. For example, when we built our Little House, all that was required was that we have running water, they didn’t care where we drew it. Now, it seems, they require a well to be dug.

We are going to have the county test our water, and if it doesn’t come back too contaminated, I would also like to find an affordable filtration system that will allow us to shed the plastic bottles and drink the water from the well.

We would like to hear your experiences with outfitting your tiny house – or country home – with water and any experience you have with affordable filtration systems that would allow us to drink the well water from our tap.

On, December 4, I’ll write a post on waste disposal in a tiny house.

Kerri’s Little House in the Big Woods is featured in the December/January issue of Mother Earth News starting on page 68. She blogs about life in 480-square feet at www.livinglargeinourlittlehouse.com

I am a sucker for aged wood on old houses and this one is on the water and the lighting could not be better, to show off the colors.

Unfortunately, I don’t know who the photographer is or where this picture was taken as one of our readers emailed the picture to me and didn’t know either.

So if any of you can track that information down, please let me know through the comment section below. I’ll than update the post so we all know. Enjoy!

I’m sure many people like me have had the romantic dream of living aboard a boat: being rocked to sleep by gentle waves and waking up to new neighbors in the marina, chatting with friends over drinks in your cockpit while cooking a freshly caught fish on a tiny stove. Having your home on the water can be both extremely rewarding and more work than you ever thought.

People who live on boats are probably the top experts on how to live in a small space and how to conserve limited water and power.

Courtesy of Bumfuzzle.com

Living on a boat does take some adjustments to the way that you would live in a house. Space is a major factor when living on a boat and every inch needs to be used effectively. While most boats are built with an eye on efficient storage, you will have to downsize your possessions quite a bit to get things to pack neatly into the boat.

Life Lessons: Moving onto a Boat

Living on a boat is also different from living in a small house. Water and weather is a constant threat to the integrity of your home and your comfort. While many newer boats have everything you need for comfort, some older, less expensive boats may need constant upkeep and maintenance. The ability to know your boat inside and out, and be able to make repairs yourself can save you big headaches and bills.

Courtesy of Toast Floats

Once you do have a boat, if you are not cruising, you will need to find a marina or dock you can rent or buy. Prices for docks vary for different areas. They are usually priced by the foot or the yard. However, not all marinas are liveaboard friendly. Many marinas consider someone who lives on their boat as a transient. On the other hand, you can find a few marinas that offer showers, storage, laundry facilities, electricity and cable TV to liveaboards.

If you are able to create your own power (many boats come with solar panels), haul your own water and wastewater and be as self-sufficient as possible, you may be able to live very cheaply on anchor or on a mooring ball.

Dock Search is a database of docks and marinas around the world for rent and for sale. Some offer liveaboard options. Marinas.com shows aerial and map views of marinas around the world.

Mark Nicholas, who lives on a sailboat, has written the book, The Essentials of Living Aboard A Boat, and also has some interviews with liveaboards that are available as video podcasts. His blog also has loads of information and links about how to be a successful liveaboard.

I found some additional excellent blogs, videos and websites about living aboard a boat and each covers the issues of space, boat problems and maintenance, cruising, cooking and docking.

Living On A Boat: One Woman’s Transition to Living Onboard A Boat

Toast Floats: A Family of Five Living on a Catamaran

Sleeping with Oars: Living on a 47 foot Hans Christian Traditional

We Live On a Boat: Family of Four Living on a 40 foot River Queen

On the Boat Where She Lives
Hillary Johnson is a writer who lives on her 35 foot sloop, Surprise in Ventura County, Calif.

Landlubbers No More

So You Want to Buy a Boat: Liveaboards in the UK

Living Aboard Magazine

Bumfuzzle
Although they no longer live on their boat, Bumfuzzle, Patrick and Ali Schulte have an excellent blog about their travels aboard the 35 foot catamaran.

They now live and travel happily in their VW panel van. But that’s another story.

By Christina Nellemann

Courtesy of Sleeping with Oars

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to our feed