When I lived in a shepherd’s bothy on the island of Iona off the coast of Scotland, I woke up every morning to this stunning view. I could see the blue of the sea stretching out underneath the Dutchman’s cap and a small path that curved down a rocky slope that would lead me to the hostel. It was a profound pleasure to wake up in my own private retreat tucked away from the world. The bothy was very simple, with just a few pieces of furniture, but it was beautiful and cozy, and it had everything I needed. My perspective about living spaces started to shift.
Traveling for 15 months in 2015/2016 with nothing but the clothes that could fit into a 55-liter backpack also changed my thinking. I started to look at things as weight. If I bought something, I would have to carry it. My things became literal weight and emotional weight.
Every item I decided to carry was known, useful and required. I can’t tell you how freeing this was. I began to imagine how I could continue this type of life back home. I mentally started to walk down the road towards minimalism, and I haven’t looked back. This journey culminated in the building of my tiny house in 2017, which is a space that the popular YouTube channel ‘Living Big in a Tiny House’ documented in a recent episode.
Spending the day filming the episode with Bryce Langston (host and creator) and his partner Rasa Pescud (videographer/photographer) was incredibly fun! I feel like my house is this living, breathing art project that I created and get to live in, so sharing it with people who appreciate the care and energy I’ve invested in it is such a treat.
Watching the show for the first time was kind of surreal. I loved seeing what they chose to include and highlight in the show, from the big things like my hidden shower to the small details like the dahlia I had picked fresh from the yard that morning.
I also had no idea how many times we would need to film a scene. Because Rasa is a one-woman crew, she films everything from different angles so it seems like the show is being captured by multiple cameras. Rasa filmed me making my pour-over coffee about 20 times to get the right effect. (Good thing we all wanted a lot of coffee that day!)
Each episode looks effortless and beautiful, but let me tell you how much work goes into 17 minutes of effortless beauty. A HELL OF A LOT. They arrived at my house at about 9:30 am and didn’t leave until after 5:00 pm. A big part of the show is telling Bryce your backstory.
As I shared with him what led me to build my tiny, I realized afresh that there is SO much in minimalism that echoes pilgrimage. Simplicity, being present, and letting go of things you don’t need.
Pilgrimage is something I first experienced walking across Spain on the Camino De Santiago in 2013. During the 500 mile journey, I documented each day in my journal with ink and paints, resulting in over forty watercolor illustrations.
I ended up publishing these drawings into a book called ‘The Art of Walking’ in 2015. That initial trek on the Camino and the process of creating my book changed the direction of my life and eventually led me to leave my corporate job, sell all my possessions, and as I mentioned above, take my first bold steps towards minimalism.
In 2017, my friend and author Tony Kriz invited me to have a pint specifically to quiz me about some aspects of the Camino de Santiago and what it was like to walk 500 miles across Spain.
He was in the process of writing a new book and felt like the protagonist needed an experience such as the Camino to progress in his ‘journey’; both literally and figuratively. As Tony learned more about this specific pilgrimage, he began to be inspired to take the journey himself.
In May of 2018, Tony walked the Camino and returned, as I did, changed. Changed, yes, but without a clear sense of how he could bring that change back to his life here in Portland, where we both live.
Fast forward to this past April when Tony began to ponder the idea of launching a podcast based on the idea of pilgrimage and invited me to be his co-collaborator and, as it turns out, his co-host.
We began to form the basis for what would become Pilgrim Lost—a podcast not specifically about walking the Camino de Santiago, but about the belief that the transformative aspects of pilgrimage can be intertwined within the most normal patterns of daily life.
On September 29, 2019, we launched our website and podcast with a desire to have conversations just like the one Bryce and I were having as we filmed.
Bryce and Rasa graciously agreed to come back a few days later so we could have that big and tiny conversation with the podcast microphones turned on.
If you would like to listen in, you can find it here. It is fascinating to peel back the layers of the tiny movement and what drives us towards minimalism, simplicity and ultimately, for me at least, the freedom to fill our lives with things that inspire us, rather than weigh us down.
This is what tiny living is all about.
Kari is an illustrator, author, and co-host of the Pilgrim Lost podcast. You can see more of Kari’s work at karigale.com, listen to the podcast at pilgrimlost.com or follow her on Instagram or @pilgrimlost.
Written by Kari Gale for Tiny House Magazine Issue 85
Having walked the Camino myself, and now living in my second tiny home, I can relate to so much of what Kari shares here. What a delightful, resonant, and inspiring story. Thank you for sharing.