Alternative Living Spaces:
Tiny Houses, Camper Vans, and More!
- 2 mins After you spend some time living out of a backpack, you realize that you really don’t need that much.
Sure, you need food, water, and shelter. But you don’t need a shiny car, a flatscreen TV, or a pile of shoes. You don’t need a mansion with three guest rooms and a pool, or even a bed on a mattress. You really don’t need much in life.1
This realization frees you. Some people work to make money—but for you, work is where you can find meaning, attain mastery in a chosen field, and create value in society.2
For this reason, I am incredibly drawn to alternative living spaces as a way to help people rethink what is important to them, and to change their environment to reflect their priorities.
One of my favorite things to do in my downtime is to watch Youtube videos of alternative living spaces, including tiny houses (yurts, treehouses, A-frames, etc.) and camper vans. Here are some of my all-time favorite videos:
- College student build his own $15,000 tiny house
- A gorgeous LA A-frame
- Pinecone treehouse
- Engineer shows how to convert a van in 7 days and a $1000 budget
My dream is to build my own tiny house that is comfy, creative, and inspiring. I believe that it is imperative to be intentional about our living spaces. By creating an environment that reflects our ideals, we can better strive towards being the people we hope to become.
1 Materially-speaking. People still need effective structures like education systems, healthcare, government, retirement funds, etc. to function at their full potential and recover from emergency situations. Also, I’m all for splurging on material items that bring people joy, if their budget allows for it. I just believe that people should recognize that these items are bringing them additional joy, not that they can’t live without them or that their happiness depends on owning these items.
2 I know that living paycheck to paycheck is hard, and I feel deeply towards anyone who struggles to make ends meet. I recognize that there is a certain kind of arrogance in saying that “money doesn’t matter” (because I know it really does) and that “you shouldn’t work for money” (because sometimes you need to, to support yourself and/or the people close to you). Money is the currency of our society, and anyone who says more money doesn’t make life easier is delusional. But research has found that up to a baseline threshold, money gives you freedom and happiness, but after that threshold, happiness doesn’t depend much on wealth.