5 ms·

I absolutely loved reading this. I liked how he went into it cautiously, testing out whether he could get by with a small fridge, small bed, less possessions, e

I absolutely loved reading this. I liked how he went into it cautiously, testing out whether he could get by with a small fridge, small bed, less possessions, etc. And I also appreciate the web page design itself -- one long vertically-scrolling piece, very easy to read through! One thing I find ironic though is the attitude towards other people who make a different decision about the worth of a home and the mortgage. Does he not realize that his van was only possible because his parents owned a home, raised him there, and let him park the van in their carport for 40 days while building it out?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
beefield 10y ago
I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that it was _possible_ only due to his parents home. Easier and cheaper sure.
Joof 10y ago
He could have done it at a friend's or his own home after another short stint of saving.
- Domenic_S 10y ago
  His dad's woodshop (& expertise) was critical to the build - note that dad did all the cuts into the body of the van. There's nothing wrong with it, just a reminder that we never really do anything alone. Personally, I'd rather have the shop than the van ;)
  - sliverstorm 10y ago
    I noticed that too. Not to be too critical, but reminds me of a woman I know who pitches how great & easy & wonderful it is to buy complete fixer-upper cars and houses and make something great out of them. But if you read her posts on the subject, you realize her father is a contractor, her husband is a mechanic, and they do most of the work.
  - woobar 10y ago
    Yes, he glosses over that part. From the pictures it looks like he _and_ his dad built it in 40 days (and who knows how many hours per day). That's not free, and could easily add another $20K-$30K.
mod 10y ago
That's not exactly true. He could have done the build-out in plenty of other manners, some less efficiently. With some extra money, he might have had it done more quickly, even. Camping out during the build time, or getting a hostel/hotel for 40 days, renting a room, building it ahead of time, etc. Lots of reasonable options. I noticed on some page he mentioned "focusing on building less expensive homes" and then pointed at tumbleweed homes, they build those "tiny homes" on trailers. Those things go for like 3x the most inexpensive mobile homes. We've already solved this problem, we're just changing the paint to avoid the social taboo.
- monknomo 10y ago
  I too have wondered at the tiny home thing. Regular single wide mobile homes are small, cheap and standardized, and they even have "communal living" in a park. I'm pretty sure it's just trying to tell bougie people that it's fine to live in a trailer park
  - mod 10y ago
    I'm not really against it, even. I think it is fine. Some of those tiny homes are really nice, or inspiring, or liberating. I really appreciate hand-made things, especially ambitious projects like homes. And I definitely appreciate the frugal builds. But when you're buying it pre-built, it's just a tiny, expensive mobile home. If they catch on enough, they'll build them cheaper and more efficiently, and we'll have smaller versions of normal mobile homes, with aluminum siding and all. I'm all for it, personally--there's no reason for the dream of home-ownership to be expensive.
    - monknomo 10y ago
      Sure, variety is the spice of life, I just don't get it. It feels like a cynical marketing exercise to me, and I have some other personal issues probably tied up in millenial homeownership angst, but that's me, not the tiny homes.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  ...social taboo When I've lived in mobile homes, I've found them to be substandard in various ways. One might be prepared to accept that in exchange for their advantages, but if not it seems perfectly rational to seek other solutions with different trade-offs. E.g., most mobile homes are over 70' long, while tiny houses are much shorter.
gutnor 10y ago
He owned a house before, so that's a moot point, he could have used his own house before selling it. But of course his lifestyle is enabled by his environment. It is easier to do that in the US than in Europe, easier in the Western World than in the third world, easier if you started off as a developer rather than a min wage employee with the burden of student debts, easier single than couple with kids, easier as a man than woman, ... If you are one of the richest man in the world (not the 1%, just above average in one of the richest country in the world), which is pretty much the majority of HN, this is an interesting alternative lifestyle. Note that it is oddly reminiscent from the 7/80's hippies. I just wonder if just like them, some of those people will settle down one day and make a 180 turn on everything they valued when they were younger.
- markvdb 10y ago
  Can you elaborate on why you think this would be more difficult in Europe? I can imagine Europe wide fitness chains not being so common. http://www.basic-fit.com http://www.basic-fit.com and friends seem to be building something like it. But then again, public swimming pools, and even public showers are more common and often highly subsidised.
  - gutnor 10y ago
    - Language will be a problem. Speaking more than 1 language will help. - Access to public bathroom is going to be another - like even public bathroom in place like Walmart-equivalent cannot be assumed to be generally available. - Legality and Cultural acceptance is going to vary country by country. In my home country, a single man living in his van will be reported to the police the second nights he stays in the same place, and he will be asked to move somewhere else at the very least. - You pointed out to a gym being available across Europe, but the replacement, swimming pools are not anywhere as available as gyms. There is no public toilet at the public library that is next to my place. Public shower are often restricted to professional drivers and I haven't seen one outside of the highway or trucking road. - Insuring your car requires to have a physical residence in a country, and you generally can't legally be more than a few months in a country with foreign registration. Similarly depending on the age of your car, your country may require a yearly car check which mean you need to be around there at that time. - Internet access - you will need to prepare that a bit more carefully. - What about taxes ? That's another thing you have to know when crossing several countries. - Stupid little things like currencies. So going across Europe is going to be more adventurous than in a country that has road-trip in its DNA, and depending on the country, even staying in a single one is going to be more adventurous. Of course it's all relative, that is harder than in the US, but nowhere as hard as for Syrian refugee in Turkey.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

beefield 10y ago

I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that it was _possible_ only due to his parents home. Easier and cheaper sure.

Joof 10y ago

He could have done it at a friend's or his own home after another short stint of saving.

Domenic_S 10y ago
His dad's woodshop (& expertise) was critical to the build - note that dad did all the cuts into the body of the van. There's nothing wrong with it, just a reminder that we never really do anything alone. Personally, I'd rather have the shop than the van ;)
- sliverstorm 10y ago
  I noticed that too. Not to be too critical, but reminds me of a woman I know who pitches how great & easy & wonderful it is to buy complete fixer-upper cars and houses and make something great out of them. But if you read her posts on the subject, you realize her father is a contractor, her husband is a mechanic, and they do most of the work.
- woobar 10y ago
  Yes, he glosses over that part. From the pictures it looks like he _and_ his dad built it in 40 days (and who knows how many hours per day). That's not free, and could easily add another $20K-$30K.

mod 10y ago

That's not exactly true. He could have done the build-out in plenty of other manners, some less efficiently. With some extra money, he might have had it done more quickly, even. Camping out during the build time, or getting a hostel/hotel for 40 days, renting a room, building it ahead of time, etc. Lots of reasonable options. I noticed on some page he mentioned "focusing on building less expensive homes" and then pointed at tumbleweed homes, they build those "tiny homes" on trailers. Those things go for like 3x the most inexpensive mobile homes. We've already solved this problem, we're just changing the paint to avoid the social taboo.

monknomo 10y ago
I too have wondered at the tiny home thing. Regular single wide mobile homes are small, cheap and standardized, and they even have "communal living" in a park. I'm pretty sure it's just trying to tell bougie people that it's fine to live in a trailer park
- mod 10y ago
  I'm not really against it, even. I think it is fine. Some of those tiny homes are really nice, or inspiring, or liberating. I really appreciate hand-made things, especially ambitious projects like homes. And I definitely appreciate the frugal builds. But when you're buying it pre-built, it's just a tiny, expensive mobile home. If they catch on enough, they'll build them cheaper and more efficiently, and we'll have smaller versions of normal mobile homes, with aluminum siding and all. I'm all for it, personally--there's no reason for the dream of home-ownership to be expensive.
  - monknomo 10y ago
    Sure, variety is the spice of life, I just don't get it. It feels like a cynical marketing exercise to me, and I have some other personal issues probably tied up in millenial homeownership angst, but that's me, not the tiny homes.
jessaustin 10y ago
...social taboo When I've lived in mobile homes, I've found them to be substandard in various ways. One might be prepared to accept that in exchange for their advantages, but if not it seems perfectly rational to seek other solutions with different trade-offs. E.g., most mobile homes are over 70' long, while tiny houses are much shorter.

gutnor 10y ago

He owned a house before, so that's a moot point, he could have used his own house before selling it. But of course his lifestyle is enabled by his environment. It is easier to do that in the US than in Europe, easier in the Western World than in the third world, easier if you started off as a developer rather than a min wage employee with the burden of student debts, easier single than couple with kids, easier as a man than woman, ... If you are one of the richest man in the world (not the 1%, just above average in one of the richest country in the world), which is pretty much the majority of HN, this is an interesting alternative lifestyle. Note that it is oddly reminiscent from the 7/80's hippies. I just wonder if just like them, some of those people will settle down one day and make a 180 turn on everything they valued when they were younger.

markvdb 10y ago
Can you elaborate on why you think this would be more difficult in Europe? I can imagine Europe wide fitness chains not being so common. http://www.basic-fit.com http://www.basic-fit.com and friends seem to be building something like it. But then again, public swimming pools, and even public showers are more common and often highly subsidised.
- gutnor 10y ago
  - Language will be a problem. Speaking more than 1 language will help. - Access to public bathroom is going to be another - like even public bathroom in place like Walmart-equivalent cannot be assumed to be generally available. - Legality and Cultural acceptance is going to vary country by country. In my home country, a single man living in his van will be reported to the police the second nights he stays in the same place, and he will be asked to move somewhere else at the very least. - You pointed out to a gym being available across Europe, but the replacement, swimming pools are not anywhere as available as gyms. There is no public toilet at the public library that is next to my place. Public shower are often restricted to professional drivers and I haven't seen one outside of the highway or trucking road. - Insuring your car requires to have a physical residence in a country, and you generally can't legally be more than a few months in a country with foreign registration. Similarly depending on the age of your car, your country may require a yearly car check which mean you need to be around there at that time. - Internet access - you will need to prepare that a bit more carefully. - What about taxes ? That's another thing you have to know when crossing several countries. - Stupid little things like currencies. So going across Europe is going to be more adventurous than in a country that has road-trip in its DNA, and depending on the country, even staying in a single one is going to be more adventurous. Of course it's all relative, that is harder than in the US, but nowhere as hard as for Syrian refugee in Turkey.