The Campfire Trail: December 22 - DIY Homestead - The Art of the Downsize (Part 2)

December 22, 2022

Day 447 of the Adventure

Becoming "Downsized" has been one of the central points of life for us over the past ten years or so. The beginning of it was as unintentional as our introduction to what we have called our "Resort Adventure". A Summer cabin rehab project gave us a taste of smaller living and it really was very appealing. Living for five months in a 184 sq ft camper literally began as a camp out and turned into a potential life direction. No, we were not tempted to make a permanent move to 184 sq ft. It did open our eyes to the possibility of downsized living. 184 square feet is a 8x23 space, which was probably closer to 7 x 19 by the time you allowed for real space vs actual trailer dimensions. By the end of the summer, we had spent part of our time in one of the 320 sq ft cabins and felt we had moved into a mansion compared to the camper. During our work on the cabins, we had an opportunity to buy a small house on the property adjacent to our cabins. This house was in the 900 sq ft range. It had everything our larger home had only on a smaller footprint. As we became more attached to the cabin life, the house next door looked like a potential move in the direction of smaller and more economical living. Going from a 2,800 Sq Ft home to a 900 sq ft home was reducing our footprint by two thirds. That is a pretty significant downsize.

By the end of the Summer, we had moved ourselves into 900 square feet while continuing to renovate cabins next door. Our "crutch" 2,800 sq ft home was still there as a fall back if the downsize ever became too unbearable. The reality was that it was easily becoming very natural to us. I remember visiting friends who lived in a 7,000 sq ft space and thinking "What would I do with all that space?" Being a guy, all I could think of was the upkeep and maintenance. Not to mention the utility bills.

To be clear, downsizing is not for everyone. I'm not sure it would even be for me were it not for the added freedom of simply reducing the number of things I need to concern myself with. Our current cabin is certainly a downsize at 300 sq ft. It's not planned as our permanent home but for the time being, it's our option of choice. Where we had a "back-up" home in the past, that option no longer exists. This is it and it is what it is. (To Be Continued)......... Please consider clicking one of the video links on this page and Subscribing to our YouTube channel for much more info and details on how we did all of this!

Carry On

Adventure Quote: “We all have a million things vying for our attention. If you tell yourself that you don’t have enough time to clear out your junk, you might be delaying the well-being and relief you could experience by tackling it. If not now, when?” ― Lisa J. Shultz

Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost up the Creek (Sumatra)

SNEAK PEEK of our Upcoming OFF-GRID project

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Mountain Craft

Lye Soap Making

Rug Weaving

Making Wooden Buckets (Cooper Craft)

Pottery

Cornmeal Grinding

Blacksmithing

Sassafras Tea Making (Chicks in the Sticks video)