Simply Nomadic

On February 18 Zoe and I celebrated four years of marriage. It’s been quite the journey that started on Roan Mountain, traveled through a time in Canada, settled in Richlands and now finds itself woven into the fabric of Radford and our community here. 

We spent our time celebrating in Lexington, Virginia, last weekend. We simply walked around town enjoying the shops and restaurants (and locally made ice cream!). It was really the first weekend we were able to rest and decompress after a long January and February in ministry, work and training, and it was much needed.

On Sunday we spent the day hiking Devil’s Marbleyard (pictured above) in a steady rain. While we love hiking in the sun, the rain did add a dash more adventure and danger, especially hopping around the vehicle-sized boulders. Back at the trailhead we hurried to change into dry clothes as groups of other hikers approached the parking lot. Oh the joys of trying to get saturated clothes off in a hurry!

One of the best parts of the hike was to be able to dream about what the future holds for us. We discussed family, ministry, and specifically our calling in regards to the Kingdom of God. We are continuing to walk through the possibility of church planting and sharing our concerns and visions with one another. No conclusions were drawn in the the muddy ground, but we both feel good about the foundational conversations that are happening and looking forward to future discussions. 

As stated in our last post, Zoe and I have moved from the camper into “regular” housing accommodations (i.e. a house without wheels). With that we have been discussing the nature of this blog and even the title of it and have come to consider it just as applicable as before, albeit with a slight transition. 

While some consider nomadic living as being about to take your home with you and others look at it as a refusal to be engaged and rooted in a community for whatever reasons, we see it as a God-given identity. Nomads. Wanderers. Sojourners. These words represent God’s people all throughout scripture. There is an unsettledness that comes with being in God’s community because there’s a longing for a homeland not yet seen or tasted. A homeland so beautiful that we get only glimpses of it in our present state. We are citizens of another kingdom living in temporary tents, the Bible says. We are wanderers on earth journeying toward our promised home, trying desperately to bring other wanderers with us. 

So then, we are transitioning this blog from following the highs and lows of one type of nomadic living to another. We want to give family, friends and followers a window into the wandering of two nomads, longing for a home not yet realized, attempting to give fellow sojourners a foretaste of a future reality and to awaken their affections for the home they’ve always longed for and show them the Way.  

Well, it seems a year has come and gone since our last update. We have since moved out of the camper and to a new town, Radford, VA. But as we approach the 2-year anniversary of starting our tiny house project we wanted to share some before and after shots and what it looked like during the time we called this 25 foot trailer home. 

This was an adventure that was hard, stressful, wonderful, stretching and formative. The year we lived “tiny” was one of the hardest and best of both of our lives. We learned what it meant to live with little and to minimize the resources we consume. We learned what it meant to live without extra conveniences, and in fact learned to live with, and even love, multiple inconveniences. We learned to be creative in the way we could be hospitable with little space. We learned to empathize with those without running water for the month we were without it. We learned to be outside more and enjoy God’s creation. We learned to be thankful for sunny days when we could open windows and doors and feel as though we were camping all the time. We learned patience during the cold when we had to constantly watch and tune the furnace to keep pipes from freezing. We learned to love the simplicity of life and become less connected. We learned to love each other well in a space where retreat was not an option. 

We learned many other things as well. All of which we are now trying to apply to life lived in more than 200 square feet. It’s been interesting to see what we have incorporated well into a bigger (700 square feet) space and what little luxuries we’ve been able to reintroduce (queen bed, couch and space to stretch legs being some of my favorite). It’s also been a nice transition to being able to entertain more people and have our home be theirs if even for just an hour or two. 

So, finally, the year in the Avion was a success. The project was wonderfully hard, joyful and formative. For that we’re grateful. For that we’ll be forever affected.

Cheers,

Christmas at the Camper

Well Christmas has come and gone in the camper. We actually celebrated before we left for Canada in mid-December, but it was an enjoyable time decorating our tiny home. We were reintroduced to our downsizing philosophy once again as we decorated our little 3 foot tree by only getting to select the ornaments that meant the most to us. It was another reminder that we would take less more important and sentimental things than more less important and special things every time and another confirmation of the life we have chosen.

Also, for us, Christmas always means intense craft time. We value effort and thought put into handmade gifts, whether it’s a small trinket or something relatively involved. So both Zoe and I spent much of the end of November and early December making Christmas gifts. Not as easy as it sounds in a space so small, but we managed quite nicely and learned a lot of new skills. It always amazes me at the amount you can do in such a tiny space.

Probably the most asked question we get living in a camper full time is, “Doesn’t it get cold?” The answer isn’t as simple as yes and no. For those of you doing it you know that it definitely takes more work to keep warm than a well-insulated house, but it’s not impossible either.

For quite some time now we’ve been running a small ceramic space heater as the fall’s continued to get cooler and cooler. Usually as long as it’s above freezing we will just run this. It’s clean, dry heat. The drawbacks are if the bathroom door is shut it doesn’t heat that area and it definitely takes longer to heat the space than our furnace. It also just heats the air so the floor stays really cold 

About a month ago our area experienced quite a cold spell where it was consistently in the 20s for a week or so and sometimes into the teens at night. This was the first time we put our furnace to use and it did outstanding. It heats really fast and because the ductwork runs under the floor and into all areas of the camper, the pipes, bathroom and floor all remain heated as well. It’s actually quite cozy to turn the furnace on during a snowy day, sit on the couch and watch the white stuff accumulate on the trees and fields in view. The downside of the furnace is most definitely the smell. It can be quite fumy at times if ran for an extended period of time, and it requires us to regularly blow out built up exhaust and impurities from the propane. It also put large amounts of water moisture in the air that along with our breath creates a lot of condensation buildup on the windows.

As far as actually temperatures inside the camper goes, if it’s in the 30s outside, we can easily have it around 70 inside with either the furnace or the electric heater (usually we use the later). If it’s in the 20s we use the furnace and it will get up to 70 easily but we usually keep it around 65. The nights where it reached the teens the furnace could only heat to around 65 max. This is according to our thermostat located near the furnace away from windows, which are our biggest source of heat loss. With single pane windows you can definitely feel the cold when standing near a window or in the front of the camper where they are concentrated.

Living Small: Not Always Milk and Cookies

Writing this post in hindsight, I wonder how we ever got through the month of October…

It started out well enough. The first weekend of the month we got so much accomplished around the camper. First, we replaced the sealant in most of the seams on the camper and around the windows. Most of the original stuff had completely disintegrated and in order to keep water out it was going to be a necessity. The other project we were able to tackle was insulating all the pipes and lines inside and outside the camper. This again, with the oncoming cold weather was going to be a necessity. That same weekend we had a marathon workday in order to complete the underpinning around the camper. I was proud of our progress. In just a few days we were able to completely prepare ourselves for winter.

The next day it all changed. After that night’s windstorm, I walked around the camper to check on how the underpinning had stood up to the strong winds. While that was a positive review, I discovered water cascading from our water heater compartment. Upon further examination I found that the tank was leaking ferociously. So after turning the water off and adding layer after layer of silicone to see if we could fix the leak, Zoe and I determined that we would have to replace the 40 year old appliance (not bad for life span eh!). We really wanted to go with an instant tankless heater, but the confines of our space and budget didn’t allow it. By the time we had tried to fix it, researched new systems and finally settled on replacing it with an updated version of what we originally had it had been a few weeks. And while living with no hot water is just a minor inconvenience, our camper did not have a way to shut water off from going in the tank, so for us, a leaking hot water tank meant no running water. For a solid month we woke up to the chore of taking pots and pitchers to the neighbor’s outdoor spigot to collect water for the day. If we wanted hot water we had to boil it. When we the new heater finally came we were so excited, but I knew when I looked at it, the wiring was much more complicated than I was capable of understanding, so with hopes dashed, we had to wait a few more days before our friend was finally able to come help install it. It was a trying time, but one in which we both look back on with appreciation. There are so many people around the world and even our area with no means of running water for whatever reason. It’s a blessing to be able to look to that month in some small way as a means of empathizing with that community more deeply.

During this escapade, something even more dramatically tragic happened. On my Zoe’s birthday, while I was subbing at school, her and Kootenai went for a walk in the field behind our home, just like any other day. Kootenai when seeing the neighbor (who had just finished sighting in his bow for hunting season) sitting in the field ran to him in excitement. Not realizing she was holding an arrow in his hand, she ran and jumped into his arms, landing with her full weight and momentum onto the arrow. According to the x-ray it went into her chest cavity 5 inches. She yelped and ran arrow dislodging the arrow. Blood was spurting with every beat of her heart and Zoe had to tackle her and plug the wound. With me being gone, our wonderful neighbor raced Zoe and Koot to the vet.

When I, not knowing any of this had happened, pulled into the driveway Zoe called in a panic on her way. I met her at the vet and we waited impatiently as the vet did her best. After a long hour waiting, the vet came in with good news—miraculously the arrow had missed all her vitals and the only lasting effects would be a week-long drain that needed to be installed to promote draining and prohibit infection. Needless to say, it wasn’t Zoe’s favorite birthday.

So that was October for us: productive, challenging, painful, stressful, and most importantly, over. It was a month full of challenges, but one in which God taught us so much, we know those come and go. I hope we’re done with months like that for a while though.

Our First Overnight Guest

In September, we had our first overnight guest at the camper. We’ve had plenty of folks over but none that took the challenge to stay quite like our great friend, Ashley. Zoe and her have been close for years now and we always look forward to her annual visit, but this one was anxiously anticipated because of the unknown factor of never having someone stay with us at the camper. Let’s just say there’s not a lot of privacy between us, much less any guests.

Nevertheless, we prepared the front bed for her: putting up the table, setting up the bed and making it for the first time. Let’s just say it was quite comfortable and much roomier than either of us expected. Of course Kootenai absolutely loved it. Before we could even make the bed she had claimed it for her own, forcing Ashley into nightlong cuddle sessions, which I believe neither of them minded. It also came to be known as (and is still affectionately called) the Persian Palace, because Ashley covered it in pillows and a royal purple fleece blanket. What a legacy she has left.

A Camper Addition

I realize this is coming late and it’s been a long while since an update, but life gets busy and I would rather live it than write about it. That being said, Zoe and I are on the way to Calgary for Christmas the long flight afforded a great opportunity to catch our followers up on life in the camper.

Backing up to the first week we were in the camper, our family grew by one tiny (not so much now) little ball of fur—the third resident of our tiny home and beloved Newfoundland, Kootenai (now 7 months old). Koots as she has come to be called was named for the area in which Zoe and I met: Kooteney Plains near Nordegg, Alberta. When we first picked her up she could take naps inside her water bowl and could fit on a throw pillow, now that same water bowl is smaller than her head and each night is a race between the three of us to claim our spots on the bed, the loser (usually Zoe because she is fixing her covers) knowing that there will be no room for them and subsequently has to wrestle an 80 lb tired and stubborn puppy out of their spot. It’s not easy.

Welcome to the Life of Living Small...

Well, it's been about a month since we've moved into our tiny home. In many ways we think it's been much easier than  expected. Make no doubt about it, we've made sacrifices in comforts that we have come to know as routine, but they've been minor inconveniences at most. With that said, we wanted to share some of the pleasant and not-so-pleasant discoveries we've unearthed in our inaugural month of living small

The Good:

Storage space has surprisingly been more than adequate. There are actually multiple cabinets that are still untouched. I'm sure they will eventually be filled, but currently we are completely content with everything we have and how it fits into our small space.

I (Craig) have never been the most tidy person in the world, and when we lived in a space where I could put my mess out of sight, it seemed to grow and remain unkept. In our current state that habit would quickly cause our living space to shrink to nothing. For that reason, I've become quite tidy, putting away clean clothes, clean dishes, and getting better at general straightening up. As for general cleanliness, it's a quick 10 minutes for a full scale cleaning of our entire home. Even I can manage that.

Probably our favorite part of living small has been the fact that it has forced us to spend time outside. We've slowly been creating a beautiful outdoor space and use it daily. Whether that's cooking and eating outside, reading in the afternoon sun, or going on dusk walks through the surrounding fields, the outside has become our family room where entertainment, food and drink is shared.

One of Zoe's favorite surprises has been the kitchen's efficiency. It's been efficient to use, spacious enough to create great meals, and quick to clean. The gas range and oven has worked great and coupled by our grill, we've not sacrificed in meal quality at all. In fact, the picture above is our first meal cooked in the camper--German pancakes with fresh coffee on our first morning in our new home.

We knew it would be environmentally friendly living small. But our water usage and electric usage must be significantly smaller. I don't know details yet as we've not been billed, but the time showering is significantly smaller due to a tiny water heater and the only electricity we've used is minor a/c and lights only after sunset. I'm interested to see what our actually usage is and will share it upon discovery. 

The Bad:

The first problem we ran in to is the electric function on the refrigerator not being able to cool the unit. It kept kicking the breaker. I suppose it's because to cool the unit from around 80 F to ~40 F the compressor ran on end. Therefore, we've been running the fridge on propane and it works well. There is an auto function that runs it on electric until it needs to cool and then flips to gas. We're yet to try, but plan on experimenting soon. 

The second and related problem is how much the camper reacts to weather. While it's quite insulated, in the hot summer sun it takes work to keep the space cool and on a windless day the only way to do this is close it up and run a/c. We try our best not to do so, but inevitably sometimes the summer demands it. Even with this, the fridge warms by as much as 5-10 degrees and the cabinets become ovens, melting anything in the pantry that is meant to stay at room temperature. Likewise, there has been some cool morning that we've awoken to sub 60 temps. I think we'll bring a small electric heater in for those nights moving forward. 

The third negative discovery is not really a discovery at all, but we actually knew this obstacle going in. With the design of the bathroom door and our bed, it's impossible to access the bathroom when the bed is pulled out. It's not been an issue to date as we just go outside if we need, but I'm anticipating that won't be as welcomed when the weather turns. We're still discussing what we should do to solve this. 

The last issue is one we've been dealing with the past two days--bad weather. It's been raining non stop here and everything is saturated. It's great for our growing grass, it's terrible when the biggest and most used room you have is your outdoor patio. Needless to say, we've both had a bit of cabin fever, so much so we just decided to do our daily walk in the pouring rain yesterday. Maybe not quite as great as our sunset walks, but we did discover some wild blackberry bushes close-by. That in itself is worth the deluge to me. 

Well the day has finally arrived! Power and water have been connected, we’ve played Tetris and found places for all our stuff, and currently are resting on our couch relaxing and enjoying our first night in our new home. It’s been quite a long journey since we originally conceived of the idea last November and this is the time we have longed for. So cheers to the adventure ahead and many thanks for the multitudes of people that have helped us get to this point. Much love to you!

Love from a new tiny house family, the Robinsons

tjtevlin said: It’s been fun following you!

These are some of the last projects we needed to complete before moving the camper. The only major one was the installation of the desk/bar. We had made the countertop for it with all the others but were waiting on installation until after flooring was complete. With some supports around the edges and a few galvanized pipe legs this thing is solid! We completed the area by removing the old plastic duct work that went under the original bed and replacing it with aluminum flex duct that will remain exposed with the wheel well for the industrial look. All in all, this installation probably doubled the amount of usable counter space in the camper.

Then there was the plumbing. We had tested it about a week ago and only found one major leak in a regulator. After fixing that and installing the new toilet everything works like a charm. 

Lastly, there were a few odd jobs like hanging the bathroom door and cleaning the shelves and drawers and installing plastic liners to keep things fresh and clean. Then this past beautiful Saturday we spend giving her a good scrub and she was all shined up for the move. Thanks to mom for all her help with that really hot job!