"Pay for gas, not rent": A couple quit their jobs to travel around the US, living in a tiny trailer
In October 2014, Kelly Tousley and Curtis O'Rorke Stedman decided to quit their jobs and leave their home in Juneau in Alaska and see the USA, "paying for gasoline, not rent."
The couple bought a 7-by-14-foot (2.13-by-4.26-meter) trailer and spent the next nine months working to transform it into what was to be their new home for at least a year.
"By our example, we show that we can spend the same amount of money (if not less) traveling around North America, and not paying rent in one place," they write in their blog Pay Gas, Not Rent.
It has already been 7 months since they went on a trip across the country on May 31, 2015: from Alaska to Michigan, to Florida and around Colorado, with stops along the way in Ohio, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.
This is what life on the road really looks like and how a 27-year-old guy and a girl could afford it.
(11 photos in total)
1. Before going on a trip, the couple lived and worked in Juneau, Alaska. O'Rourke Steadman taught English at the school, and Towsley worked in the social sphere.
2. After 4 years of work, the guy and the girl realized that this was absolutely not enough for them to be completely happy. Their passion for travel and a simpler life easily resulted in a joint plan of living in a tiny mobile home.
3. Another reason why the couple went on the road was that Curtis wanted to fulfill his dream of playing music professionally, because in Juno, he could only perform on weekends and during the summer, during the holidays.
4. When the time came to build a tiny house, the choice was small. After all, they lived in the capital of Alaska, and shipping something there is quite expensive. Fortunately, the couple managed to find an almost new trailer in a relatively nearby Petersburg.
5. But that was just the beginning. The couple spent the next nine months working on transforming the trailer into their new home.
6. Two of the biggest projects during the remodeling of the trailer were the installation of windows and a power source. The couple invested $1,600 in the Goal Zero Yeti power supply, a powerful battery that can be charged from solar panels.
7. Other separate projects were the construction of a sofa bed, thermal insulation of walls and ceilings, installation of a shower, cabinets, drawers, kitchen drain and even a toilet.
8. The couple set off with their two dogs on May 31, 2015 and traveled across the continent to their home state of Michigan, where they spent time with relatives.
9. They had some savings—about $7,200—partly from the sale of most of their property in Juneau. They used all this money to pay for a car and insurance from June until the New Year. "Now we rely on music to pay for these things," the guy and the girl say.
10. Their main source of income is Curtis' performances — from two to four a week (or from 8 to 15 a month) — and the occasional earnings of the Towslays. And although the current income is significantly less than the total earnings in Juneau, young people save significantly on expenses by living in a more modest way.
11. After all, even if there is a temptation to buy new clothes or shoes, there is simply nowhere to place it in a tiny house.