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Tiny Home Adventure

My Country Living Experience

By ShannahyahPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Tiny Home Adventure
Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash

A couple of years ago, far away from my hometown, I moved out to the country in Texas. I was married at the time and agreed to live off-grid to prepare for what was to come in the times we live in. Things like disasters, cities shutting down, etc. I was nervous and excited and the same time. I dreamed this would be a great start to a new relationship and new life. Plus the land owned by close friends of ours, so I felt comfortable living there with people I knew. But being that this was completely new for me, I struggled to adjust.

The beauty of it was the peace and quiet. I liked being far away from the overpopulated city life. I was a city lady, but as I have gotten older, I wanted to live somewhere more peaceful so this seemed perfect. Spring had barely started so it wasn't bright and pretty yet. But the air felt good even though it was cooler at night. The first night, we slept in a tent. That was my first time sleeping in a tent overnight in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't sleep for a while and it was pitch dark outside. I was scared. I heard noises of animals outside, of course, I mean we were in the country. We had a fire going outside the tent to keep warm and a bucket inside the tent to take a shower in. We also had a portable potty. I was too tall for the tent so I struggled to take a shower with my long legs and to have to bend and hang on tight to the pole inside the tent.

During the night we talked for a while but I was so uncomfortable and still freezing. I thought I could never go to sleep out here. Finally, I lay down and fell asleep. I probably only slept like a half hour before I got startled in my sleep. I heard something scratching and making noise outside the tent. It sounded like some sort of wild animal. My husband at the time checked it out and comforted me through this. I was definitely in my mind over this experience.

Thankfully, the next day, our tiny house was arriving on a truck. We had purchased the tiny house a few weeks ahead of time. I got excited to see it pulling up. I couldn't take another night of sleeping outside all night. This was just the beginning of a journey that I hoped I was ready for.

Once the truck placed the house in the location that was best, we were able to start moving everything in. The house was short and small. It was enough space for 2 people. It was a brownish color and made of wood. It was an empty shell. There was no bathroom or any plumbing hook up. There was no cover to the ceiling or any walls over insulation. There were things that needed to be done to the house including the floor. But for now, I was just happy to be able to sleep inside throughout the night.

We used solar power for our electricity. This was temporary because my ex and our friend were working on getting the electric pole hooked up to have our usual way of having electricity and using wifi. We all had cell phones and my ex and I used solar power to charge our phones which took forever. Sometimes the signal out in the country wasn't working well and dropped calls. At times the internet ran slower than usual. But it still worked which was a blessing coming from the life I was used to living.

For the bathroom, we used the little tent and placed it in the back of the house. My ex carefully put rocks from the house to the tent so that I didn't have to walk on grass or get lost in the middle of the night. We had both the portable toilet and container with a shower head inside the tent. It was kept clean as much as possible but the tent did have a nasty smell to it. Unfortunately, the smell traveled onto my clothes and I was so disgusted. Thankfully, within a few weeks, my ex built an outhouse onto the back of the tiny home using sticks of wood. Very creative and I was so happy about that. I could now take showers inside and not have to stumble outside in the night to use the bathroom. Yes, I trip while walking to the tent, It was hard to see. Sometimes it was storming as well so yeah the new bathroom was an upgrade.

In the beginning, we slept on an air mattress that was pretty comfy. This was our bed until we got our permanent bed. The night time was okay. It was different hearing the dogs and coyotes go back and forth through the night. This happened all the time after dark. It sounded like they were arguing or something. I realized it will take me some time to get used to the sounds of the country, especially at night. And for some reason, there was a scratch at our back door in the middle of the night. Like a wild animal that was trying to come inside. It kept me up until it stopped. I was scared and mentally tortured not knowing why it would do this or what in the world it was. Our friends that lived on the land, said they may have seen what it was scratching at the door. They said it looked like a black jaguar. Yikes! Over time, this eventually stopped. But when I thought about it, it stopped when I slept on the other side of the bed away from the back door. Wow.

Every night, I couldn't wait till morning. I love the daytime and being able to see everything. That's just me. Especially living out in the middle of nowhere when strange sounds and animals come out in the pitch dark. I loved the sounds of the birds in the morning. Even the sound of the rooster we can hear from afar. The fresh air outside feels so relaxing and even smells wonderful. The tiny house had a porch, so we were able to sit and enjoy coffee and the scenery. Appreciating The Most High (Yah)'s creation. Was this lifestyle for me? Soon I would find out for certain.

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About the Creator

Shannahyah

Welcome to my page. I enjoy writing stories that can be lessons and inspiration. On my platform I will share testimonies and useful information to encourage you. Feel free to follow, donate and share if you enjoy what you read. Thanks!

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