I’ve been making mental notes of the things I love about tiny living so far. Our bus is less than 280 square feet. Here they are, in no particular order.
#1- Nothing is more than a few steps away.
Need the scissors? Just walk five steps to the drawer and you have them. Getting ready in the morning? You could literally stand in one spot and do everything from drying your hair to putting on deodorant. Cleaning up even goes fast because nothing got more than forty feet from its spot!
#2 – Cleaning is extremely satisfying.
I can clean the whole place really quickly. I’ll have to time it and report back, but it’s fast. In our old house (2400 sq. ft.), I would typically clean all the bathrooms at once, or maybe the entire downstairs on Saturday morning – everything was rarely clean all at once.
#3 – Shutting down at the end of the day is easy-peasy.
When it’s time to go to bed, there isn’t a whole lot that needs to be done. Just a few dishes to be done (since they have to be washed and put away immediately after use), a few steps to the bathroom to brush teeth and wash up, a peek out the window to make sure the dog isn’t tangled up, and five steps to lock the bus door.
#4 – We’re getting a lot of exercise.
I guess this has more to do with the fact that we’re traveling and there’s always something to explore outside, but there just really aren’t many places to go inside. Once the kids have been reading in their beds for a while, and then sitting at the kitchen table or on the couch, it’s boring enough that they just want to go outside for a change of scenery!
#5 – The laundromat
My good friend Chitra taught me how to fold in rectangles – just in time for bus living!
Willing helpers
The coveted Speed Queen!
I know I’m weird. I really like the laundromat though. This sort of relates to #2, in that it all gets done at once. (Laundry was a never ending cycle at our house.) First of all, we have way less clothes on the bus. Only 8-9 outfits/undies per person, some socks, and a few sets of pajamas. Then, because the laundromat of course has multiple washers and dryers, I can do five loads at a time- two dark loads, one light, dark towels, and light towels. Then they dry all at once, get folded (SO therapeutic), and get put back into their cubbies. And just like that, laundry is done for the week.
More to come, I hope!