We Retired Early — But Our Tiny Home On Wheels Is More Than We Bargained For
I never thought about retiring early and living in a trailer, until I did it.
LightField Studios | Shutterstock We’ve all had this dreadful experience. You’re exhausted but not ready to sleep. You climb into bed, ready to get lost in your latest riveting read, only to find out you forgot your book in the living room. The last thing you feel like doing is scurrying through your cold, dark house (possibly without clothes) in search of your novel.
This was the scene just last night for me. We were fresh off a 78-hour shift babysitting our 2-year-old grandson. I spent the day writing for a few hours and then mowing more than two acres' worth of dusty grass.
We retired early — but our tiny home on wheels is more than we bargained for.
Dragana Gordic / Shutterstock
The only great thing about this situation is that my living room is four steps away from my bed. Three steps on a good day. Who said there aren’t benefits to tiny home living? I commented to my wife as I finally crawled into bed how grateful I was for our small space in a situation like this, and then I laughed myself silly because I was so darn tired.
I am the first to admit that this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. I have written about this frequently, so I won’t belabor the point here except to say we all have to do what’s authentic. Living in a tiny home was more than I bargained for in the best possible ways. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I was wrong. This lifestyle made early retirement possible for us.
Living in a tiny home was a concession for me but I figured I could do anything for a year or so if it meant I could retire.
Traveling throughout the US was also appealing so this lifestyle made sense. My wife and I are energized by learning and experiencing new places. Having never towed, or owned an RV before (we’d never owned a truck either!), we are learning and seeing new things every day and loving it.
It’s thrilling when we meet new people and spend time getting to know them at the various RV sites we stay in. We’ve met lovely people and guess what? We don’t need to maintain those relationships because there is no expectation to do so. I love this; it’s almost like having a bunch of situational friendships that take no work.
There is something grand about not having a lot of things or responsibilities. I have nearly forgotten about our storage unit that keeps our possessions that need a temperature-controlled environment (like my drum set and our framed artwork). We will return to these one day, but I suspect it’ll be a few years before we do.
The only things we are responsible for are our truck, a bright white Ram 1500 named BABBS, which stands for things I can't repeat here, and our camper, Teardrop. That’s it, BABBS, Teardrop, and the two of us; what could be better?
One of the benefits of our lifestyle is that it requires very little money or things.
This was essential because we retired early (at ages 62 and 59) and didn’t want to take Social Security payments until at least 65. Our trailer and truck are paid for, so our expenses are minimal, and we are free to roam to our heart’s content. (The average age for women to retire in the U.S. is 63, according to statistics from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College.)
We have discovered that RV parks can be pricey but not as pricey as hotels. They can also be crowded and offer little privacy, so we often stay at offbeat sites we find through an organization called Harvest Hosts. Through our HH membership, we’ve stayed at super cool locations, including wineries, horse ranches, and a loofa and lavender farm (the opening picture was taken at that farm in Northern CA).
Here’s another bonus, especially in the aftermath of Covid. We never have to use a public restroom. When we need to stop for a potty break or to eat lunch, we find a spot to park and jump in our trailer. It’s glorious. I was not too fond of public bathrooms before COVID-19, and now they give me anxiety, so this is a great advantage. Last but not least, say goodbye to hours-long cleaning days. I can clean our trailer from top to bottom in less than an hour.
The drawbacks to living in a tiny home on wheels? I can honestly say there aren’t many.
The inability to host a gathering could be considered a drawback. Our small space makes that nearly impossible, but we have found remedies. Having to dump our black and grey water tanks could be a drawback but we’ve made it a part of our weekly routine, and there are convenient dump facilities everywhere.
Clutter can be a problem, but fortunately, our unit has a lot of built-in storage. Being in a small space makes anything left out noticeable, so we are mindful of putting things away after using them. I’m a touch obsessive, so this wasn’t a hard adjustment for me.
We love our little home on wheels and will likely continue living this way for another three to five years. We like the idea of continuing to live in a tiny home and plan to build a small house as a permanent dwelling down the road. Living small is lovely. And, this tiny home lifestyle allowed us to retire early, which I wouldn’t trade for the world. I honestly can’t think of one thing I don’t like about it.
Kim Kelly Stamp (she/her) is a writer and speaker who writes about authenticity, retirement, relationships, and life on the road.