BY: SAMANTHA TAPP
“I met her on Tinder, but got to know her in a camper trailer.” This is the quote that immediately made me love Greg and Kathleen’s story of their transition into the tiny house movement. When I saw they had two dogs, Blaize and Peaches, also living in their 1969 camper trailer, I was even more in love.
The couple share a somewhat similar background of others that choose to ditch the regular apartment life and downsize to a tiny, sustainable home. They were living in an apartment in Capitol Hill in downtown Denver, Colorado when they started talking about the van life phenomenon. Greg was ready for the ultimate downsize into a van; Kathleen, not so much. Instead she met him half way and they decided on a camper trailer. A 140 square foot camper trailer to be exact.
“When we first moved to the camper I had a really difficult time to be honest,” Kathleen said in a mini-documentary. “I had to make some adjustments, like using a composting toilet, showering at the gym, cooking in a smaller space. Man, those first couple months were pretty rough. Now it seems silly.”
They moved into the trailer about two years ago after finding their new little home on Craigslist. Although some adjustments have been made, in general they didn’t change that much in their home to make it right for them. They removed a little table to make some extra room for activities; they added insulating blocks that they can pop into the windows to make the camper comfortable all year round; and they decorated it as they pleased. That’s pretty much it.
Kathleen and Greg wanted to adopt the minimalist lifestyle to lessen their impact on the environment. They also wanted to spend less money, have the ability to be mobile and be able to have free time to travel and spend time outdoors. At first they had their trailer parked in their friend’s yard, but soon after they bought their own land and now the trailer is parked there. Although it can be mobile, if they please.
“Your lifestyle doesn’t cost as much as a conventional lifestyle,” said Greg. “It’s very liberating to know that you’re using less resources, which means that you have more time to backpack or fish or simply just enjoy life, really.”
Currently Kathleen is a freelance photographer and journalist, and she’s even written her own book, ‘Roll with Kathleen, Greg & Blaize in a camper trailer,’ for adults to learn about tiny living, but also child-friendly. Greg is a landscape architect consultant, obviously passionate about tiny house design and environmental-friendly and sustainable design.
Their next plan? The couple is currently working on converting a 1987 Toyota van into a camper van for cheap road tripping.
“We continue to be inspired by other people breaking the barriers on alternative living styles,” said Kathleen. “It’s also shifted our ideas and we feel like we can continue to brainstorm new forms of tiny living and explore them.”
Follow their journey here.
