Liesl Petersen provides stability for her young daughter by living full time in a travel trailer.
The passion in the 麻豆社国产single mother鈥檚 voice as she describes her tiny home makes this seeming oxymoron sound perfectly reasonable.聽
鈥淚t is a vintage 1976 Airstream Argosy. I gutted it and redid it, obviously on a shoestring budget,鈥� she said with a hearty laugh. 鈥淎nd the colours 鈥� I really, really like shades of orange and gold and I have apple green countertops.鈥�
Petersen, a house and mural painter, came to live in the trailer full-time in September when another single mom needed a place to stay to escape an abusive partner.
Petersen and her daughter, Tenly White, were living in affordable housing and so offered the friend their apartment unit, which she accepted. Peterson and her daughter moved into the Airstream.
鈥淚 was thinking of eventually moving into [the trailer], but I was kind of scared to take that leap,鈥� she said.
Because Petersen already had the trailer, it was a logical choice to move into it, she said. She soon found a 麻豆社国产property owner willing to rent her a spot with access to power, she said.
鈥淚 am a single mom, divorced, dealing with all those kinds of obstacles and just dealing with subsidized housing鈥�
鈥淚 was getting super frustrated,鈥� she said.聽
The Airstream, which she calls her 鈥渄ream home,鈥� cost her $7,500 two years ago.
She said tiny home living always excited her, but the best thing about living in the trailer is that it is a stable home.
Instead of worrying about house payments, she can focus on building her business, saving money and investing in eight-year-old Tenly鈥檚 education.聽
It also gives her and her daughter the freedom to decorate creatively, something she couldn鈥檛 do if she was renting.聽
聽鈥淭enly decorates her bedroom and if we move, she has still got her bedroom,鈥� she said.聽
Her daughter loves life in the trailer, Petersen said.聽
鈥淚nsane play dates happen,鈥� she said.聽 鈥淚t gets crowded but it is just kind of part of the fun and we have room around the outside to run around and play and hula hoop.鈥�
For all its pluses, life hasn鈥檛 always been easy in her portable home, she said, recalling when her hot water tank cracked over the winter and they were without hot water for a time.
聽But even the difficulties have had silver linings. 鈥淭he beauty is when my hot water tank goes, I am not dealing with a $3,000 house-sized hot water tank. I am dealing with a $200 little, miniature thing,鈥� she said.
Petersen said 麻豆社国产has the perfect population for an Airstream community to develop.
鈥淚 think it would be a neat opportunity if 麻豆社国产allows zoning for those things,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are certain neighbourhoods where it is obviously not appropriate鈥� but there are other situations where I feel like it would be super neat for people to have the option to do that, especially in 麻豆社国产where you have a lot of people who would really rather spend their money climbing and adventuring and recreating rather than paying a mortgage.鈥澛�
If she has her way, Petersen said she will never live in anything else.聽
鈥淚 think I will probably retire in this unit,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y dream, if I ever fell into money, is to buy another Airstream that is gutted and rebuild it with proper cabinetry and redo the plumbing and the electrical myself.鈥澛�
