Eventually, retirement and its decided decrease in earning potential loomed large on their horizon. Having been self-employed, their house was their only real savings account. The Roaring Fork Valley, with Aspen as its cornerstone, had seen its property values rise dramatically, as well as the associated costs. Retirement income wasn’t going to cut it. Kevin started researching alternatives to conventional housing.
TV shows like Tiny House Nation and YouTube channels like Living Big In A Tiny House made tiny living seem like a very real retirement option. After watching hundreds of hours of training videos, attending Tiny House Jamborees and festivals, he discovered that real information was scattered far and wide, often buried behind made-for-TV glitz. He also realized they weren’t the only ones seeking affordable housing.
Should they build their own tiny house? Buy one used? Where would they put it? The longer they discussed the possibilities and tried to find answers, the more questions arose. And with those questions came the realization that there was no ‘information central’ to access.
Finally, after taking into account their age and abilities, as well as kids and grandkids who occasionally would come to visit, they decided on a small stick home in a town three hundred miles south. You can read about their downsizing journey on this page: Downsizing, A Journey.
In the meantime, Kevin had developed quite an interest in tiny living. For years they had watched people forced to leave their valley due to the rising costs of housing. As they pondered moving, they found the same was true pretty much everywhere they looked. The human side of being displaced and even homeless compelled him to learn more. As he did, he continued to see tiny house building failures, not from lack of trying, but from lack of information.
