A tiny home that’s made for travelling the country
When he was younger, CJ Collier figured if he worked online, he could travel. And he and his family have done it. Kylie Klein-Nixon reports.
When Tilly Collier starts preschool, she’ll have loads of exciting stories to tell her new friends. Thanks to mum Amy-Lee, 29, and dad Claude ‘‘CJ’’ Collier, 30, the 3-year-old has already seen more of the country than most adults and, to top it all off, she saw it all from a flash, $70,000 tiny home on wheels built especially to suit her family’s needs.
‘‘We actually built two ourselves before this one, but our third one was built by a friend of ours,’’ says Collier from the family’s latest stop, outside Auckland, where they attended a wedding.
‘‘The first one, the trailer was too low, so we didn’t want to travel in it because it bounced around too much.
‘‘We built another and we would have kept that one, but Amy-Lee saw one like the one we’re in now at the Martinborough Fair. We were already travelling and I just decided to have a look and it was awesome, so we ended up building a new one similar to that.’’
While their current home is smaller than tiny home number two, the finish is far superior and has been crafted to their specs by a professional builder.
‘‘I’m not a builder so, on our last one, the finishes weren’t the best. This one has a pull-out deck and big window that opens right out so you can access the table from outside or inside.
‘‘It’s much more compact, but has the same storage space, so it was a bit better for us. We just love the deck area.’’
The couple both work online. Collier runs a social media and web-design business and AmyLee has just launched a photo editing business, so there are no limits to where they can go, or for how long.
They left their static home in the middle of last year and have been on the road ever since. Collier expects they’ll have been on the road for a year before they settle down again.
‘‘We started in July, which is probably the worst time to start. We didn’t know any better but, as the months went on, it kept getting more and more enjoyable, with more and more sunshine. It’s just an awesome way to see the country.’’
The family’s expenses are minimal. What they would normally have paid just in rent now covers ‘‘pretty much everything’’, from food to petrol and other expenses.
‘‘I had the idea when I was younger that if I was making income online, we could travel. About seven years ago, I started my first online business. Now, as long as we have an internet connection we can do what we’re doing.’’
Classed as a light trailer, like a caravan, the home is just 2.5 metres wide, weighs just 2.5 tonnes and from front-to-back is about 4.8m, plus the draw bar. Compact doesn’t even begin to cover it.
When I saw the home while the family was parked up on Petone Beach in December, it was only slightly longer than the 4WD van they use to pull it.
‘‘I think you can go up to 10 or 11 metres. But, if you’re getting that big, then you’re probably going to be over the 3.5 tonne [limit], so the smaller the better, especially if you’re travelling.
‘‘Our last one was 6m long, which was OK, but this one is just so much easier to tow.
‘‘It’s got everything we need.’’
Using mostly solar power in the tiny home – ‘‘that automatically cuts down on the bills’’ – the family has travelled from one end of the North Island to the other, rarely spending more than three days in the same spot.
‘‘Our water will run out, so we’ve got to move, but that’s good for us because that gets us out and on to a new town.’’
The tiny home cost about $70,000 and materials were about $50,000 of that.
‘‘They take a long time to build. Some people build them over a few years, accumulating the materials over time. But we just wanted it done fast, so we had our friend build it for us.
‘‘As for day-to-day costs, it depends how much we budget out but, if we’re just living our normal day-to-day lives, it’s probably about $500 to $600 a week for the three of us to live. We travel the whole country so our gas would be a third of that.
‘‘Then, it’s just food. We always try all the food around the country – we’re not skimping on anything.’’
The Colliers’ plan is to travel and also to save on expenses, while they save up to build a static house in Upper Hutt, near family.
Their new build is starting now and they should be in the home in the next three to four months.
They plan to keep the tiny home on their property, rent it out on Airbnb during the winter and travel in the summer.
‘‘We’ve learnt how to live around each other all the time. Obviously, when we had a home we had our own spaces, but we’ve got to the point now where we do need to get Tilly back into school.
‘‘Because we’re always in new places, you’ve always got new things to see and do.’’
Collier would recommend the tiny home on wheels life ‘‘100 per cent’’.
‘‘It’s just a different feeling – a lot of people have caravans, but having a tiny home, having the full height ceiling, it just feels so much more open.’’
‘‘As the months went on, it kept getting more and more enjoyable, with more and more sunshine. It’s just an awesome way to see the country.’’
CJ Collier, above, with his daughter Tilly