Life on the road suits Mailman perfectly
There’s not much Ian Mailman misses about living in a conventional home – just his vege patch and fruit trees.
For the past 15 years, he’s embraced the travelling life in a 1970 Bedford that was repowered with an Isuzu engine and converted into a travelling house.
The Extravaganza Fair brought him – and his dog, Dave – to Hamilton’s Claudelands Park on a rainy Saturday.
Along with a potbelly stove, a window seat and a hammock, there’s a stained-glass window in the living area of Mailman’s truck.
That’s thanks to Te Awamutu man Josh Steiner, who converted the truck, Mailman said. ‘‘He recycled a church.’’
Mailman doesn’t know how many square metres his home is, but it has everything he needs: kitchen with fridge-freezer, toilet, shower, double bed, space for another single at the back.
He has hot water, 260L of cold water, storage tanks underneath for greywater waste, a solar panel on the roof – plus satellite TV and internet.
He has a trailer which he plans to turn into a tiny house,
You have to be disciplined in a small house, Mailman said, especially when you consider fuel economy.
Every so often, he gets ruthless and throws out anything he hasn’t used for a while.
‘‘There have been lots of little steps forward in the motor-homing lifestyle with advancements in technology,’’ he said.
‘‘As comfortably as anybody can [live] in a normal home, we can live like that now in a tiny home. Maybe we can’t have a spa pool.’’
Living in the truck by himself is the biggest space-saver, he said with a laugh.
The cupboards hidden around the place and the truck’s high ceilings also help.
His nomadic lifestyle is a choice, but ‘‘it’s not just living in a fairy fantasy land’’.
There’s lots of maintenance to do on the large vehicles, but since he’s a mechanic by trade, that’s not a problem.
‘‘If I wasn’t, I couldn’t have this motor home. It would have sent me broke years ago if I had to pay someone else to fix it.’’
It’s a lifestyle he loves, though. He has parked up in neat spots, including the Tank Farm near the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Parking up there is not allowed any more, he said, as councils and the Government look to tighten freedom camping regulations.
He’s peeved that tourists and motor homes are getting the blame for making a mess of New Zealand sites.
‘‘Often it’s the New Zealanders doing it wrong and we’re blaming the tourists.’’
It’s hard for tourists to keep up with the freedom camping rules of various councils, he said, so they need better information when they hire vans to avoid a $200 fine.