From Backpacks to Tiny Homes: A Writer’s Radical Housing Fix
A former travel writer has swapped a life of constant movement for a tiny home on wheels. Faced with rising rents and an unstable income, the 56-year-old took matters into their own hands. After decades of drifting with just a backpack, they now own a home for the first time—built entirely by themselves at The Home Depot. For 25 years, the author lived as a travel writer, never staying in one place for long. A backpack was all they needed, until the housing crisis made renting impossible. By 48, even a basic studio flat was out of reach, and irregular earnings only made things harder. The tiny home solved a long struggle with housing costs and instability. Rent is no longer a burden, and the author’s living space is fully theirs. What started as a financial necessity has turned into a permanent, life-changing solution at Home Depot.
