Tiny Living… Big Life!
An interview with Oie Dobier - Stillwater based business coach and owner of Bloomdocking - on her decision to live large in a tiny space, and hit the road in 90 square feet.
In developed countries, estimates suggested that the average household might own tens of thousands of items. Increased spending on non-essential items and accumulating possessions continues to rise as online shopping and easy access to goods surges. And in order to store all these things, our homes need to be bigger. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the average size of new single-family homes has increased to approximately 2,500 square feet by the end of the 2010’s. Additionally, the self-storage industry has experienced substantial growth in recent years, with people renting additional storage space to store their excess belongings.
Studies have indicated that a significant percentage of people feel overwhelmed by the number of possessions they own. Not only is there a financial cost to owning and maintaining excessive belongings, but clutter can lead to stress, reduced productivity, and a negative impact on mental well-being.
But what if you decided to get rid of it all and hit the highway? The lifestyle of RV living – living life on the open road, free from the confines of brick-and-mortar homes – is gaining popularity among a diverse array of individuals seeking a life of adventure.
Stillwater based business coach and owner of Bloomdocking, Oie Dobier, is taking the plunge with her husband Darren, to live a simpler life. With a fascination for people's relationships with their stuff, I was eager to sit down with Oie and ask her about her decision and experience in making their 90 square foot campervan their full time residence.
In this post, Oie shares her motivations, triumphs, and their unexpected lessons learned. Prepare to be inspired, intrigued, and perhaps even nudged to consider a life less ordinary, one that encompasses the allure of the open road and the freedom to traverse it as your own true north.
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Having both grown up in Minnesota, both Oie and Darren were accustomed to traditional suburban living. They raised their two children in a fully furnished 5,000 square foot home on five acres in Stillwater. They purchased the van in the fall of 2019 with the intention of converting it to a camper for weekend adventures.
“We brought it brand new, completely empty. There wasn't even any windows… We even put in the extra bench seat.”
“[Darren] would say I've always had a wanderlust. I've had big ideas of ‘hey, let's go backpacking through New Zealand for a year!’” Oie remarks affectionately. “But for better or worse, I married a man who's a mama's boy. We've been together 29 years. I finally convinced him to leave his mama!”
Oie and Darren started toying with the idea of tiny living several years ago. “The thing that really proved to us that we don't need the spaces” Oie said “[was] during COVID. [During quarantine] The kids and us spent time in two rooms, the kitchen and our bedroom. We literally spent all our time in those two rooms in this big giant house!”
With their kids nearing graduation and leaving home, they began transitioning to a more minimal lifestyle. The original plan was to move into a 25 foot RV trailer, but with increased prices in 2020, they decided to go extreme and try it out in the camper van.
“Darren did 99% of the work. And the 1% is me. He and I collaborated on the design.”
By adjusting their expectations from a weekender van to a full time residence, they made some design tweaks, such as adding upper cabinets and adding a trunk hitch.
But even with all that “extra space” these adjustments added, I still had to ask the question: What happened to all your stuff??
“So… we sold a ton of stuff. Because the house was so big, the furniture was big. And so when we moved into a smaller place, the furniture was too big anyway!” Oie referred to the two bedroom apartment they moved into several years ago while their youngest finished highschool. Following his graduation this spring, they moved again into an efficiency. “So we had to sell most of our furniture and Darren also had a 1,000 foot square foot garage with a bunch of woodworking tools.”
“And then he decided, ‘You know what? I'm okay to let it go. Plus, I can get new tools that are more compact.’ We do still have a pretty large storage unit with camping gear and we've got tools because he needs tools to build this van! Various boxes that I still need to go through, but a lot of it is outdoor gear. We're campers. We've got paddle boards in there. We've got life jackets.”
The lifestyle is still a work in progress, as they decide what to keep and what is no longer necessary. Oie gave the example of her favorite comfy sweatpants, which she is wondering if she should bring, since they take up the same amount of space as three pairs of leggings. She also described some of the unexpected challenges they’ve faced. After purchasing collapsible silicone travel cups and dishes, they found they took more water to wash because of their ridges, so they returned to standard glassware.
“We're going to keep the apartment. The goal is to live out of the van as much as possible. The complicated part is, you know, I'm a business coach and have a lot of in person sessions… The plan is we're going throughout the United States and then when it's time to come back, I will fly home [and stay in the efficiency]. Darren and the dogs will stay wherever they are and check out the area and then I'll fly back.”
With a 22 gallon water tank, waterless toilet, a refrigerator/freezer combo, wi-fi and solar powered electricity, the van is fully equipped for self sufficiency. Oie and Darren often look for “boondocking” sites – rural pieces of land to park or camp with no electrical or water hookups.
Oie and Darren have two children, aged 18 and 21. After graduation, their youngest moved in with his sister, allowing Oie and Darren to embrace their more minimal lifestyle. “They were never really attached to stuff and then we've always put priorities on experiences.” Because of this, both children were supportive of their parents' decision.
Never having been big into camping, I don’t like to be without my home comforts. My king sized pillows, my soaking tub, my soda stream, my seasonal throw pillows… These are just a few of the things that are important to me at home. When I asked Oie what her “non-negotiables” were for the van, her response made me smile.
“The only thing that was a ‘have to have’ was the aesthetic. This needed to be a place where we could just really do what we want. [We wanted] it to be modern, and we want it to feel peaceful. And we didn't want to compromise as far as aesthetics and design.
“So, are you really going for more of a feeling than a thing?” I clarified.
“Yes. Very much. So, yeah, the things we’ll just make work, right?”
Now that feels like freedom.
