They say a house should make you feel secure. Mine just made me broke and exhausted. Three bedrooms, endless cleaning, and a mortgage that made me want to lie down in a dark room. It was supposed to be the dream, but honestly? It was the stuff of nightmares. I was working myself ragged just to keep the roof over my head, and it still felt like the house owned me.

So I did something drastic. I sold it. Gone. Out the door. And instead, I built a tiny house on a budget that wouldn’t even buy you a half-decent kitchen reno these days, about $40k all up, solar panels included. It wasn’t flashy, but it was mine. And the relief of living without that crushing financial weight? Glorious. Like suddenly remembering how to breathe properly again.

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Then I thought, hang on, if I don’t have to spend every waking hour paying bills, what do I actually want to do? The answer for me was travel. I met a family living in a house bus and thought, “That’s it. That’s the life.” So I sold my little house, bought a bus, and converted it. For the next five years, I travelled around New Zealand like a snail with my home on my back. I parked up in all sorts of places, tried them on for size, and slowly figured out what felt like “home.”

Eventually, that place turned out to be Whangārei. After growing up near Turangi, the warm climate up north was just too tempting. I spent two years hunting before finally landing the perfect piece of land. But here’s the thing: I didn’t want to keep it all to myself. Tiny living had given me a leg up, and I wanted to pass that on. Now I’ve got a couple of other tiny houses on the land, and it feels like a small, supportive community has naturally grown around me.

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And the bonus? The ground rent helps cover the mortgage. Which means I’m not back in that awful place of wondering if I can afford to live in my own home. Tiny living solved that problem once and for all.

That’s also why I started the Tiny House Expo. What began as a wee gathering of 70 people has now grown into this incredible event of over 10,000, where builders, designers, legal wizards, and dreamers all come together. It’s a place to share ideas, swap stories, and find real solutions.

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So if you’re curious, come along. You’ll leave with inspiration, practical know-how, and maybe even the start of your own tiny adventure.