Suzy B’s Tiny House Dreams to Tiny House Lessons

Suzy B Age 60  (built a Tiny House at Age 49)

For four years, she lived as a caregiver in a massive six-bedroom house with an empty airplane hangar out back, a far cry from the life she would one day choose for herself. It was during those years she began dreaming of something smaller, something simpler.

After a devastating flood in 2009 shook her sense of security, she realized she needed a home that could move. Something on wheels, something safe. At first, she imagined an Airstream. It made sense: mobile, cozy, and able to outrun a storm. But when she started searching, Airstreams were either too expensive or in terrible condition. A friend suggested, “Why not build a tiny house?” At the time, she had no idea what a tiny house even was. But after a little research (and discovering Jay Shafer’s pioneering work), a new dream was born.

She spent weekends hunting down and redoing furniture for her little space at the caregiver’s house, filling it with pieces she loved. But when it was time to move into her new tiny home, she realized that most of it wouldn’t fit. So, she did what she had to do — she sold everything. Yard sales, listings, more yard sales — until all that remained was a single chair. When she stepped into her finished tiny home, it was truly a fresh start.

New Dreams

Today, she loves her tiny house deeply. If not for an arm injury, she imagines she would live out her days there. But life and dreams evolve. Now, her sights are set on a van conversion, a home she can drive without the burden of towing. She listed her tiny house for sale, and while many people admire it (“It’s so beautiful! Why would you sell it?”). It remains hers for now. She’s making peace with the idea that she might just keep it and build her van life dreams.

Lessons Learned

When she first built her tiny house, she was unaware of the concept of using vans or buses as nomadic homes. She simply knew she wanted a life where she could go. Over time, she learned that towing a tiny house is more complicated than people think, and that bigger tiny homes are actually easier to pull because they’re more stable on the road. She learned that without a big, reliable truck, constant travel with a tiny house wasn’t realistic.

Backing up a trailer used to terrify her. She couldn’t do it at all until the night she had to back up her house three miles down a dead-end road, alone, in the dark, after following the wrong GPS directions. Crying, stuck, and with no cell service, she thought she’d have to live on that road forever. Then a friend called out of the blue, began to talk her through it, but the call disconnected due to poor service.  Ten more minutes of crying ensued.  And the with sheer determination, she backed up all three miles. When she finally made it to her destination, something had shifted forever. She could do it.

Advice for Others

For anyone dreaming of a similar life, she says: Do your research. Know what you really want, not just for today, but for the next five years. Tiny living is about freedom, but that freedom looks different depending on whether you want to travel constantly, sit still for a while, or something in between.

She also encourages people not to be afraid to build, even if they have no experience. She taught herself through YouTube videos, friends’ advice, and pure persistence — looking at the build like a giant puzzle to solve, piece by piece.

Her Simple Life Now

Today, she earns a living through organizing, pet sitting, house sitting, and selling her art. Her monthly bills are almost nonexistent — just health insurance and a cellphone. She dreams of keeping her next home as simple as possible: no shower inside (she’s happy to shower outside or at a gym), and a basic compost toilet with a urine diverter, which would allow her to water trees with the waste.

If she could do it over, she might have built her tiny house even smaller. She might have added a porch to sit off the ground and enjoy the outdoors more comfortably. But at the end of the day, she’s proud of what she built. She’s proud of the life she chose — a life full of resilience, learning, and endless possibility.