The adventure started with a phone call from someone I didn’t know at the time. My phone rang, I answered, and a voice asked, “Are you the girl that wants to build a house on wheels?”
I was so surprised and just said, “That’s me!” He then told me he had an old van base for me. It felt like a sign from above!
I had never built anything big before, except a rabbit hutch. I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to build a house on wheels. I drew my design, making sure it had everything I needed. Then I made a cardboard model to check the size.
It was tough fitting everything into a space that was 5 meters by 2.3 meters by 3.6 meters. I wanted a full-size shower, a nice kitchen, a place to sit and eat or work, a big bed, and a record player.
I also designed a fold-down terrace outside for meditation, playing guitar, writing songs, or just enjoying nature.
I found many materials near trash bins or on the side of the road—it seemed like they were just put there for me! I got all the wood for the loft floor stacked neatly by the bins outside my old apartment. I found beautiful wooden drawers that I turned into my main kitchen unit.
I used two fallen trees for the table leg and the porch post. The lanterns on the porch are made from gourds, a type of vegetable that dries out and turns wood-like, which I found at the bottom of my land.
It took me a year to build my home from scratch. For the first nine months, I only worked on weekends because I had a day job on the Spanish coast. But three months before finishing, I lost my job when the company shut down.
So, I decided to leave my rented apartment by the sea and work on my wooden house on wheels full time. It was risky to not have a steady job or income, but it felt right to leave a job where all my money went to paying rent.
In the last three months, I worked on my house all day, every day. There were so many small tasks that took longer than I expected, especially since I was doing it alone. I worked about 16 hours a day. I even wore a head torch at night to keep working in the dark!
I can’t believe I hammered in more than 5,000 nails into the wood siding. I used thousands of screws and did everything from insulating to sawing, sanding, routing, hammering, and planing.
All these tasks were new to me and the whole process was much harder than I imagined, both physically and mentally. There were many times I wanted to quit because of the difficulties and discouragement, but I kept going.
Now, I’m proud to say I have an off-grid home that I built myself. It’s a break from society’s expectations. This experience taught me to keep going, ignore what others think, and trust my heart. My home has everything I need for a simpler, natural life I always wanted.
You can follow my journey on Instagram @EdenWhispers and my website www.edenwhispers.com.
