More and more, people are moving away from the “bigger is better” mentality and opting for tiny house living in the name of a worry and mortgage free lifestyle.
One man is taking this ideal to the next level, though, and he’s doing it in his 70’s!
John Ericson is 75-years-old, and he’s been building mobile tiny houses for the better part of the last 35 years.
In fact, he has successfully built and finished twelve of these fantastic adventure homes, each with its own unique blend of charm and utility.
All those years of experience have culminated into his current fantastically functional, adventuring tiny house truck and you’ll have to see it to believe it!
On a trip down to South America nearly 8 years ago, Ericson and his wife, Linda, were traveling in their Isuzu Trooper when they first noticed the Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and their 4-wheeling capabilities.
More suited to their expeditions, when the industrious duo got back to the states they set themselves to the task of finding a used Fuso for themselves to build a suitable home out of.
When they found one in Seattle, they made the trip from Alaska down to the big city and proudly made the purchase.
It only took John and his wife four weeks to convert the Chassis styled truck into the rugged terrain-taming-tiny-house that it is now, and it’s beautiful.
Lined from floor to ceiling with a mix of Knotty Pine boards and Red Wood beams, the interior is absolutely stunning!
The hobbit-like home has enough space to sleep 3 people comfortably.
The intricate carvings surrounding the door and window frames, along with the style of the door itself, make it jaw-droppingly obvious that John Ericson has been mastering his craft for quite a long time.
Every nook and cranny of available space is used for some type of storage and blends in perfectly with the small space.
Before he was a tiny house building adventurer, John made his living in Minnesota working in construction when he decided to retire at the still youthful age of 45.
It was then that he and his wife, along with their two kids, decided that they were going to live like modern-day nomads, traveling the world and bringing their house with them.
Being able to travel with their home allowed the Ericson family to shift their focus from the modern-day stresses of a material lifestyle to the value of experiencing new cultures, making new friends in unexpected places, and most importantly, creating memories and capturing photographs with each other.
In the past 35 years, the Ericson’s life has been incredibly full.
They have gotten to experience the joys of homeschooling their children while they backpacked through foreign countries together as a family.
This alternative life of theirs has given them an enormous appreciation for the art expressed in other cultures throughout the world.
Each time they travel, they bring a little piece of that corner of the world back with them and incorporate it into their tiny home.
Ericson knew that in order to build a fully functional house on wheels, the building materials would have to be kept light-weight and that he would need to include certain amenities to make it comfortable.
Even though the house is tiny, including everything one might need or want while traveling is no small feat!
As you can see, he accomplished this by creating space for a full range oven, a refrigerator, and a sink with counter space, but that’s not all…
The Ericson’s traveling tiny house truck is fully equipped, with a functioning toilet hidden beneath one of the couch spaces in the trailer!
If that weren’t enough, the re-fabbed adventurer comes with other modern amenities like an outdoor shower, propane heating, and is powered by solar panels.
John has thought of everything, including a way for him to watch the stars above his head at night, one of his favorite pastimes.
By incorporating his tiny house truck to have not just one, but two skylights, it seems there is nothing that John left out of its construction!
This alternative type of dwelling space is perfect for the seasoned travelers, as they are on the move at least half the year.
When you’re living life as a nomad, organization skills are key…and a dash of creative vision doesn’t hurt, either.
When John and his wife aren’t traveling alone together or with their kids as a family, they have a more permanent base in Homer, Alaska, where they park their house truck next to their refurbished 1996 Holiday Rambler.
The adventurous pair built their tiny home on top of what was left of the Rambler after it had been burnt to a crisp.
The two sanded every single wooden shingle, of which there are a lot, individually to get that charmingly hand-crafted look.
To expound on their rustic canvas, they added detailed carvings all around it, even including Salmon carvings at the front of the renovated RV tiny home.
The charismatic repurposed RV was made all the more complete by the removable planter boxes and hanging baskets thoughtfully placed all along the sides of the tiny house.
Here, they can easily park the house truck next to the “big house” while it awaits its next big adventure.
The tiny house truck was built in 2010, and at the time this video was taken in 2015, they had already driven their home on wheels over 133,000 miles, with only five of them being driven by John himself, he says between chuckles in an interview with Tiny House Giant Journey.
“We’ve done 133,000 miles so far, and I drove it 5. My wife likes to drive.”
At the time of the video, the tiny house truck had just gotten back from an extended stay in South America, and the couple is now preparing to take it on its next journey, to Russia!
John and his wife already have the plans laid out for their next tiny house build, but John is not sure he will see it to completion due to his age. He hasn’t let that keep him from dreaming and scheming, though.
“I just try to keep moving for as long as I can.”
We hope that’s a very long time! Check out the video below for a full tiny house-truck tour.
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