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Girlfriend’s Perspective on Off-Grid Tiny House Living


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This Girlfriend’s Perspective on Off-Grid Tiny House Living is a guest post by Cheryl Davies and Rob Greenfield – share your story and tiny home here too!

A few months ago we shared with you a story about Rob Greenfield’s off grid micro cabin life in California. Since then, Rob’s girlfriend, Cheryl, has shared her perspective on his lifestyle. So here is what they both have to say, starting with Rob…

I often see comments like, “This guy obviously doesn’t have a girlfriend,” and they’re talking about me when they say that! Well let me tell you, I DO have girlfriend and she is AMAZING, GORGEOUS, and we are SO IN LOVE! She loves to spend time at my off the grid tiny house with me and she’s coming over right now. Here she shares her perspective on my off the grid, tiny house lifestyle…

Please enjoy, learn more and re-share below. Thank you!

Girlfriend’s Perspective on Off-Grid Tiny House Living

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Images © Rob Greenfield

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I met Rob over 4 years ago and have enjoyed his company ever since. I am currently in a loving relationship with him. We both live in San Diego. I live in an apartment about five miles from Rob’s tiny home. Sometimes he stays at my place with me and often times I stay over at his home.

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I have seen (and helped) The Teeny Greeny grow into what it has become today, a fully functioning off the grid home. And it is AMAZING! It’s a haven for anyone who is passionate about environmental health, but it is also an incredible experience for those who are not used to that kind of lifestyle…me being one of them.

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So, what is it like for me in an off the grid, sustainable tiny house???

I wake up in a comfortable bed next to Rob. I can stretch my limbs in all directions, even though it’s not quite tall enough for me to stand upright.  I open the windows for some fresh air, in the private enclosed yard. As I make my way across the yard to the outdoor bathroom, I feel soft earth under my bare feet.

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Images © Rob Greenfield

I prepare two large bowls of organic oatmeal for our breakfast, loaded with things like fresh fruit, honey, flax seeds and coconut oil. We get cozy in an oversized lounge chair together to enjoy our meal. There are no electronics to distract us (except if I have my cell phone on). Instead, we notice how many bees are buzzing around the trees surrounding the yard. We enjoy uninterrupted conversations in the clean and relaxing space he has created with re-used materials.

If we want to use the Internet for work or pleasure we must go down the street to a near by cafe to use the wireless. So instead, we usually read books in the sunny yard or walk down to the ocean for a swim.

Many people ask what it’s like to be with an environmental activist boyfriend or to live in a tiny house, let alone an off the grid tiny house. For me, it can be a challenge to live “differently” than others.

But, I’m not living for other people’s opinions; I want to live in a way that makes me feel good about myself and my contribution to life. I also enjoy healthy challenges in life that make me grow.

With knowledge, a little courage, maybe a sense of adventure, off the grid living is a breath of fresh air in so many ways.

Learn more: http://robgreenfield.tv/Cheryl/

We wish Rob and Cheryl the very best and thank you so much to both of them for sharing with us!

You can send this tiny house living story to your friends for free using the social media and e-mail share buttons below. Thanks!

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Andrea is a contributor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the Tiny House Newsletter! She has a passion for sharing tiny and small house stories and introducing you to new people, ideas, and homes.
{ 20 comments… add one }
  • Jenna
    August 12, 2015, 10:39 am

    Thank You so much for sharing your input. It’s nice to hear both a woman’s and man’s side to living in the same tiny home. You are both an inspiration to us all.

  • Sharee
    August 12, 2015, 5:05 pm

    Wait! Outdoor bathroom? Cheryl, you have the patience of a Saint. It sounded great up to that point. Now it just seems like a detached bedroom.

  • Theo
    August 12, 2015, 5:33 pm

    Outdoor toilet? I’ve been there, done that, didn’t like it then, so no reason to like it now. They’ve never heard of a composting toilet?

  • Diana
    August 12, 2015, 8:02 pm

    Hey guys! Huge KUDDOS for your stand and lifestyle. It is so obvious if folks would just wake up that LIFE is more important than STUFF!!! I may not be ready for 50 sq ft of living space but I have purchased a 217 sq ft yurt and am looking for the right spot for it. I want an out door bathhouse with compost toilet and an outdoor kitchen/living area. My goal is to purchase a spot on the Big Island and I would really like to share it with like minded tiny house ppl that want to live this way and have solar and a HUGE garden to share. I have been done with the conventional lifestyle in my mind for a while and have been composting, eating vegetarian/vegan, farmers markets, recycling fo almost 30 years, etc. I want to find the others!!!!! So thank you thank you thank you for your commitment to our planet and all living beings! Blessings!

    • August 15, 2015, 6:33 pm

      We should connect! I’m doing the same thing!

    • Sharon Fried
      October 10, 2015, 1:48 am

      Hi Diana,

      I am working my way to a tiny house on wheels, to live off grid as much as possible, solar, the works! My goal is to start or join a tiny house community. Let’s talk!

      • Diana
        October 10, 2015, 1:52 pm

        My email address is above. Send me an email please.

        Thanks!
        Diana

  • Deb
    August 12, 2015, 8:08 pm

    I find it interesting that people are freaking out about the outdoor toilet. San Diego has such mild weather year round, that taking a few steps to an outdoor facility is not a big deal at all. I spent the better part of a year (including dead of winter) off the grid with a one seater outhouse in the backyard. The door flew off in a blizzard and was never found again. I rather enjoyed my morning “constitutional” watching the chickadees hopping around on the snow bank looking for seeds. That was a number of years ago and I still remember that year with fondness and longing.

    • Chel
      August 19, 2015, 7:23 am

      I lived the first ten years of my life in a tiny two up, two down terraced house in the north of England. Ours was a row of five with a communal rear yard, nothing at the front but the street. Each house had its own coal shed and outdoor toilet. Rubbish bins were placed by our own toilets. Washing lines were strung from by the side of each back door to each toilet shed meaning that we had to doge our way through on good drying days. No lights for any of this. Leave the back door open to light most of the way and then know what your doing in the dark. I didn’t like that part and the winter cold made each visit rapid and essential. Tin bath stored under the stairs for once a week soak, otherwise we had a top down wash at the kitchen sink.
      I wouldn’t want to return to that – though having a bath in front of a blazing fire is nice. A separate bath house across a breezeway would be alright. Unless the weather is Alaskan.
      Some modern planning regulations are a mercy. 🙂

  • Susanne
    August 12, 2015, 10:55 pm

    Yes I thought it was funny the girlfriend is in an apartment also! 🙂 but keep in mind the house is not set up like a typical Tiny House..

  • Lesa
    August 13, 2015, 2:01 am

    Fantastic and what an exceptional place to live ( I’m kind of partial to it myself) Keep rocking the idea you two, because the people I am talking to in this area are starting to see the necessity for ‘ tiny ‘, because who can afford ‘ big ‘ anyway?

  • August 15, 2015, 6:29 pm

    Im surprised people would think he couldn’t have a girlfriend ! How silly! They look cute and in love!

  • August 15, 2015, 6:32 pm

    Commenter Diana, you should contact me! I’m also doing a Big Island Hawaii land purchase / building some sort of tiny structure!

    • Diana
      August 18, 2015, 9:16 pm

      And how would I contact you? i’m s a s i a n g e l 1 at g mail dot com

  • Marsha Cowan
    October 9, 2015, 7:44 pm

    Good for you! You and he both have not only a sense of adventure, you have a sense of simplicity that adds so much to life. Great article. Thanks for sharing!

  • AmyCat =^.^=
    October 9, 2015, 9:42 pm

    The detached bathroom sounds okay for San Diego or Hawaii, or for summers many other places… but I bet they spend more time in the girlfriend’s conventional apartment in the winter! (Even in the San Diego area, it can get down to freezing at night in December.)

  • Susanne
    October 10, 2015, 7:24 pm

    I would not enjoy an outdoor toilet either… I don’t want to be uncomfortable if living tiny; so prefer indoor plumbing, indoor cooking, and want temperature control so I may be as warm or cool as I like without spending $200 in electro and feeling guilty. Not every city is San Diego!

  • Scott
    December 1, 2015, 5:16 pm

    If you don’t marry the girl… I will! Wow!!

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