Um…guys, we have new neighbors and you’ll never believe who they are! The craziest part is that we didn’t even have to move, they came to us!

For those who don’t know the family behind MINIMOTIVES.COM and LEARNING THE LONG WAY, i’ll elaborate briefly.

Macy and James picked up where the modern day tiny house pioneers (the likes of Jay Shafer and Dee Williams) left off and brought the tiny house movement to the mainstream conversation, first by creating a stunning $11,000 d.i.y. tiny house that wowed even the largest publications including Dwell and Time Magazine and then by starting a family and introducing the world to the ins and outs of tiny house parenting.

As one of the first to begin paving this path, Macy took the brunt of societies negative reactions and helped cultivate a better environment for those of us who followed and continues to support and encourage others who decide to take a less conventional path.

I still remember the feeling I had when a friend first e-mailed me an article about Macy’s tiny house. I was intrigued and quickly researched everything I could find out about Macy and her house, which happened to be an immense amount of information thanks to her thorough and transparent documentation on MINIMOTIVES.com. I was inspired and motivated and empowered and hopeful all at once and decided to reach out via e-mail.

We expected a generic response but Macy’s reply was authentic and encouraging and perhaps to her dismay we drove six hours to Boise, Idaho to meet her in the back yard of a tiny house meet-up. It was an exciting time in the tiny house movement, still incredibly small and tight knit yet on the verge of exploding. Everyone took notice when Macy and James entered the backyard and their attempt to casually enjoy a beer and hang out was challenged by the rest of us googly eyed tiny house enthusiasts trying to absorb as much information as possible from the people that had already accomplished what we only dreamed of at the time. We lingered until most had left and finally cornered (kidding…I think…) Macy, James and a very young Hazel to pick their brains before saying our goodbye and making our way back to Yakima, WA.

We ordered our tiny house trailer the next day.

From that interaction forward we were committed and I don’t think we would have had the confidence needed if we had not reached out to Macy. She was supportive and encouraging and offered help anytime we had questions and was the first (of many) people to join our supportive village for our tiny house journey.

Now, some 4 years later they decided to come visit us and see the tiny house they helped inspire. It appears as though they made a ‘wrong’ turn somewhere along the way though because Macy, James, Hazel and Miles left Boise, ID in May of 2017 and JUST arrived here yesterday, 13 months later…😂

In reality, the family of four and their Great Dane, Denver downsized again into a 84 square foot self built travel trailer and hit the road full time with a goal of traveling for at least an entire calendar year.  That goal has come and gone, as have 40,000 miles and 44 National Parks along the way. Their journey can be followed on their instagram.

More than anything else this tiny house community is about the amazing people and regardless of geographic separation or frequency of interaction, it remains an incredibly tight knit tribe of unique individuals that we are proud to be a part of. Thanks for making your way to our little corner of the country, Macy, James, Hazel, Miles and Denver; Safe travels!