2016 Georgia Tiny House Festival – Eatonton Georgia
Okay, I just want to start out by saying that I had a lot of anxiety about this festival. Mainly because I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never been to a festival that didn’t involve music or food, but even the food festivals have great music. I was really worried that it would be too crowded and that I wouldn’t be able to talk with someone about their Tiny Living experience and get solid advice about the realistic expectations I should be having.
I’ll be honest, sometimes I think the romance of Tiny Living gets me a little carried away from reality. I tend to do that. I get so excited about all the possibilities of the plan that I forget to come back down to earth and I completely ignore all the voices inside of me screaming “SLOW DOWN”.
Here is a list of all the things that scare me about my Tiny House that up until this point I was ignoring:
- I don’t want it to feel or look like a camper(#1 biggest fear)
- I don’t know how we’re going to get it on the hill
- Will it survive going down the hill once it’s built?
- Will it be too heavy?
- What route should I go toilet-wise?
- How are my dog and my cat going to live in harmony in this thing?
- I refuse to let it smell like said dog or cat. How do I control THAT?
- Will all my clothes remotely fit in the second loft?
- How in the world is the plumbing going to work?
- The potential of it leaking(#2 biggest fear)
- How am I going to pay for this thing. Praying many Photog-jobs continue to come my way.
- Will my friends actually help when the time comes?
- How will this Tiny House affect my long-term life journey?
- Where am I going to put it once everything is completed and I want to find my own plot of land?
- Exactly how much land can I maintain and manage?
- ALL THE RESPONSIBILITIES.
There’s actually more fears than that list says, but I don’t feel like giving y’all literally ALL of my feelings about it. 1) Because you’d completely think I’m insane and 2) because I’m not ready to admit that I have those certain fears yet.
I feel like I’ve gotten so far into this list making that I need to back up and start talking about the actual festival.
ANYWAYS…
So I do have to say one of the biggest deals for me about this festival was the fact that my parents came with me. (My parents have always been super supportive of me and have always encouraged me to go after I what I am. I am so unbelievably blessed to have them and so blessed to have the advice and wisdom they give me.) The festival was 2 hours away from my house and I really didn’t want to go by myself. After all, what good is an adventure if you have no one to share it with?
When we got to the festival, Daddy immediately disappeared in search of coffee. There were only two food venders and neither of them had coffee. This was a big issue, because Daddy said several strangers, and him included, were on the hunt. If you’re FB friends with my parents you will see many videos of Daddy harassing people at the Festival. He’s an entertainer. He loves a good party and he has never met a stranger in his life. True southerner, for certain.
Here’s a lovely photo of my really beautiful Mama.
Mama stayed with me and helped me take notes of everything and helped me take it all in. With my personality I’m usually a delayed reactor. I let everything hit me and then later I go back an experience it. It’s weird. I know. But I’m SIGNIFICANTLY better about experiencing things in the moment than I used to be.
Here’s a few photos of my favorite Tiny House I walked in. There were a total of about 13-15 different Tiny Houses to see on Friday.
This was my favorite Tiny House layout, minus the face that it didn’t have two exits and it didn’t have french doors. It’s porch folded up and the awning folded down. AND there was room in the upstairs loft to actually sit up. I get a little claustrophobic so head room is a definite must-have
I sat on the bed and lifted my arm. There was so much head room.
Mama and a lady talking about how my dog could fit at the end of my bed and have plenty of room to sprawl out.
This was Mama laughing at me as I was trying to dial my camera in for the low-light setting. She couldn’t figure out how to use it. Bless ‘er.
Marquis saved the day and took this photo of me. My camera can be tricky in low-light settings. Marquis has a great breathing technique and steady hands. Mama and Sharee didn’t stand a chance being my impromptu photographer.
And then of course we had to have a selfie to post to my personal instagram @katestinyliving
To end a VERY long rambling blog post: I didn’t find anyone to ask personal Tiny Living questions. However I did have a lengthy conversation with a vendor about compost toilets and finally figured out what I want to do when it comes to that area. The festival on Friday was very crowded and had crazy long lines, BUT totally worth the experience. I think that it would be worth paying for Saturday and Sunday next time because they did so many workshops. I did walk away knowing that this is something I definitely want to continue to pursue, so even though some of the things I was dreading actually happened, it didn’t ruin the experience for me. The best part though of the festival was that I got to have fun with my family and my friends.
It needed music and coffee, but it was a great festival. I only went on Friday. Saturday and Sunday had workshops. Friday was free, and they showed a movie outside. Which was cool, but I had already seen the movie on Netflix, and I only wanted to walk through the Tiny Houses. My tips if you want to attend one of these festivals: be prepared to stand in line, meet really cool people, and bring your own coffee.
Kate's Tiny Living 