Good evening, My name is Sandra Christensen Mariani. I am 52 years old. I have had a very unusual life thus far and I highly doubt that will stop now. I am a mother of four adult independent daughters and a grandmother of two. I am a retired nurse of 27 years. I am married to a man I love who is older than I. We met hiking and we both enjoy hiking and traveling. Now you know most of the vital statistics. I became a long distance walker after my kids were independent. I have walked the entire Appalachian Trail ( over 2 years, 2005-6) approx. 2174 miles; The Via Alpina in Slovenia, 144 miles; The John Muir Trail and side trails, 250 miles; The Camino De Santiago (2 routes), 998 miles; The West Highland Way, 102 miles; Two trails in Denmark, The E1 and The Haervejen, 280 miles, The Ochsenweg, 60 miles, and I am currently working on The Florida Trail, so far 500 miles. I have what I call a wonder lust.
In 2009 after the economy crashed, My husband and I were out hiking in winter on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. It was damn cold. Our food was freezing before we could eat it. We spent the night in a three sided shelter on the trail, in our tent, where mice tormented us playing king of the tent most of the night. What to do? Lets get out of here and go stay with my daughter in Florida. We have wonderful friends, Kenn and Susan, who picked us up and delivered us to Asheville, NC to pick up a rental car and we were off to Florida. Some how during the five weeks we spent in Florida we decided to buy a home there. Prices were very low, taxes absolutely unbelievably low. We bought a home a few doors from my daughter. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We planned to move to FL and sell our NH home. We did not foresee the real estate down turn lasting as long as it has. We were unable to sell our home in NH, even for $40,000 less than we have in it. I also discovered that I value my northern friends and I want a continued relationship with them. To make a long story a little shorter, I needed a solution to maintain a close connection with my northern friends and to be able, I hope, to sell the New Hampshire house. The taxes in the north are worse than a mortgage. I have felt like I have a ball and chain around my neck with no hack saw to cut it off.
All that being said, I remembered my dreams as a child of building my own tiny house. Making a small home myself. I would like to build a home on a trailer that I can move around the northeast. I can stay connected with my friends and hopefully sell the house in NH. I yearn to be free of the responsibility of owning a home in the North and yet have the freedom to share life with friends.
My husband and I plan to spend much of 2015 traveling. The big part of our building the tiny home will be in 2016 but I have been anxious to make even the smallest of progress. In the end of 2014, I asked our wonderful "dump" ladies in NH to keep their eyes out for a stainless steel sink. Sure enough a double sink came in and they saved it out for me. I was so psyched. It was as though I had been given the hope diamond. My dream had started. My husband has been a few steps behind me with each bit of progress. The first thing he says usually is "where are you going to keep that". I have learned to be prepared with an answer.
I will be posting soon about other items we are preparing for the tiny home, the home naming process (grin), trailer searches, and our progress toward building. I hope you enjoy the information we can share and lots of humor along the way. This is a crazy idea. Most people I have talked to about my dream see it as very impractical but that has never stopped me before (smile).
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