16 Jan Life in a mobile home

After several years of house-sitting and staying with family, we felt a need to have our own space again. To unpack our bags and put our stuff away in our own drawers. Early 2016 we made another lifestyle design poster and after the experience of being in Holland that summer, sitting houses, we definitely felt the need to start looking for something of our own for the years to come. We were looking for a place not too big, but also not too small with two kids. A place that would be affordable, a place we could pay for without mortgage. A place in the outdoors, close to a swimming pool and playgrounds to take the kids. Something with a view. We made a whole list of values that are important to us: what do we value in the way we live? What are we trying to create for ourselves and the kids.

The result of that exercise was:
– outdoor living
– small place with a view
– available between may and october
– close to sport facilities like a pool or track
– around the city of Enschede
– not too expensive to buy and maintain
– three bedrooms so the kids each have their own space

Tiny house or mobile home
We have been talking for a long time about the wish to create a tiny house and live off the grid. At the time of writing (early 2018) it was still a challenge to find land to put the tiny house on. Permits, destination plans and the practical stuff like sewer, water supply etc. A tiny house seemed to be quite impossible to realize in the Netherlands at that time. The idea of a mobile home was born when we passed by a caravan shop on the way to visit friends. This caravan shops had many mobile homes sitting at the side of the perimeter, right next to the road. We crossed it and it popped into my mind: a mobile home could be our perfect solution!

Campsite
Ideally we wanted to buy a mobile home, fully equipped at a holiday park around Enschede. When we started looking for a nice holiday park, Steven reminded me of his grandparents, who’d spend almost 30 years at a campsite called Scholtenhagen, just outside Haaksbergen. This campsite checked all our boxes. Right before we left on our next travel leg, we visited the campsite to check it out, to see how it felt to walk around there. Would we see ourselves and our family living here. I guess the answer was an immediate ‘yes‘ from both of us. An easy decision really. Also the distance to our chosen kindergarten at the farm was doable, around 7 km. We asked at reception and the owners of the park actually remembered Steven from when he was a young boy. Just lovely to be received and remembered like that. A big compliment to Stevens family and grandparents. At that time there were no mobile homes for sale at the property, so we decided to come back the next season to ask again. Meanwhile we left for Mexico to receive our son, Vesper with no expectations to find a mobile home. We just put it at the back of our minds for the next season to arrange.

Surprise! I have something!
Stevens father emailed us in october 2017 showing us an ad for a mobile home at Camping Scholtenhagen. He found it online. It was perfect. Exactly what we were looking for. A great view over the pastures, three bedrooms, fully equipped, close to sport facilities, it even included a card that provided a year long access to the swimmingpool next door. Stevens father contacted the owner and visited the mobile home for a first check. He made a video and send us that. On a terrace in Playa del Carmen Mexico we checked it out and decided to buy the mobile home. We negociated and paid a fair price for the mobile home. WE HAVE A HOME! Such a great feeling

Two years and still loving it
We have spend two summers in the mobile home while we were in The Netherlands. Also the summer of 2020 we will spend at the mobile home. It has been such a great experience to live in this place. It is small, but big at the same time. There is a lot of space around the mobile home, we can sit outside the entire season. The kids have their own rooms and we have a small kitchen and sitting area to eat inside, plus a sitting area in the front of the mobile home. Both me and Steven can be fully stretched out on the couch and still fit. How great is that haha! We also use this space to teach our courses and receive clients, it is our office, our home, our place to be when we are in Holland and it has been a blessing to be able to live here!

For us this is the perfect solution to have a place of our own and still maintain a traveling lifestyle the other months of the year. Below you’ll find a selection of pictures of our family life at our mobile home.