Why alternative housing? To save
money, to travel, to live creatively - there are many reasons why people choose
to live in tents, RVs, cabins, underground homes, rental rooms and anything
else that's less common than the houses, condos and apartments that most people
call home. Below are some of these housing options, and their advantages.
Alternative
Housing That Moves
Camping at a hot springs area, we sat
around the campfire one night with several young men living in the desert in
their old converted school bus. It cost them nothing to park it in the desert
(on BLM land you have to move every two weeks, though), bathed for free in hot
spring tubs that were as nice as those in nearby expensive resorts, sung and played
around the fire each night. Not such a bad life.
My friend and I lived for almost a
month in our conversion van as we traveled from Nairobi to Cape Town and then
to back to Kisumu. Advantages of a van include better mileage and being
inconspicuous. We found that could park and sleep almost anywhere.
Other
Alternative Housing
In most areas where rents are high,
renting rooms has become common. This makes sense for single people. Just pay a
set amount each month or week, and (if it includes utilities) you have a
predictable and lower cost of living. I rented out rooms in my own home for
years, and even put carpet and lighting in a shed so I could get and save some
cash out of it.
A friend of mine lived in a shack he
built for Kshs.240, 000 on a small piece of land he bought for Kshs. 300k eventually
he ran into problems with the county because he had no permit and legal
documents. Apparently you can't live on your own land in the forest if your
home is too small. However, you can camp on it, so a Kshs.160k used recreational
vehicle parked on your land makes for a cheap and legal housing alternative.
For example, some people live on
houseboats and avoid paying property taxes. Some live in the jungle near the
beaches in Hawaii, so they can afford to be in paradise. I know people who
lived in a basement while slowly building the house above for cash. People live
in cabins built in the national forest wilderness, moving every few years as
they are discovered. Truly, your imagination is the only limit to your alternative
housing options.
In Kenya the case is very different have no alternative than
either going back to reserves or rent a room in a slum. www.kenyan-real-estate.com
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