I move between living in a tent & planning my dream 'tiny home' - I would live there year-round but laws hold me back

AN ADVENTURER was stuck living in a tent while planning her dream tiny home in the rugged mountains.

Tammy was keen on living on her two-acre property in Colorado year-round, but local laws have been a huge hurdle.

The mom has had viewers riveted for years on her exploits in the wilderness, as she battles bureaucracy in Denver amid a bear-infested area.

Tammy shares the good - and the bad - times on her YouTube channel, named Spirit Forest.

She explained that she initially had to live in a tent on her two-acre property in summer only, because of local planning rules.

Tammy said: "I did think about (buying) a yurt (to live in during) winter time - a tent I cannot be in in the wintertime.

"However, there are laws in my area and the laws forbid me from having a yurt unless I have a dwelling - a dwelling meaning a house.

"I don't have a house on my land.

"My land is currently two acres... so I have a tent and I am limited to how long I can keep my tent up.

"Again, that is the law, I can't do anything about that. The tent also doesn't last in the wintertime.

"It can't hold the snow load that we get here - we can get up to 20 inches of snow at one time. That would destroy my tent.

"I thought about putting up a metal roof, but I can't do that either because there are a lot of laws here."

TINY HOME

The mom said that until she fulfilled her wish to build a tiny home, her summer accommodation was "my 14-foot by 16-foot tent and an eight-foot deck with an overhang of tarp on top."

She said she enjoyed the "adventure" of her lifestyle and being away from the city, "plus it's cooler in the mountains."

Although she "loves bears," Tammy said she always sleeps with bear spray and mace for protection, because the creatures live nearby.

More recently her videos have shown her gradually building a small dwelling on the site.

But plans for a tiny home vanished because it was impractical and too expensive, she recently informed viewers.

Plus she would have had more bureaucracy to deal with, and stricter rules to try and comply with.

So she continued living in a tent while a two-story cabin was constructed instead.

She explained: "It was originally going to be one bedroom on one floor.

“My original thought was that this would be like a tiny home, really small, only what you need.

“Then I started to think maybe a loft would be nice because my kids could come.”

Then she realized she needed a "gear room" for all her stuff including a kayak, mountain bike, and electric bike.

Tammy said it dawned on her that a tiny house "would not have been a good investment", so she ended up gradually building a cabin.

“I like to challenge myself," she said.

OFF-GRID

When she began building the small dwelling on the property, she was advised by viewers to copy others who have also constructed tiny off-grid homes.

But Tammy again stressed that she lives in a “totally different area” to others also living the alternative lifestyle “and there are a lot of rules here, I have to get permits for everything."

In a later episode, a poignant video shows a tearful Tammy grappling with the lengthy building project, as she admitted that she had days when she questioned her alternative lifestyle amid the trees.

"I've been wondering, 'What am I doing'."

However, viewers flocked to boost her confidence, with one writing in the comments: "Anyone who has built their own place knows the plans change umpteen times before the end.

"Better and cheaper to do the changes before you build. You’ve done the right thing."

Another wrote: "You are doing great. No matter what it's an investment and it's going to be your dream.

"Thanks for the inspiration."