on the road with Evan

on the road with Evan --

tiny house inside handmade 

camper painted blue

The open hatch of the pickup camper parked outside on campus draws me to peer in. It's a tiny house inside, complete with a raised bed (storage underneath), an ice chest and big water jugs. What really perks my attention is the row of quart glass Mason jars suspended from their metal caps, which must be screwed into the shelf above them. Very efficient use of space! What inventive person created this?

Two friends join me to marvel over this little home on wheels. The owner appears and we introduce ourselves. Evan is a lanky young man, originally from New York, but recently from Oklahoma. My friends, Andrew and Katia, are from Australia and Germany. "Are you from Germany?" Evan asks me. "I'm local, very local." Evan has come to Maharishi University of Management for a visitor's weekend, thinking about moving here to enroll in the Sustainable Living Program. If he does, he'll live in his camper, at least for awhile. "Until it gets cold," I say. Evan points to the small electric heater at the other end. "That keeps things really toasty, and I'm planning on getting backup batteries." 

Light shines through a skylight in the plywood ceiling. Netting keeps items from falling off the shelf at the far end, while a cord keeps the overhead compartments along the side from opening in transit. Evan cooks on a one-burner hot plate. He's also planning on getting a small electric refrigerator to replace the ice chest. Ah, the lure of the convenience of electricity. Maybe he could put solar panels on the roof.

Yes, he built the whole camper himself. The plywood exterior is painted blue, a fitting color for a man who travels a lot under the wide blue skies of our country.