(ಠ‿ʘ) How's it going ...

In the last few days/weeks we've heard:

¿ "Where are you standing now?"

¿ "Is it already very cold where you are?"

¿ "How is it living in such tight space?"

¿ "How do you deal with the toilet?"

¿ "Aren't you afraid?"

¿ "Parental leave? Are you having another child?"

...

Since August 1st, we have been living in our small "Tiny House" in the middle of the city. If I'm honest, it wasn't my dream to someday move into our Womo and stay in one place. A place that is not the most beautiful in the world. Not directly by the water, in the mountains ... in the sun of the south/north, but functional for our everyday life, for work and co.

⫷ The first time ⫸

The first night, we stood in our old neighborhood in a quiet (we thought) and green street. Crazy how many sniffling people there are. It felt like at least half of them were in "our" street, on our "house". In these few hours, we learned how to remove all bodily contents without a tissue or anything. That is now supposed to be our everyday life until we leave? NO!

This first night was terrible and I (Caro) was devastated- is it really the right decision? Can I handle it for that long? ...

In life, you always have a choice, naturally also in this situation. We simply looked for a new spot, found one, and have been happily and contently standing here since August 2nd. We don't bother anyone and no one bothers us. It's green, almost quiet, very central, shopping opportunities around the corner, and the distance to work is the same as before. We even have a small front yard with blackberry bushes and a puddle paradise for the child when it rains.

☼° ℃ ℉ ϟ ☀ Dear, dear Sun ☼° ℃ ℉ ϟ ☀

Now the days are slowly getting shorter, cooler, darker, BUT also cozier. I (Caro) like autumn! I always have. I like rain, just as I like sunshine. I like the colorful leaves and gray clouds. A beautiful homely and cozy time begins. But there are also some challenges ahead of us. Such as power generation, moisture, cold, etc.

When the sun is shining, we can produce the necessary electricity through our solar system and thus live very independently. The sunny days are becoming fewer and with that less energy is being stored in our solar system. It still lasts for now, but we will certainly have to be connected to electricity for at least one day in the future. Here in Rostock, there is only one place for Womos that has electricity. So, we spend a Saturday and/or Sunday there and supply our "house" with electricity. No idea how long this place will still be available. Large construction machines are getting ready for something here. We hope it will last at least another 8 weeks.

It's not cold. On the contrary, it's warmer in our "house" than it ever was in our apartment. However, we are used to sleeping in cool temperatures. But we have to heat continuously to maintain a consistent temperature in the Womo and to keep the humidity as under control as possible. We are still in the process of finding out exactly how to heat and ventilate in order to have it warm and dry during the day and cool and dry at night. At the moment, we are saunaing at night.

🎦 Dollhouse 🎦

How is it to live in such a small space? Good! Everyone has their own space - children's room, living and dining room with an open kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. Everything is there. There are also "doors" to each area or you just go out into nature. In the apartment, we also only ever "sat" in one room, and now everyone can be in their own area and we are still together.

💩 Pee, poop, and Co. 💩

Oh, God, and what do you do when I have to go to the toilet? Then we go to the toilet! We have a full bathroom with a separate shower, sink, and toilet. It's no different from going to the toilet in an apartment/house, with the difference that we eventually have to empty the tank. No, it doesn't smell! We have an integrated "odor extraction device" and can even do without chemical substances. We regularly empty the cassette, of which we have two just to be safe. Until a few days ago, we had a few Dixies nearby and could use them for this purpose. That was very convenient. We take out the cassette, pull the suitcase to the toilet, empty it, and put it back. Now we drive to the designated place with electricity to empty it. There are tanks there that are designed for this purpose. You also don't have to be afraid before the emptying process, it's a clean affair. No one comes into contact with the content - sophisticated technology makes it possible.

💦 💦 Jule never washes 💦 💦

"When you see her coming it's like 'Hm', when you hear her talking it's like 'Ah', but when you smell her, it's like 'Eww' because..." Don't worry, the wet area in our Womo works perfectly. Here, we have to change our thinking. What you know yourself and should apply in "normal" life - to handle water carefully - is now our everyday life because the water tank is limited - when it's empty, it's empty. We have two jerry cans with which we fetch water. Sometimes from the gas station nearby, sometimes from grandma or mom/dad. We never go on family visits without jerry cans - we only exist in a pack of five now.

👂 👂 Listen to your gut 👂 👂

Fear? What for? We only stand in places where we feel comfortable and our gut says it's right. So, we're not afraid, no more than before.

♡ ♡ Good advice is not always expensive ♡ ♡

When we made the decision to take this time out, we had exactly one plan: we quit our jobs, insure ourselves, and live off our savings. This would have resulted in a possible waiting period from the employment agency once we had to use it and we possibly would have wasted entitlement periods, etc.

During our deliberations, a good friend pointed out to us that it is possible to go on parental leave again. This option was completely new to us and offered many advantages and turned out to be easier than expected:

» Submit a notice to the employer within a certain deadline

» Consent from the employer was not necessary in our phase

» Still employed at the company

» Health insurance continues - without any co-payments or the like

» We could (have to) return to our old job

» No waiting period from the agency and entitlement to 12 months of unemployment benefits if necessary.

That's why we chose this option. How did the employers react? In my case, better than expected. In Mathias' case, it didn't even come to that. Mathias was fired during an illness and has been unemployed since last week. But we were prepared for that and had already sent the notice of parental leave to the agency as a precaution. The entitlement to parental leave also exists here.

There is also no money with this option, but that was not an issue for us with the first option either. Somehow you manage to secure and finance your livelihood. And the decision to give up the apartment early and sell the furniture naturally came from the fact that we have to build up a financial cushion.