I have been doing the Van Life and the Farm Life all at the same time, for over a year and a half now in upstate NY and I have to acknowledge, that I was crazy enough to spend my first winter in 20 years here, and while living in the van! 🥶
In all honesty, it is provably one of the craziest things I have ever done, specially considering how much I dislike cold weather and the below zero temperatures, you get here in this region.
The last winter it was crazy cold to me specially since I'm not used to it (20 years living in Miami Beach) so when I'm telling you that inside the van everything was frozen, like my dog and cats water bowl. Having fresh vegetables? forget about that as everything would freeze, specially overnight.
I had a little heater in the van that would keep me from going below zero, but the normal temperature in the bus was always in between 30's at nighttime and in the 40's degrees during day time. Thank God for Sheep's skins because I actually think they're the reason I woke up alive in the mornings. I l have learned so much about their healing and beneficial properties as well as their historical significance and how they've been of essential use to humanity since the beginning of times.
I remember so many mornings my sister texting me if I was ok and alive? lol while reminding me that I had a big guess room with private bathroom inside the main house, to which I kept responding... "nah I'm good, I'm tough, this is making me stronger, I can do this."
Now when I think about all that, it is really kinda crazy but like I told my son, family, and myself, if we ever have to deal with any survivalist situation (natural disaster, zombie apocalypse?) I'm definitely making it, and coming out of it alive. lol
Now this my second winter was coming around, and there was absolutely no way I was going to live in my van again, yes bold, daredevil and a little crazy I can be for sure, but never insane. Ha!
So I tried renting a little cabin around here, without having really much luck.
By the end of Autumn, my sister offered to make available for me if I wanted, an old farm barn that she had. Now that idea I liked it, and so I said yes.
And with a little work and my creativity, I transformed it into a lovely rustic bohemian style winter cabin, or what I also call, a woman's cave 🤗
Since it is going to be only for a few months while I'm still here, I wanted to build something that will be affordable yet cozy and effective. I built a kitchen with water, stove and everything basic that is needed to have a cheap and simple, yet fully functional kitchen.
My generator provided electricity for the refrigerator that was on my van, but most lighting features are battery operated such as the string lights, and motion sense lights.
I found an amazing fishing table with sink that was perfect for the kitchen, providing plenty of counter space to cook and a fully functional and spacious sink to clean dishes.
I added some awesome and pretty cheap foldable kitchen storage cabinets and I got a water pump and empty large containers for the water. All set up and hidden under the table and covered with a table skirt. Survivalist and minimalist for sure! lol
The large stainless steel containers are for the clean drinking water (NO microplastic in your water) and a Propane heater to keep me warm.
I also found an awesome and very affordable portable closet, and I built all the shelving and decor (still a work in progress) with tree branches and other natural elements, I found in the Forrest. I absolutely LOVE doing Nature Inspired projects, that's a favorite of mine for sure.
I will be making and sharing with you all, some of those Nature Inspired projects.
I Made a short video to show you all the final result.
Hope you enjoy it!
With All My Love
Ana Satya
❤️🙏🏻
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