As the construction of the Tiny Home Prototype neared completion, the idea struck me that I needed to make some changes to be able to live in this truly tiny space for any length of time. The fact is, that any settlement on the Moon, Mars or even in space, will be necessarily compact to say the least. As I pondered this thought while stocking some basics like a pillow, sheets, fleece throw, and quilt, I realized there wasn’t much room for anything. What, in my collection of “things” would I really want, no NEED to take in order to make survival …. well survivable!
While the tiny home will provide the basics of food, water, shelter, bathing, and sleeping, and truthfully, the garden and fishpond are somewhat automated. So what, I considered would I occupy my time with while entombed within for long periods much as I would be entoumbed within any space, lunar, or mars settlement.
Well, I’m sure there will be conversations by email, and social media. Chatting/messaging might be problematic with the communication delays to Mars though. There will be reading – both from my meager physical-books and my extensive digital collection. TV is out – no stations on the moon or mars yet. And NetFlix … not. So any movies will have to be carried digitally. Given the space available, I don’t play guitar well enough to justify one, but perhaps a harmonica.
Whether on the moon, or stuck inside surrounded by the zombie apacolypse, I won’t be going outside for a stroll.
I’m beginning to feel extremely cramped, and I haven’t even started!
There will be other people in the settlements, but privacy will be a premium, and until things “settle-in” we will likely share both ups and downs as we adapt to the new surroundings.
I am realizing that I am no where near prepared to go, or stay in the prototype. So now my mind turns to the idea of what can I do to prepare – first to live in the tiny home prototype, then to subsist in a space settlement.
As I watched the space program unfold, I always wondered what the astronauts were training for 2 years or more for. In readings, they are practicing the tasks to be accomplished, and to a lesser degree, acclimating their minds to the mission. But a settlement is different, we’re NOT GOING BACK. This is the uber-committment of a lifetime.
Join me as I explore the journey to prepare for tiny home living, and ultimately living in a cramped settlement, where going outside is …. well, deadly.