How it starts.

How do we go from paying rent every month to “Let’s build a house ourselves” knowing that our combined construction skills could barely put a wardrobe together. Not sure what really got into our heads, but one thing for sure is that 2020 made us think, or to say the least, re-think.

As for many, lockdown made us question how things work and mostly don’t work. Our 4m² balcony might offer us one of the best views in the world but if we’re not allowed to even feel the sunlight, grass or wind, then what are we doing? As lockdown progressed, the tall windows with breathtaking views somehow reflected back all the things we couldn’t access anymore.

The reality of lockdown, its anxiety and stress, made us then dig even deeper into our own insecurities. What if tomorrow, we have no more job to secure a rent? What if tomorrow, they close down the shops and we have no more food to eat? What if tomorrow, we just go without having lived our hidden and repressed dreams? And while we could redo the world all over again with what-if-statements, those ones hit hard as they felt real. All those things we believed being signs of freedom and self-control, were now unveiled. It just didn’t make sense anymore. We had to go back to basic. Because what if tomorrow, we could change it all?

For us, it started with a vision we had few months prior lockdown: a small house with a little garden, yet big enough for a dog to play and for food to grow. However with the reality of our finances and job situations, we automatically envisioned a rental, as we’ve always done, following the rules we’ve been programmed to.

From this reality and self-sufficiency becoming a first necessity, we had to become homeowners. Of course, as we wouldn’t fit any banks’ requirements, buying a pre-built house was off the table. Then so be it, we’ll build it ourselves. Even if we end up with the smallest roof on top of our head, it will be ours. One that no one could take away. One that we could make home. With no loan, no idea how it will all cost in the end and no experience in building pretty much anything, all we have is a vision. As driving through a fog, it only becomes clearer as we ride through it. So we’ll just keep driving.

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Écrit par Alice.