From Tents to Houses: Lessons in Living with Less

It all started with Black Friday sales. Power to my wife, who next year is embarking on a Shamanic Womancraft journey—something she’s wanted to do for years. She absolutely deserves it after dedicating the past 8.5 years to raising our children. Inspired by this, I started exploring the idea of taking my kids camping. Short, simple trips—just 2-4 days. The main hurdle? Finding an instant pop-up tent.

We already have a massive 10-person, 3-section tent. While great in theory, it takes 30 minutes to set up, and I’d prefer something quicker—something I can put up and peg down before my daughters start bickering or chasing wildlife.

After a quick search, I narrowed my options to a Coleman Excursion Instant Tent: a 4-person or 6-person model. The main difference? Dimensions:

• 4-person tent: 2400(L) x 2400(W) x 1900(H) mm

• 6-person tent: 3300(L) x 2700(W) x 1900(H) mm

The extra 90 cm in length and 30 cm in width seemed minor but had me deliberating. Price added another layer:

• 4-person tent: $199.99 (down from $499.99)

• 6-person tent: $239.99 (down from $599.99)

Let’s be real—these tents were never worth $500 or $600. But the discounts lured me in. The question: was an extra 90 cm worth $40?

This decision spiraled into a reflection on space and our tendency to overconsume. Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis critiques the growing size of homes in the U.S., despite recent trends leveling off. Bigger homes mean more space to clean and, more importantly, more space to fill. Australia’s storage unit occupancy rate hovering near 90% underscores this issue.

It resonated with me as we navigate the challenges of building a house. Our initial plan was for a 4-bedroom home, like the one we left in Camden. After living in a 3-bedroom rental, we opted for a 3-bedroom build instead. That extra room? Nice in theory, but it would’ve been mostly unused—a shrine to "stuff." It wasn’t aligned with what we want.

A house, in my view, serves two purposes:

1. A roof over your head: Shelter and safety.

2. An asset: A financial foundation.

Thousands of years ago, humans were nomads, moving to survive. Now, modern conveniences like supermarkets have tethered us to one place. But is settling down limiting our horizons? A friend’s decision to rent out their "forever home" highlights how life forces us to adapt. Maybe we need less permanence and more freedom to move, explore, and truly live.

I view life in sections and here are my sections of life so far:

1. Childhood in Solihull, England.

2. University in Nottingham.

3. First home with my now-wife, Karley, in Solihull.

4. Moving to Australia, living with Karley’s mum.

5. Our first home in Camden South, Sydney.

6. Raising our family in Bundanoon.

7. The unknown.

The future is fluid. Perhaps we’ll move back to the UK for a few years, or we might stay here until the kids finish school. That’s the beauty of life: embracing change and remaining open to possibilities.

And the tent? Downsizing from a 10-person behemoth to a 6-person tent felt like a leap. But with kids, we tend to overpack, so I opted for the larger size. Let’s be honest—we’ll probably fill it with things we don’t need. And that’s okay. Sometimes, the journey is in learning what truly matters.