When it comes to retirement, most people usually plan big vacations, consider taking up a hobby, or want to spend their lives learning a new sport or skill.
But for some, retirement is an opportunity to live smaller and simpler.
After all, they no longer have to take care of their grown children who have left home.
The need to live close to work or family may also have diminished.
Sandy Brooks at Escalante Village
For several retirees, downsizing has given them more free time.
Instead of spending days cleaning a large house, they can devote themselves to things they love.
Most of them also live on a fixed income, so any opportunity to reduce expenses and the cost of living is an excellent option.
As a gift for her 75th birthday, Sandy Brooks, 77, moved into a tiny house in Escalante Village, a tiny house community in Durango, Colorado.
The community consists of 24 tiny houses, including seven rental properties, and was founded by a Durango resident.
Tenants brought their own homes. Some had them built, while others built the houses themselves.
As for Sandy, she had hers built by a company called Simblissity Tiny Homes.
People from all walks of life live in Escalante Village.
Some are like Sandy, retired, while others are therapists, engineers, professionals, and carpenters.
They may all be different, but they share a common goal: to live simpler and more consciously.
Each plot in the village is 20 feet wide by 40 feet long, accommodating a tiny house, a patio, a garden, and parking for two cars.
Unlike traditional tiny houses built on large properties far from neighbors, the houses in this community are built close to each other.
Sandy has heard many people speak negatively about the proximity of the houses, but it doesn’t bother her at all.
„We all tend to keep a fair distance when we want to be alone. Or if we see someone outside, we go over and chat,“ she said.
„We all have the same reason for being in this [tiny house community].
„It’s not noisy at all. I’ve been through many communities where the houses are much closer together than here, with windows on both sides, and you can see into each other’s bathrooms.
„I can’t see into my neighbor’s bathroom. So I don’t think being relatively close bothers us,“ she added.
Before retiring, Sandy lived in a large house.
But at a certain point in her life, she reached a point where she wanted to rid herself of many of her belongings.
When she did, her 1000-square-foot home seemed too large.
That’s when she became interested in the tiny house movement and whether it was a lifestyle she could adopt.
Simblissity Tiny Homes helped her solidify her decision to go tiny.
The company showed her a model of the house she currently lives in, and she was convinced.
„And I don’t regret it,“ Sandy said.
Her two brothers, an architect and an engineer, thought she had made a wrong decision by moving into a tiny house.
But they changed their minds when they saw how happy she was in her new home.
Before moving to Escalante Village, Sandy spent much of her time cleaning her house.
Now she can spend most of her time outdoors biking, hiking, and talking to neighbors.
Take a tour through this tiny village and Sandy’s delightful home in the video.