Tiny Living Goes Wild: 6 weeks in 1.5 square metres

Despite the fact that I've packed up my life, planned a trip to the Aussie Outback, and hit the road -- I am fundamentally quite lazy. I had originally planned to camp my way from Sydney to Uluru and this is where things became quite stuck. The idea of setting up camp and packing it down every stop during the very long 6,000km trip did not appeal to my imagined scenario of rolling up, opening a bottle of wine and enjoying the view.

Then I recalled that one time a few years back when I was caught in a roaring thunderstorm in my tiny hiking tent on top of a hill and frantic Googling told me getting in my car was my best bet for staying alive. This was when I learned that the Tardis-like proportions of the just over one metre square boot space in a Honda Jazz (Fit) and my rather diminutive proportions as a tiny human worked together quite well. With this in mind I did some research and text some pics from this page to my brother-in-law (the genius German handyman) to see if he could perhaps fashion something to make life a little easier on the road. His response: "Sure can", accompanied by instructions to bring a glue stick and everything that was to be taken on the trip to his place.

The Making of Camper Jazz

With this rudimentary enquiry Thelma-Louise was born. I have never been one to name vehicles however the resultant marvel of modern engineering has forced me to reconsider this stance. Weeks of work, over 300 screws and the functionality of a proper campervan warrant significant acknowledgement and so a name was proclaimed.

Out and About with Thelma-Louise

The process of design involved Rob (the brother-in-law) moving bits about in my car like a real life Tetris game and me trying my very best not to interrupt his creative process with incessant talking about how excited I was about each move in his game. A few weeks later and my idea of a bit of a platform to sleep on with a bit of space underneath had morphed in to his vision of a sleeping deck with more storage than an Ikea wardrobe and a pull out kitchen/work station. I am seriously considering formally changing my name to Dr Who.

What's inside Thelma-Louise?

Foam mattress Down quilt Sleeping bag Fleece Blanket Pillow 5 pairs shoes 5 draws of clothes (for all weather, it gets surprisingly cold at night in the Outback!) 60 litres water Esky Food storage for two weeks The kitchen sink Cutlery, crockery and cookware Gas cooker Lantern Torch 20 pockets of tools and bits Camp shower Maps First Aid kit

Charging station for kindle, laptop, phone, camera Camera and tripod 2 x large storage tubs 1 x small storage tub Stool Fold up table 2 x tarps Picnic blanket Toiletries draw Hammock Hiking tent Firelighting bits and bobs 2 x Mosquito nets Camp toilet Washing bag Pegs 4 x ropes Clothesline Spare tyre (not pictured) Jack 2 x bottles of wine (for view enjoyment purposes only)

And with that my road trip dreams began in comfort and the occasional odd look as I pull in between banks of giant RVs and caravans. She certainly is a conversation starter. It might not seem like much space but with Outback Australia as my backyard there's no complaints.