Solo Female Traveler Lives in Tiny Wagon w/ Goat

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Disclosure: At no additional cost to you, you can support FLORB by using the affiliate links below

This is Kate Cloud and her gipsy wagon, accompanied by her lovely goat Little Leaf and dog Lucy Lou.

Kate got into this lifestyle when she became a Thru-Hiker. She first did the Applalachian trail, which led her to do the Pacific Crest trail and eventually the Continental Divide. During this time, she was living seven months out of a backpack with one outfit. As she didn't want to pay rent for a house or mortgage while gone half the year, she set out to find an alternative. Her Jeep only being capable of towing around 1500 pounds – next to nothing – she still decided to take on this challenge. And the moment came when she found a solution: On Craigslist she came across a cute little gypsy wagon an older man had made himself in Southern Washington. She paid 2500 US dollars for it, which was exactly her budget. The wagon is built on a harbor freight trailer and Kate had to change the tires quite a few times, as she already drove it through 26 states. The buying and the build out cost her 3200 dollars altogether.

The wagon has no solid structure, which is also why it is so lightweight, and that has been one of the bigger challenges for living in it. The plan had been to live half year in the wagon and half year out on trail. That worked out well for the first two years, until Covid hit and since then she's been living in it full-time. "I actually love it!", she says.

The Jeep pulling Kate's home is a 4 wheel drive and her dream car. The whole back of the Jeep serves as sleeping place for her animals. She stores a few belongings and toys she can't seperate from, like her paddle board, plus a spare tire for her wagon. Behind the wagon is a tiny storage space accesssible only from outside, her “junk drawer / tool shed / laundry room” as she puts it. In there she stores things like fuel for her heater, all of her tools, a vacuum cleaner, portable shower and more.

Kate painted her tiny wagon herself, writing on it all her social media names to promote her journey and her art. Her goat even has her own instagram. On the other side of the wagon is another little cubby that was originally designed to hold merchandise. In there she keeps her gas cans, cooking utensils and dry storage food – and only two days before we filmed her a bear broke into it.

The door leading into the wagon is one of the things Kate would chance if she rebuilt it, as it is not very structurally strong. One of the biggest storage boxes she has in there are two medium sized boxes with all of her painting things. The structure of the wagon is simple and basic: very thin plywood with a foam board in between. Kate added sheets of cork on the inside against condensation and for insulation. The whole wagon is filled with small storages and very colourful and artsy. Her bed consists of camper foam added to a wooden platform, a carpet above and a blanket on top. Underneath this sleeping platforme she stores her clothes in long tubs she can just slide in and out, plus all sort of things like her yoga mat, canvases etc.

The walls are all painted, there is small book-area, and Kate tries her best to keep the weight inside the wagon balanced. There are windows on each side plus a ventilation on the ceiling. She also has a projector for movie nights and her Heater Buddy is put on a shelf so that she doesn't need to fear that something would catch fire.

“I know there's always threats and dangers, but I've just learned in life that if you constantly focus on things, you won't get anywhere, you won't see anything and you won't experience anything. There just comes a point when you have to pick and choose your battles. Fear is the idea of something that's not happened yet. I try not to focus on fear but I still have precautions to keep me safe if someone were to bust in. It's a matter of determination, overcoming fear and just realizing that tomorrow could be your last day. Be aware of your surroundings, have a common sense and be mindful – also of the animals if you're out in the woods, know how to react to certain animals. Go with your gut, your gut is a huge tool, it is a sense and I believe in it (laughs). Just go with it! The only thing constant in the world is change and once you embrace it, you find so much fun and adventure!”.