EILEAH OHNING: I had to make a decision that means either stay or grab a hold of this crazy
idea that you just can’t seem to get out of your head and just go for it. I decided
to go for it.
EILEAH OHNING: My name is Eileah Ohning. I am a producer of photography at a local agency
in Columbus, Ohio. This is my home and I live in a van.
COMM: Eileah has been living in her van since May 2017.
EILEAH OHNING: I named her Marta. Some people think it’s really cool. They just want to
hear more and a lot of people respond by saying, ‘Oh, that’s amazing. But I could never
do anything like that.’ There have been some people who just don’t get it and they
think it is really weird and strange. And they just think I am an oddball.
COMM: Living in a van might seem controversial. But before that, Eileah lived in her car
for a year.
EILEAH OHNING: I would say back when I did the year in the car, the first, maybe 3 nights,
I was a little nervous. But I think that was just because I didn’t know what to expect.
And there is this stigma out there that, you know, because I am a woman I was extra vulnerable.
I tend to only park in neighbourhoods or places that I am comfortable with and that I already
feel safe in. I mean, I guess, that’s a luxury of your home being on wheels, you can
move it if you don’t feel safe. Initially, I was actually looking to buy a home. I was
renting and I was renting at a really high rate. Just because of the current state of economics
and what Millennials are up against, I didn’t have the ability to build capital or down
payment to purchase a home very quickly. So, I started researching tiny homes and then
that led to researching minimalism and I realised, ‘Oh, I can save a whole lot of money’
and, ‘Oh, hey I have 42,000 dollars in student loan debt and I could probably eradicate that
in a year,’ which I did.
EILEAH OHNING: So continuing the build out, eventually we are going to be building a closet
here, floor-to-ceiling. There will be room for hanging clothes and then a few drawers
for folded clothes as well. The really exciting part is next to that is going to be a full
shower and toilet. So, we will have running water in here, there will be hot water and
cold water. We will have a fresh water tank inside that’s going to be underneath the
kitchen cabinets and then we will have to do plumbing that will come up across the top
of the van over in to the shower area here.
EILEAH OHNING: I drastically underestimated how much time and energy goes into something
like this. I thought it would take 3 months; so far it's taken 7 months. So, like, maybe
another year, a little less hopefully to finish her. I bought the van for about 10 grand.
I would say thus far I’ve spent about 7 grand on the build out. There are have been
a couple of repairs that were probably about 2 grand and then to finish the build out I
would say I am going to have to spend maybe another 3 or 4 grand.
EILEAH OHNING: The beginning of this project
it was still just me. So just me and my dog. Now it’s me, Brian, my dog and his cat.
One of my concerns when we started dating is he owned a house in a suburb which is very
different than the lifestyle that I was headed towards. I thought that I wanted to live in
a van and I wanted to do more mobile living.
BRIAN LASTON: I think I dismissed it at first. I mean she is a very outgoing girl, very busy,
always has something going on. I knew it was something she had interest in. I think I got
a text at work one day saying, ‘Hey, I’m flying down to Florida to pick up a van.’
And I am just like, ‘Wow! Really? Okay, so this is happening.’ But once she got
it back and slowly started including me in the build, I took a bigger interest in it.
So now it’s more or less gone from her dream to becoming, kind of, our dream. I think it’s
been good for our relationship. It’s proven that in our relationship we are great at teamwork,
also great partners.
EILEAH OHNING: I don’t know that I ever see myself going back to traditional housing.
I just think that there is a better way to do housing in general. I don’t need a house.
I don’t need something that big. I don’t need a mortgage that eats up most of my, you
know, monthly income. There are plenty of people who do. Minimalism is about living
just off of what you need. So, a family of 6 needs more than a van. But, yeah I think
that’s the motivation for me.
EILEAH OHNING: I realised a lot of things that came along with having an apartment or
owning a home that I just didn’t have to deal with anymore. That gave me more time
to spend it where I wanted to spend it.
The worst things about living in a van?
EILEAH OHNING: I don’t know that there are any worse things.