Woman living as a nomad in a homemade yurt is ‘happier than ever’ as off-grid lifestyle is so cheap

Briar made the move seven years ago (Picture: PA Real Life)

Mum-of-three Briar Miller decided to move out of her £400-a-month two-bed rented flat seven years ago – after struggling financially and dealing with sizeable credit card debts.

When her last child left home in 2015, she decided to swap tenant life for a nomadic lifestyle.

Now, she moves around the Welsh countryside every six months in a homemade pop-up yurt.

The 55-year-old works as a horse groomer and part-time gardener and assembles her yurt – using wooden poles and canvas – wherever her travels take her.

To survive, she lives off rainwater, burns wood and uses a compost toilet.

Briar says: ‘I am the happiest I have ever been. I feel at peace with who I am. I absolutely love it.

‘I want to carry on living like this for as long as I can.

‘The thought of having to live within walls is horrible. I feel really claustrophobic and stressed thinking of it.’

‘I am the happiest I have ever been’ (Picture: PA Real Life)
Inside her yurt (Picture: PA Real Life)
She now doesn’t pay rent or bills (Picture: PA Real Life)

Briar says her £10,000 credit card debt, which crept up when she had to stop working for personal reasons, prompted her to abandon ‘modern living.’

And the 55-year-old is relieved how much money she’s now saving on rent and household bills – especially with the current cost of living crisis.

Briar adds: ‘With the current energy crisis, I understand how families are feeling when they are stripped of choices.

‘I feel very lucky because I have been able to live this niche lifestyle and avoid this energy crisis, which is unbelievably difficult for so many.

‘When I first moved into a yurt, it was a really tough time for me. While I was excited to be back in nature, I was struggling mightily with everything else.’

Her aim is to become more self-sufficient (Picture: PA Real Life)
She moves around every six months or so (Picture: PA Real Life)
She uses rainwater and wood to burn to survive (Picture: PA Real Life)

Now, Briar moves every six months and her yurts are always fully equipped with a stove, a sofa (which converts into a bed) and colourful velvet curtains.

To assemble each one, Briar has to lay down the foundations – a platform made of wood – then uses 90 wooden poles tied together with string, three layers of canvas, 15 duvets and then a dozen rugs for flooring.

She explains: ‘My yurt has lots of insulation, many rugs, and furniture.

‘You need to pick a nice sunny day to move, and it takes two or three days.

‘I can take it down and carry everything over and just put the canvas on in a day, but to move everything else takes a bit longer.

‘I have to construct a platform each time to build it on, so I will pile on wooden pallets. I usually move a maximum of an …read more

Source:: Metro

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