'We were miserable': The family who sold their house to live in a truck

Adi and Logan Courtney took a leap of faith to do what they always wanted to do – sold their home, business and most of their possessions to live in a house truck.

The couple has co-authored and self-published a book, What You Have Always Wanted To Do, about their three years travelling around New Zealand.

Before getting the truck, they had been working 17-hour days to pay off a $450,000 mortgage, but it was killing them.

Logan was born in Auckland and served in the New Zealand Army before moving to Australia in 2005.

He met Adi in 2011 and they ran a landscaping and gardening business together.

“We were living the supposed dream life in a three-bed house surrounded by our family and friends, but we were both miserable with the pressure and stress,” Logan said.

The physical labour was also wreaking havoc on his body.

“I had paralysis in one hand and calcification of my joints in the other. I saw an osteopath who told me I was going to die, and die soon, if I didn’t sell the business,” he said.

Logan suggested they go home – to New Zealand.

Adi had never been to New Zealand, but was keen to give it a go.

“I looked on Trade Me and there was this truck. We both said ‘we could live in that’. The guy said it was ours for $35,000 with only a $1000 deposit,” she said.

They had the old Mainfreight, curtainsider​ truck converted into a one-bedroom unit on wheels. It has a queen-size bed and full-size dishwasher, fridge and freezer, and shower.

“We put only our most treasured things into a 40-foot container and left. Our family didn’t think it was a good idea at all. They couldn’t understand why we wanted to be homeless or live like gypsies,” Adi said.

Their daughter, Mia, who was 18 months old when they moved into the truck, took to living in the small space immediately.

Not long after, Adi became pregnant with David, now 2.

He was bathed in the sink and slept in a portable cot in the back of the truck. With minimal toys, the children mostly play outdoors.

Living in close proximity has not tested the family’s relationship.

“It forces you to work together. We actually fight less because what do most couples fight over – money – and that was no longer a problem for us,” Adi said.

The family travelled around New Zealand for three years. They worked on farms in Helensville, lived in a campground in South Auckland and worked for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED).

“We took the term working remotely to a new level. We parked the truck at a campground in South Auckland and would go to meetings in the city in suits. We would take the truck to the South Island and go skiing while still working,” Adi said.

When ATEED decided to bring the job in-house, the couple knew they could not work full-time from an office.

They took to the road again before settling on the West Coast, where they bought a section in Kumara.

They also bought an old run-down house in Blaketown, Greymouth, for $45,000 cash, but plan to rent it out and move back into the truck after renovating it.

“We fall in love with our truck more and more every day. We are lucky to call it our home,” Adi said.

– This story originally appeared on Stuff