Karenville — Minus a Plus One

I recently spent $87.84 to poop in a bucket and sleep in a shed.

The decision that led me to select this particular accommodation was one that transpired after a couple glasses of wine - as many of my questionable choices tend to do.

I was hanging out with my two best friends while searching for an Airbnb to break up my upcoming 14-hour drive to the east coast I had planned over Labor Day. A friend had invited me hiking in New Hampshire and I leapt at the chance to get out of my one-bedroom apartment and into nature.

As I contemplated which part of New York to stop through and how far I could make it before dark, I sifted through private rooms rented out by couples at reasonable prices with comfortable beds. I had hesitated to book any when I stumbled upon a listing titled, “A Fairies Tiny Playhouse in a Tiny Village.”

And that was how I found out about the existence of a little place called Karenville.

Sitting there with my friends – my little “Quaran-Team” who’d helped me survive the past few months of being single in Covid, nothing seemed more fitting for the 2020 year than staying in a tiny house village literally called Karenville.

Reading further, I learned that despite each “playhouse” having only a small bed and no running water or electricity, Karenville had surprisingly many solid reviews. And it even came with a family of Guinea pigs and a little miniature horse.

I decided this would be an experience, if nothing else.

And I booked it.

A few days later, I packed up my car, put the questionable address into my GPS and set out for my bed in shed - hoping to make it by sun down to increase my odds of actually finding it.

The owner of this village, Karen, was upfront and honest about everything. Reminding me of the lack of amenities. Insisting I follow her directions when I got close and not my GPS that sometimes leads people to a nearby forest. Sending her cell in case I needed anything.

When I arrived, she gave me a quick tour of the village consisting of eight tiny houses, as well as some community living spaces. Two separate bathrooms. And a shower I had already decided I would not be using.

I made it just before sunset, in time to meet Tangles; whose little hooves I would hear outside my window. I settled in, which consisted of setting my bag on the floor and turning on a battery-powered light. It was then I used the “bathroom” by removing a wood block with a handle, and sitting on a wooden bench with a hole. A blue bucket rested underneath it with another bucket close by to shovel wood shavings on after.

*One of the two “bathrooms” in Karenville.*

That night, I laid in bed thinking to myself a bit incredulously, how I had just paid nearly $100 to sleep in a shed and poop in a bucket.

While I didn’t intend to be a repeat customer, Karen had showed me where others were staying when checking me in – several for multiple nights. And it was then that this random little stay in the middle of nowhere, New York, reminded me of two very important things.

1 – Be Yourself. Be Unapologetically Yourself.

This is why Karenville works. I showed up knowing exactly what I was getting myself into. Karen didn’t make excuses or try to be fancier than she was. She knew who and what her tiny village was, and she owned it.

A friend recently shared that a girl he’d been pursuing ended things. He admitted that she had wanted to sleep together after their second time hanging out. He really liked her and wanted to wait.

Maybe I should have, he had wondered.

We often are quick to alter ourselves. To mold like clay in the hopes of someone picking us. In my twenties I remember thinking, “What do you mean ‘be myself?’ I can be lots of different things! What works for him? I just need to know and I can be that.”

Karenville works because it knows exactly who what it is and it doesn’t try to be anything else. And that’s a reminder I think we all can use from time to time.

Which brings me to my second revelation in my time in Karenville.

*Sitting on the front porch of my tiny house I slept in.*

*Chillin’ in my tiny bed. My legs only hung off the edge a little.*

2 – There Is Someone For (Almost) Everyone.

It turns out pooping through a community piece of wood is not for me.

Can I do it? Yes.

Is it my jam? Not really.

And while I’m sure no one really wakes up with a strong desire to do that, my point is that some people really dig Karenville. It was all over the reviews. Some people like the disconnection, being off the grid and the simplicity. Many quoted it as “magical.

Laying there that night in silence in my tiny shed in that fairy village, I realized in most cases, there’s someone for everyone. And it oddly gave me hope. People are drawn to different experiences and find joy in countless ways. What it takes for someone to thrive in life looks wildly different and yet eerily similar, depending on how you looked at it. If people who enjoy roughing it can find Karenville, perhaps there was someone for me who I’d stumble upon all in good time.

2020 is a year where we will look for hope in the darkest of corners. In the smallest of doses. And while it has handed us all challenges that at times have nearly broke us, it’s also given us tiny gifts along the way. Routines we’d have never fallen into. People we leaned on more than ever. Simple pleasures we appreciated like never before.

I gave my stay five stars. I thanked Karen for setting expectations upfront and her detailed instructions. I thanked her for the unique experience on my road trip east.

But more than that - what I didn’t put in my review - I was how grateful I was for those two reminders my stay granted me.

And in the end, I think it was a good choice. Poop bucket and all.