Clean up, declutter, unwind. These are words you may have heard more and more recently and for good reason. Honestly, I have also hopped on the bandwagon and proudly donate full garbage bags of unnecessary luxury items weekly to others who may have more need for them. It’s really helped me realize how much better you feel once you rid yourself of non-essentials. Another emerging phenomenon within minimalism is the tiny houses. So naturally, I was curious!

I was so excited when Ruden and I were invited to spend a whole midweek in a tiny house. The Tiny House Movement promotes a simpler, more meaningful life that I fully agree with. The motto: “Less house, more life.” Since 2017 you can find these small, sustainable (!) Houses at various ‘Dream parks’ throughout
The Netherlands. We chose to go to Droompark Maasduinen in the Limburg Belfeld.

Prior to the trip, I had already looked at the beautiful pictures of the houses on Instagram with heart eyes. When we arrived at house 402, we were not disappointed! The tiny houses were in a cozy group of five, with a shared hot tub and campfire. Lucky for us – or not? – we had no neighbors for almost the entire week! We felt as if we had a small private village in the middle of the large Droompark to ourselves.

The institution

At the Droomparken, you can find houses for two-persons or four-persons. Because we went to Maasduinen, we got a house for two. The cottages are smartly and attractively furnished with many natural materials. They are also fully equipped with a sofa, TV, stove (both wood-fired and electric), a small table that can be used as a desk or dining table, a kitchen with a cooking area and the standard essentials: a coffee maker (hello!), combi microwave and of course a shower and toilet. To sleep, go up the stairs and you’ll find your bed. A great perk is you can watch the stars all night through the skylight (note: you cannot stand on this floor)! So cozy!

Whatsapp for the hot tub

On day one we wanted to jump straight into the hot tub, but after some struggling in the dark, Ruden found out that he was unable to heat it up to a pleasant temperature. Fortunately, you can send a Whatsapp to the reception for help! They assured us that the next day the tub would be about 38 degrees (100 degrees Fahrenheit) by 7 am. And yes, at 7 o’clock precisely it was indeed good to go! Instead of going in right away though, we postponed hot-tubbing until later. Boy was that a mistake! The temperature ended up rising quickly and suddenly we were in a bath of about 48 degrees (118 degrees Fahrenheit). I don’t need to tell you how uncomfortable that was! Our time meant for relaxing in the hot tub turned into us paddling to get the colder water from the bottom to the top. 😉

Wood stove or campfire?

‘Unfortunately’ it was just another weekday for us so we had to work. Although we visited our tiny house in October, summer lasted a little longer than usual this year. Thanks to the unusual weather, we were able to sit outside on our terrace, with the laptop on our lap. When it got chilly, we threw some cubes on the fire in the woodstove, opened up a bottle of wine and simply enjoyed. If you end up having neighbors, it is an absolute must to make a campfire together. I loved the atmosphere so much!

In the middle of nature

Although we spent most of our time working, we couldn’t help but notice that there is so much to do here for the true vacationers. The park is located in the middle of nature so you have several nature reserves in the area plus a small beach! On our last day, we decided to spend it there! If it is a bit cooler during your stay, there is also a small indoor swimming pool.

Hungry? Then you should definitely go to the brasserie for a tasty dish! Another option is to roll up your sleeves and cook something tasty for yourself in your house. The Droompark is also close to Venlo and the border of Germany, so why not take a detour to the city or our eastern neighbors during your stay?

After such a minimalist midweek in a small house, you have more overview, clarity, peace and focus. Don’t we all want that?

Book a tiny house? here.

→ This article was written in collaboration with Droomparken. We got to stay here for free, in exchange for content. Of course you can read our own opinion here!