A mother-of-two from Milton Keynes, Jessica Rost, has chosen to embrace a nomadic lifestyle, residing in a hand-made tent in the British countryside. Jessica, a 55-year-old artist, made the transition to nomadic living in 2019, initially living in a converted Ford Transit van while her children lived in the family home. In 2021, she started creating bender tents – shelters made from woven branches or metal bent in a dome shape – as part of her artwork. Subsequently, Jessica decided to live in one herself, moving into a seven-metre by five-metre tent in the Cheshire countryside.
Living in her bender tent allows Jessica to keep her monthly expenses to around £300 by growing her own food. Her tent features various amenities such as five windows, a gas cooker, carpeted floors, wireless internet, and even a bath on wheels. Jessica sees her occasional visitors, including spiders, shrews, slugs, and toads, as a natural part of her environment.
Jessica plans to temporarily move into a house in Lancaster with her partner later this year but intends to return to nomadic living in the future, potentially in a treehouse or van. She continues to create bender tents and hopes to help others build their own while raising awareness of off-grid living as a solution to the cost of living crisis. Jessica values the simplicity of her lifestyle, emphasizing the idea that one does not need as much stuff to live comfortably.
Despite the challenges of living off-grid, Jessica finds joy in her unconventional lifestyle and plans to continue living in her bender tent until the end of autumn. She encourages others to consider a simpler way of living that is in harmony with nature.