Hyundai x CNN - Enjoying life on the road with the Collier family
4 minute read
Many of us dream about a life on the road. The Collier family turned that dream into a reality by living on the road for a year in their tiny house. Hyundai has teamed up with CNN to tell their story in a beautiful film, read on to find out more.
The tiny house trend has become a social movement in recent years. At a time when home ownership seems to be out of reach for so many, tiny house living is a great way to combine owning a home with the freedom of travel. It’s this trend, which inspired Hyundai and CNN’s film about the New Zealand-based Collier family and their tiny traveling home.
We all have the power to shape our own story… AMY LEE COLLIER
The Collier Family
In July 2019, the Collier family, CJ and Amy-Lee sold their home and took their daughter Tilly on a great adventure. They packed what they needed and spent a year exploring their home country of New Zealand. During this time, they traveled from one end of the North Island to the other and rarely spent more than three days in the same spot.
Thanks to their traveling home they were able to combine work and play. CJ and Amy-Lee both work online so they took their laptops with them. They were able to make the most of their spectacular home office by pulling out their deck and working in some stunning locations.
With the help of her parents, Tilly was able to explore the great outdoors and discover natural magic for herself. They learned how to live around each other all the time and were able to focus on quality time spent together before starting their next chapter with the arrival of a second child and Tilly starting pre-school.
The Colliers’ Tiny House
CJ and Amy-Lee decided to commit to tiny house living full time so they could save money to build a house, spend time with Tilly and see more of their own country all at the same time. A house on wheels was the perfect way for them to travel, while keeping a place to call home.
Their small and charming home is built on a trailer and was designed to be ultra-compact so that they could travel easily on New Zealand’s tight and winding roads. It is also fitted with solar panels so that they can live completely off-the-grid, which meant that they could set up home in places that would otherwise be hard to reach.
Narrated by Amy-Lee in the form of a letter to her daughter Tilly, the film starts with the message, “we all have the power to shape our own story.” We follow Tilly’s adventures in the forest, on the beach and on the road as the family journeys around the country.
The film explores the themes of personal freedom and living an enriched lifestyle thanks to the ease of mobility. The Collier family have built a lifestyle that allows them to reduce their outgoings, be free of mortgage payments, stay eco-friendly, work from anywhere and enjoy life experiences that bring them closer together.
In the film, we see CJ and Tilly develop a special bond, we see them giggling and playing together on the beach while Amy-Lee watches on. “It's just an awesome way to see the country," says CJ. It’s clear that they all made some beautiful memories and now Tilly has a lot of stories to tell.
Introducing the film
As the months went on, it kept getting more and more enjoyable. CLAUDE COLLIER
The Colliers’ story is a great teaser for the limitless experience that the Hyundai IONIQ 5 will bring to the world. Through this film, you can see how we are making new ways of living possible by designing cars that go above and beyond the necessity and enrich the experiences that we treasure most.
The Collier family just welcomed their second baby and are currently building their forever home. You can follow their adventures here. Follow Hyundai’s Instagram(@hyundai) to find out more about how we’re using our technology to maximize free time.