In his mid-20s, Patrick Hutchison felt adrift: Despite his “dream of becoming a gonzo journalist travel writer-type person,” he worked in a Seattle office as a copywriter. He was embarrassed by his dearth of “proof-of-responsibility milestones” and seeming lack of purpose compared to those around him.
What’s a stressed out guy to do? Well, as he describes with quippy humor and refreshing honesty in his debut, CABIN: Off the Grid Adventures With a Clueless Craftsman, Hutchison decided to buy real estate. The year was 2013; the property, a 120-square-foot cabin in tiny Index, Washington, listed on Craigslist; the price, $7,500, paid to a tugboat captain named Tony.
If you’re thinking that sounds pretty gonzo, you’re not wrong—and Hutchison’s story only gets more interesting, funny and inspiring as he recounts how he threw himself into home ownership and, over the course of several years with help from friends and neighbors, slowly but surely turned the cabin into a charming Cascade Mountains retreat.
At first, it was “the sort of place where you wish your shoes had shoes,” a dirty, diminutive box with no Wi-Fi, cell service, electricity or plumbing, let alone a stable floor. But ignorance was bliss (“Like a new parent with a hideous baby, my eyes glazed over the flaws”), and Hutchison figured out things as he went along: He conducted endless research, made countless supply purchases and experienced the joy and pain of a complicated long-term DIY project.
Anyone who’s desperately wanted a chainsaw (even if they don’t know how to use it) will relate to Hutchison “half expecting balloons to fall from the ceiling in celebration of such a rad purchase,” and anyone who’s dealt with a mudslide or other natural disaster will empathize with his anxiety at being cut off from the cabin for months. But less specifically, those who dream of shaking things up will find motivation in CABIN and Hutchison’s dogged determination to create the adventurous life he’d always wanted: “Even when required by circumstance, the road less traveled is often the way to go.”
