A backpacking millennial discovered he craved a slow and simple life, so he built a tiny house in France for himself and his cat

• Geoffrey Celard, 29, lives in a DIY tiny house with his pet cat in Valence, in southeast France.
• The tiny house took over a year to build and he estimates he spent $21,000 on the project.
• Celard now offers consultation services and hosts workshops about building tiny homes.

When Geoffrey Celard returned to France in 2020 from a six-month-long backpacking trip in Colombia, he needed a place to live.

He had spent his time abroad living alongside indigenous people in poor neighborhoods. Their houses were small, with scarcely any furniture and no electricity.

Celard, surrounded by the kindness and generosity of strangers, found that he was happy in the simple setting.