Boyan is a modern nomad; he was born in Bulgaria, is a resident of the Netherlands has lived in the UK, Ireland, India, Israel, Palestine, and Brazil (he has many jobs, including solar panel installer, professional street artist). So when he began working for a friend’s yurt company, helping set up Mongolian Gers, he fell in love with the lifestyle and soon bought his own traditional mobile home.

It’s been almost a year since he and his partner moved into their 21 square meter ger (the Mongolian term for “home”) and they love its simplicity and the freedom it affords them to move with the seasons (or jobs). They’ve moved twice and the entire process- dis-assembling and re-assembling in a new location- took a day and could be done entirely without tools or professional skills. One of Boyan’s friends jokes it’s an “IKEA house”.

Boyan’s ger was made by Mongolians in Mongolia for the Dutch company Nooitmeerhaast (Dutch for “Never Hurry”) whose founders hope to promote this ancient art in Europe. It’s a 3000-year tradition well suited to extreme climates (thanks to its layer of sheep’s wool felt for insulation) which translates well to wintertime in the Netherlands.

The couple spent the fall on a long-term campsite (with a couple other yurts and a few tipi-style tents) in the Netherlands, but when the site closed for the winter, they moved to the property of a farmer friend. Living in a small, mobile shelter means keeping your possessions to a minimum, something Boyan cultivates. “I heard once someone say that we suffer not from what we don’t have, but mostly from what we have. At present all my belongings fit in a small trailer and I just love this”.