Back To Basics

Last night Alex and I had a very interesting conversation about society. We brought up some points that I thought I'd share with you.

We are living about the simplest life possible right now. The only things we need to worry about are having a place to sleep, water to drink, food to eat, being warm enough and having enough money to get us to the next place on the map. Rarely do we worry about anything because we prepare well.

Drama was a problem for us before. We don't have any other people to worry about now, which cuts down on the drama in our lives drastically. Alex can tell whether people are going to invite drama into his life and successfully avoids those people. I can't do that and always end up in the middle of other people's drama trying to mediate. This is one of the many reasons I like being with Alex, I can avoid drama.

We don't have any jobs; to many this means that we are the lowest of the low. After traveling for three weeks, I realize that I am much happier doing what I love than making money in the city. Although I don't have a job, I have a purpose for this part of my life which is to figure out what to do with the next part of my life while enjoying myself along the way.

During our conversation we talked about what life was like in San Francisco. I had an apartment in SF because I wanted to live there. In order to live in SF I had to work a job in a company that I didn't like so that I could pay for the apartment. Then, on the weekends and after work I would spend money on things to distract me from the company that I didn't like. It's a cycle of spending money to make yourself feel good. You travel 45 minutes to work so you buy yourself a coffee because it makes you feel better on the way. You go to work and after you get a drink or 2 because that makes you feel better after work. On the weekend you pay for gas so that you can get out of the city because the people are annoying you. You buy drugs to distract you from the people and the place too and end up not knowing why you're unhappy.

I don't know if this is something that was unique to me, but I don't think it is. I know plenty of women who go shopping to make themselves "feel better". Plenty of people who go to bars after work to "wind down". Plenty of people who feel the need to "escape".

During this conversation we came up with an interesting idea. We want to buy a piece of land, somewhere near a river in a forest. On that land we want to build a small, sustainable house. The house will be four rooms, with room for expansion: a living room with a fireplace/ a nook and kitchenette, a bedroom and a bathroom. On the roof will be solar panels to run our computer, recharge our phones and our cameras, etc. Outside will be a porch, a garden in which we will grow our food and herbs, a cistern and an outdoor kitchen. Eventually we'll have a study with bookshelves covering the walls and a jacuzzi outside made from rocks found in the area.

From there, we can write, photograph, take tours, even start up a hotel or hostel based around sustainability. We'd welcome anyone who wanted to help us out, give them space to set up a tent and feed them. There would be very little money to spend and most importantly, we'd be doing something that's totally interesting for both of us. We'll call it the Back to Basics Social Experiment.