Simple Living And Consumerism Both Promise Happiness - Only One Delivers

Want to kill consumerism? Being happy with less is the way to do it.

Simple living and consumerism both offer the promise of happiness. That is about all they have in common.

Simplicity seeks happiness internally. Consumerism seeks happiness externally.

Simplicity teaches us to aspire to a better life with less. Consumerism teaches us to perpetually desire more.

Simplicity teaches detachment from the empty promises of the merchants of materialism. Lasting happiness while engaging in consumerist exploits is unlikely to happen - it is intentionally designed that way to keep consumers constantly unsatisfied and looking to buy relief.

Simple living teaches us to be selfless. Consumerism teaches us to be selfish.

Simplicity teaches us to love all living beings. Consumerism teaches us to love all our things.

Simplicity teaches us to not compare. Consumerism teaches constant comparison, and gives lessons in jealousy and insecurity.

Simple living teaches the use of minimal materials. Consumerism teaches blatant overconsumption. 

Simplicity teaches us to live in the present moment. Consumerism teaches us about a future world of endless desires, and the past’s inevitable dissatisfactions.

Simplicity teaches peace of mind. Consumerism, even with all that “great” stuff, can only teach dissatisfaction.

Consumers eventually learn of the limitations of trying to buy their way to an ever elusive contentment. Slowly, reluctantly, the unsatisfied turn to simple living, a tried and true method for attaining lasting happiness, peace, and contentment. 

Many are waving the white flag and surrendering to the reasoning inherent in the practice of simplicity. Letting go of endless material pursuits, simple living practitioners are allowing the simple life to lead them to more satisfying and authentic ways of being. 

The results speak for themselves. 

Simple living has been serving billions of satisfied customers for thousands of years. Satisfaction guaranteed. 

That is a promise that can not be beat at any price.

Anti-Consumer Protest Art/Ancient Wisdom Mashup

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” 

- Socrates

Our last protest art/quote mashup post was well received. Combining thought-provoking nuggets of wisdom (not my own) along with eyeball poking visuals is an irresistible combination.

Our last mashup used zen quotes. This time I am tapping into the ancient wisdom of Socrates. The art is the result of an "anti-consumerism protest art" image search, which always yields interesting results.

“If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” 

“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”

“To find yourself, think for yourself.” 

"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature."

Socrates is know for laying the foundation for western philosophy. When he was around (born 470 BC), there was no mass consumerism. And if we heeded his teachings, there would be no conspicuous consumption today, because we would be too smart for that.

Socrates believed that money had a corrupting influence, and that we should seek lives of material moderation. When asked about his frugal lifestyle, he replied that he loved visiting the market "to see all the things I am happy without."

Socrates lived his entire 71 year lifespan within the ancient city of Athens. He would have enjoyed the city for a longer period of time if he weren't sentenced to death for his rebellious and unrelenting search for the truth.

It seems that the elite of the day couldn't handle the truth.

I wonder what the philosopher would think of the state of the world today? We have improved our gadgets, but have we improved ourselves as human beings? Has mass consumerism brought us closer to the truth?

My Personal Simple Living Creed

Unless you are wandering, it can be useful to have a map. A personal creed is such a guide. 

Sometimes it is good to wander without direction or destination. I do it regularly when I go out into the woods. Where ever you wander, you never know what that muse known as serendipity will bring. However, at other times, it is helpful to have a map, even if it is something basic jotted down on the back of a napkin.

Regardless of whether your map is in words, scribbles, doodles or pictures, it will come in handy in the pursuit of specific destinations or goals. To make something happen, you have to first think it. The next step is writing it down, which has a way of making it real in the material plane. From that comes action.

In certain situations I like to know where I am going, and how I will manifest my intentions. That is why I have been working on things like the Not Buying Anything Vision Statement, as well as  Manifesto. What is left, you may wonder?

I thought I would take a crack at a Personal Creed this time. What is a personal creed? It is a guide for living your beliefs with your whole being. It helps one guide actions with beliefs. While there are many ways to set out a creed, the following are the questions I pondered before putting my chisel to stone.

• Who am I?
• What is my purpose?
• How do I embrace relationships with my tribe and the larger world?
• How am I at acknowledging an acceptance of reality?
• What actions will I take to fulfill my purpose?

Actually, a creed is not written in stone, and can be changed any time, or disposed of completely if you prefer to indulge your wanderlust instead.  Whatever works for you.

I am testing to see how this one works for me:


My Personal Simple Living Creed


I am someone that lives in ways that allow all living things to enjoy the precious gift of life. I do not acquire things that won't make me happy, so my possessions and desires are few. When I use less, those without enough can have more. This is my guiding principle.


My purpose is to help resolve all personal and global challenges, even though they may be many and appear insurmountable. I engage in joyous life-long learning in order to become proficient in the many ways that make harmonious lifestyles possible for all.


I have a loving tribe that supports me in everything that I seek to attain. In turn, I am there for them in good times, and in bad. My love is unconditional, and encompasses all living things. Together, we work things out to mutual advantage.


How do I treat other living things? There are no other living things - all life is One. I treat the One as I treat that small part of it that is me - gently, truthfully, and with compassion, love and respect. The success of one is the success of all. The failings of one, are the failings of all. True happiness occurs when we are all well-adjusted and content.


I find peace in accepting how things are, regardless of how flawed and defiled they appear in the moment. This gives me the strength to persevere, however difficult, in facilitating changes personally and globally that promote the ways and means necessary for all living things to survive and thrive.


I live each day with joy while giving thanks for the tribe around me, and the ample gifts the Universe has bestowed upon my life. When a day goes by that I don’t laugh, I know to take heed and engage in deep thinking and corrective action. Moment to moment, I keep an awareness of the magic of the Universe, of which I am an important and integral piece.


There is the map. Will it lead me to manifesting simple living treasures for myself and all life forms? I think so.

Gratitude and Thankfulness

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.”

- Todd Stocker

The secret to finding the simple life that appeals you is tapping into the spirit of gratitude and thankfulness. It is this spirit which allows one to appreciate what they have instead of longing for what they might have.

Thankfulness leads to contentment, one thing advertisers and neuro-marketing manipulators do not want you to feel. Ever. They need you to be constantly craving.

They begrudgingly give it up for Thanksgiving, but follow it up with Black Friday, the most surreal shopping event of the year. “Ok, enough of the gratitude, take your desire, lust and acquisitiveness off pause and let's get back to shopping.”

“Sometimes we spend so much time and energy thinking about where we want to go that we don't notice where we happen to be.”

- Dan Gutman

So we have supper with the family, give thanks for our good fortune to be living in the land of everything for everybody all the time, then spend the night camping out on a sidewalk so we can be the first to grab a deal on the lust-have material trinket of the year.

Be thankful you have fists, because you might have to use them to break the store doors down, or beat a competing consumer for the last item on the shelf.

What if, when Thanksgiving ended, you decided not to re-engage your infinite desire for more? What if you decided you had enough, and no amount of more could possibly improve your quality of life?What if you decided that living to work and shop was the problem, and chose instead to be perpetually grateful for the most precious of things in life?

What if you decided to be content with what you already have? More? No thank-you.

“Be thankful for your allotment in an imperfect world.  Though better circumstances can be imagined, far worse are nearer misses than you probably care to realize.”

- Richelle E. Goodrich

I am thankful to be alive, healthy, and experience love in my life. I am grateful to have enough to eat, a warm, dry place to rest my head, and clothes to keep me warm and covered. I am content with a minimal level of material possessions, and appreciate how they actively support the things I love to do with my time.

If you can cultivate a daily, moment to moment appreciation for the gifts the Universe has bestowed up you and your life, you are on your way to creating a simple, intentional life that allows the best possible outcomes for you, the human family, and all life on Earth.

Roughing It In The Woods

Last stop and resting place for this school bus conversion that I found while out for a bike ride in the woods.
It had a wood stove, gas range, counter tops, kitchen sink, two bunk beds, and tables to seat eight.
Landscaping provided by Mother Nature.

One reason I enjoy a stripped down lifestyle is because it is more like roughing it. I like roughing it, and always have. Tenting, living out of a van, cabin or shelter all bring one closer to living harmoniously in, and with, Nature.

There are lessons to be learned here, not all of them comfortable or easy.

Life is not suppose to be perpetually easy and luxurious. Nor is it in our DNA to live in chronic speediness and complexity. Civilization and its marketing branch, consumer culture, makes us soft, dependent, and unprepared to deal with change.

It makes us depressed and dumbed down.

Our bellies, our morals and our minds, all suffer from a morbid slackness, barely held together by thick leather belts of excuses and justifications. Lulled by the easy life, we come to lack intellectual curiosity.

We have been stupefied by stuff. Stifled by silliness. Stultified by the system.

Living simply in a consumer culture is a form of "roughing it". Like other forms of closer-to-nature living, it helps us appreciate what we have, is more physical and healthful, and fosters skills of independence and resilience.

In his book, A Walk In The Woods, author Bill Byrson talks about hiking and camping in a way that describes my experiences roughing it rather well.

"Life takes on a neat simplicity, too. Time ceases to have any meaning. When it is dark, you go to bed, and when it is light again you get up, and everything in between is just in between. It’s quite wonderful, really. 

You have no engagements, commitments, obligations, or duties; no special ambitions and only the smallest, least complicated of wants; you exist in a tranquil tedium, serenely beyond the reach of exasperation, “far removed from the seats of strife,” as the early explorer and botanist William Bartram put it."

I have always enjoyed the feeling I get while hiking, camping, and living on the road. Liked it so much, that it became the model for the rest of my life. I want to feel tranquil and content when I go out into the woods. But I also want to feel that way at home.

I want to feel that sweetness all the time. It is quite wonderful.

Searching For Clarity

This image summarizes this blog nicely.

What is this blog about? Sometimes I don't even know.  Is this a simple living blog? Nature blog? Minimalist blog? Anti-capitalist, or pro-do-your-own-thing blog? How does one tell?

I could look at my label cloud for some ideas, or read and do an analysis of all 1350 post that I have written since 2008. There is another way, and it is quite fun. I am talking about looking at the search words people use.

On the Internet, people are always searching for something.

Using this method, I can see how this blog might differ from the 300 million other blogs out there. This gives me some idea of the focus here, at least from the perspective of search engine algorithms.

Looking at the search words that lead here never fails to surprise me. I am pleased to be associated with the concepts and ideas given in this snapshot of Not Buying Anything.

The following are examples of the most popular searches that landed people at this blog instead of the 299,999,999 other ones on offer these days.


Search Terms That Brought Readers To Not Buying Anything:

• Are you open to the miraculous?
• Alternatives to working.
• Peace.
• Contentedness.
• How is advertising based on illusion?
• A simplified life: tactical tools for intentional living.
• Ascetic lifestyle.
• Austere living.
• Do with less so they'll have enough.
• Extreme frugal living.
• Hoarders.
• Homemade refried beans.
• Consumerism is killing the earth.

When I look at these searches, it gives me an idea of what I am doing over time on my blog, just in case I feel like I am floundering, or have lost focus.

I think I am on the right track, according to my intended purpose, which has been laid out in our Vision Statement, as well as our Simple Living Manifesto.

One thing I can say for sure - we here at Not Buying Anything are definitely open to the miraculous. We have to be, because it is going to take something akin to a miracle for humanity to get through the coming decades successfully.

It is satisfying to see that "peace" is one of the most popular search terms. I also like "homemade refried beans", as if they are the secret ingredient to making the world a better place.

Are you open to the miraculous? How about to refried beans? World peace? You can find it all right here, whatever here is.

Simple Living, Or Poverty?

Consumerism is about making ones self appear “successful” in other people’s eyes. The more stuff you have, the better the reputation. That is what happens when a culture worships material wealth over everything else.

This can lead to a lot of dissatisfaction if one is not able to attain all the trappings required to meet the requirements for this narrow view of what a successful life should look like. Dissatisfaction is a form of pain, of mental illness.

This leads to not only to environmental degradation, but also to much human suffering. We work ourselves to death attempting to attain a certain standing in a sick system that cherishes all the wrong things. We worry about what others will think of us if we don't measure up.

What will people think if I don't have a new car, big house, high paying job, trophy vacations, the right clothes? The list goes on and on and on. The consumerism contest is a Sisyphean pursuit.

In a life of simplicity one can give up on all of that in order to focus on more important things, like finding out the reality of what we are, and why we are here. Instead of looking outward all the time, we have time to look inward in order to answer the important questions that have always challenged  non-distracted humans.

Are there, or have there ever been, any rich sages or mystics? Diogenes claimed he was happy living in his barrel, with his cloak, stick and bread bag.

“The Cynics emphasized that true happiness is not found in external advantages such as material luxury, political power, or good health. True happiness lies in not being dependent on such random and fleeting things.”

 - Jostein Gaardner

One reason I think that simplicity is not as popular as it should be, is because it may be hard for others to tell the difference between poverty and simplicity. Indeed, some call their simple lifestyle "voluntary poverty", not because they feel poor, but because that is what it looks like compared to more luxurious "normal" lifestyles.

What if others think I am poor? Most people would rather die than experience that outcome. But who would argue that it isn't better to be content than continuously striving for an unattainable, unnecessary, and environmentally destructive way of life?

I Wish I Spent More Time Shopping

No one on their death bed wishes that they had spent more time shopping on the internet, or anywhere else (except maybe the garden center). No one wishes they spent more time at work, so they could get more money, so they could spend more time shopping. When we stop to think about our brief time above ground here on this beautiful planet, shopping for entertainment loses its appeal.

At any stage of life there is precious little time for us to engage in the activities that truly matter to us. Such activities would be those that lead to us becoming better humans, and those pursuits which help to make the world a better place. 

I like to consider as much as I can when deciding whether I need to shop for something right now, at a later date, or at all. Will buying that thing, or doing that thing, make me a better person? Will it make the world a better place?

If not, why bother? Why waste the time, effort and money when there are so many more important things to be done? As King Canute said to his courtiers, "Time and tide wait for no one." Today he might say, "Let all people know how empty and worthless is the power of consumerism, for there is none worthy of the name, but Nature."

While no one about to die wishes they had bought more stuff to cram into that already stuffed garage, here are a few things that they do tend to think about as their life comes to an end.

On their deathbed people tend to:

1. Wish they spent more time with family and friends.
2. Wish they spent less time working.
3. Wish they never started a bucket list.
4. Wish they spoke more honestly about how they felt.
5. Wish they chose to be happier and laughed more.
6. Wish they never sold their soul, and entire lives, to the system.

The clock is ticking. How will we choose to spend what time remains to us?

From Our Hearth To Yours

Linda and I would like to wish all NBA readers a happy and contented New Year. May 2016 be your best yet.

“Let our New Year's resolution be this: we will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.”

- Goran Persson

We Can't Afford Consumerism

I see. I want. I get. I emit.

For many people money is the only barrier to consuming. The only question is, "Can I afford it?" Translated this means, "Do I have the money, or can I earn the money in the future, or borrow the money now, to make this purchase as soon as possible?"

If the answer is "yes", and in this age of debt it always is except in the most extreme of cases, whatever is wanted gets bought. We desperately need new questions.

Questions like, "Can the planet afford it?"

Looking at the state of things currently, I would have to say, "No, we can't afford consumerism."

While evidence for coming to this conclusion will not be found in the mainstream media, it is getting increasingly difficult to ignore. All corners of our beautiful home have been depleted and destroyed in the name of satisfying manufactured desires.

Another question we need to ask is, "Who is most responsible for drawing down our shared ecological account?"

The richest 10% are responsible for almost half total lifestyle consumption emissions, for example, while the poorest 50% are responsible for only 10% of emissions. That means the wealthiest 50% are responsible for 90% of emissions.

The more money you have, the more damage you do. The best thing that could happen to a lot of people would be for them to have less money, because we can't afford the damage that results from all that wealth being spent. It would be better for them, others and the planet.

I see. I don't want. I live simply and contentedly with what I have. Why? Because we can't afford consumerism.

Zenful Living

“Knowledge is learning something every day.
Wisdom is letting go of something every day.”
- Zen Proverb

For me, simple living is zenful living. Through it I hear the sound of a quiet life, a quiet mind. It provides me with all the good things that money can not buy. Peace. Enjoyment. Fulfillment.

Zenful living is being fully in the only time frame we have right now - the present. It is allowing each moment to unfold untrammelled by external forces. It leads naturally toward thrift and frugality.

Emulating nature, I am using just what I really need. Not only for basic survival, but also allowing for a satisfying, meaningful life. I am learning to live with an amount of consumption that is socially, environmentally and spiritually responsible. I am learning what is enough for me.

I have time to go for frequent walks in the woods, and while I stroll under the canopy of leaves I am a forest hermit. Listening. Watching. Being.

Simple living is conducive to mindful living, which leads one from bondage to freedom. It is liberating to feel content and whole while living on little.

This is why I will continue to live a simple, Zenful life.

Simple Life - Simple Problems

Occasionally I am reminded of how living the simple life protects a person from the complicated problems of a moneyed existence. Problems tend to be magnified along with bank accounts, although you will rarely hear anyone admit that.

There are ample examples warning about how mounds of money can often bring more misery and complications rather than a problem-free life. Such is the precautionary tale of Terrance Watanabe, whose story took place in Vegas, but was too big to stay there.

Mr. Watanabe grew up in a wealthy family in the US. His father started a novelty supply business in 1932 that grew to be a multi-million dollar enterprise. When the father retired in 1977, his son Terrance took over. In 2000 he sold the family business for a large, undisclosed sum, and began a life as a philanthropist.

What the well-meaning Watanabe became instead was an addict, with booze and gambling being his obsessions. It turned out to be a dangerous combination, and over the course of a single year, the man gambled away an estimated $300 million dollar family fortune.

It gets worse.

During the gambling spree, the casino said, Watanabe wrote and cashed in about $20 million dollars worth of bad cheques. They took him to court to recoup the losses. He faced up to 16 years in prison.

During the proceedings it was discovered that the casino was very familiar with Watanabe, and had a picture of him posted behind the scenes so that workers could identify him and make sure that they "treated him well".

Casino employees, in order to pry more cash out of the problem gambler, provided Watanabe with luxurious courtesy suites, and plied him with drugs and alcohol. Soon, the philanthropist had no money for cab fare, let alone cash to give away to worthy causes.

The whole mess ended up in court with everyone suing everyone else. In the end charges were dropped against the failed gambler, and the casino was fined for taking gross advantage of him.

There is a reason the saying isn't, "Money is the root of all happiness".

If all that money doesn't make you happier, or reduce your stress levels, what is the use of having it? It is counterproductive if all it does is amplify your problems, as it does for so many, including Mr. Watanabe.

I'm betting on the simple life, and the simple problems that go along with it. Chances are good you will come out ahead.

Content With Enough

We seem to have an inability to recognize when enough is enough. We think more will do the trick, even though it never does.

We always want more. People who don't aspire to have more are seen as dangerously unmotivated and potentially mentally ill.

But wanting more always leads to wanting more with contentment remaining frustratingly out of reach just ahead after the next purchase. We know this route is a dead end, but it doesn't stop most from pursuing it.

Kin Hubbard recognized the difficulty of it all when he said, "The hardest thing is to take less when you could take more."

We have disguised the consumer lie of more stuff equals fulfillment by calling the whole process "success".

I think real success is knowing when to stop and be content with enough.

Aging And Household Spending Conducive To Simple Life

Good news for aging into simple living - it is a natural progression to reduce the amount of shopping you do the older you get. You really aren't getting older - you are getting better. Better at living simply.

Generally household spending peaks between the ages of 45 and 50, and then falls in most every category, dropping about 43% by the age of 75. See? Just by following the natural way of things you will live 43% more simply by age 75 than you were at age 45.

Inquiring minds will want to know why this is. Do we get wiser starting at age 45? Are we more content with what we have? Why slow down the spending after a life of binge shopping?

Whatever the cause, it looks like most people will slowly slip into the simple life whether a conscious decision or not.

Tired of spending hoards of cash on things you don't need? Not to worry - aging will take care of that. Not to say one can't start spending less earlier...

The Karma Brokers Camping In Walmart Parking Lots

"The nomadic life is an opportunity to do what I want to do and not have to worry about all the bills and worry about what's happening next." - Sophia

While Linda and I haven't stayed in any Walmart parking lots so far on our trip, I recently saw an interesting article about camping (or living) at Walmart. The piece was about a photographer that visited two separate lots in Flagstaff, Arizona to document the diversity of people staying there, and the community that they have built on the yellow-lined pavement.

The photo above is of a nomadic group of youthful musicians on a temporary stay in one of the Flagstaff lots. They were traveling from Prescott, AZ, to Montana. Each of them plays at least one instrument, and they fund their travels by €œperforming on street corners.

I can relate to Sophie who had this to say about her experience living on the road with her band mates and Kerouac the dog:

"The nomadic life is an opportunity to do what I want to do and not have to worry about all the bills and worry about what's happening next."

Another older parking lot resident sold his house to live full time in an RV. He considers his mobile lifestyle to be responsible for what he calls "the best years of my life".

The photographer that initiated this interesting project concluded that there was a feeling of community among the lot's residents. Reflecting this community, Liz, a woman living in a van with her boyfriend says,

"You meet a lot of good people who like to help out, so when people do that €œit'€™s like you're a karma broker. You give people an opportunity to give good karma back."

See Meet the American Nomads of Walmart’s Plentiful Parking Lots here. 

Entertaining Walden Pond Style

Three chairs - "one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society".

Why do people desire larger houses? Can't a person entertain guests in a Walden Pond-like 150 square foot tiny home?

One of the reasons many who love big houses give for wanting the large interior space of a boutique hotel is to entertain and have room for guests.

Gleaning comments from our post on Average House Size By Country (NBA's most viewed post ever)  I came up with the following:

"I want to have space for people to visit and stay, and space to host bigger parties and events." 

"I like having separate bedrooms and bathrooms for guests."  

"I like having friends and family stay with me."

"What I am really looking forward to is the luxury that we will be able to host guests comfortably. We can now host exchange students, and know that any visiting friends with children, or our elderly relatives will be more comfortable during their stay. They can recuperate from socialising in their own room rather than being confined to the living room or one of the children's bedrooms."  

Although I admire the generosity of wanting to be a gracious host, I don't entirely understand what lots of room has to do with it unless you have an urge to be an innkeeper. What ever happened to sleeping on an air mattress on the floor?

In the tiny space of my home there is no hazard of losing guests. Everyone can hear anything more than a discreetly camouflaged fart regardless of where they are, making any visit a very sociable affair.

You can't run, or hide. If you come here, we WILL be visiting, which in my view, is the whole reason  for guests in the first place.

Henry David Thoreau didn't like big houses for a variety of reasons, including their influence on social interactions. He thought that small houses fostered more rousing visits.

"I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. 

It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain. I have had twenty-five or thirty souls, with their bodies, at once under my roof, and yet we often parted without being aware that we had come very near to one another."

If Thoreau's 150 square feet can host 25 or 30 souls, I imagine my small home could fit over 100 comfortably. Granted, sleeping space, if needed, would be at a premium. 

My Favourite Tiny Home Is A Tent

In the wilderness this tiny home is luxury accommodation.

I have never owned a house. But I have a great tent. It is like a tiny, tiny, tiny home that can be carried great distances on my back to scenic locations. It is perfect for the nomad in me.

According to the specs, my current tent provides an "exceptionally roomy" 3.34 sq. m (36 sq. ft.) of space that sleeps two comfortably. It has two doors and a skylight for stargazing, but no indoor plumbing.

It is a four season tent, meaning it can be used in most any Canadian wilderness situation imaginable. Indeed, I have had the pleasure of sleeping in it in all four seasons and in a variety of locations and conditions.

The tent has been luxury accommodation while sea kayaking in a raging summer deluge as dusk raced us to the campsite. After pulling up on shore among long shadows and setting up in the dripping trees, the dependable shelter kept us warm, dry, and happy until morning.

What more can one expect in the wild, several kilometres out and a few hours of paddling from the nearest road? At the time it felt like a secure fort in the middle of nowhere. More like a safety pod actually.

This 3 sq. m of safety has been set up on lonely beaches of sand where any hope of rescue comes in the form of a helicopter or boat. It has also temporarily resided on several meters of snow at backcountry sites in the Rocky Mountains.

Some of the best sleeps of my life have been in the tent in nature. On good nights, in the right location, say a mountain meadow, before falling asleep one can see starlight shining through the fabric. But I swear that very same flimsy barrier makes me feel better about being in bear country.

This tiny structure has made the difference on several occasions between extreme discomfort or death and a scary but otherwise secure trip. It is my backcountry security blanket, which to a large degree, is what we are talking about from McMansions to pup tents.

It is possible to live without shelter at all, at least for a while.

I have also spent nights crashed out on the hard ground, sometimes in a sleeping bag, and on hot nights, simply laying in the grass or on the sand. Of course, I have also woken up to mice jumping repeatedly on my sleeping bag and sliding to the sand, so some sort of shelter is nice.

And when it is time to move on my tiny, tiny, tiny home fits into a small packable bag measuring 51 cm x 25 cm (20" x 10") .

Stainless steel appliances optional.

Invent Your Own Life's Meaning

The point of living is to create a life that 

reflects your values and satisfies your soul.

The following advice from the creator of the immensely popular Calvin and Hobbes comic strip provides a point to living outside of the mainstream and its promotion of the "good life". 

Bill Waterson came by these words of wisdom from personal experience. Early in his career he worked for an advertising agency creating grocery ads, but he eventually escaped the corporate world to work on his own.

His quest for "personal fulfillment" lead him to create some of the most iconic comic characters in the history of funny. His wonderfully wacky world was born to a receptive and appreciative global audience.

How did he do it? By turning away from conventional modes of living and doing things his way. You can do it, too.

Bill Waterson's Advice

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. 

In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive.

Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success.

Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake.

A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to their potential.

As if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing.

There are a million ways to sell yourself out and I guarantee you'll hear about them.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble."

Invent your own life's meaning.

- Bill Waterson

Waldo Finds Himself

"Wherever I go, there I am."

Waldo, (Willy in the UK, Charlie in France, Ali in Turkey, and Hetti in India) of the Where's Waldo series, was a world traveler for a while. For one year the distinctive book character could be found in a children's magazine featuring illustrations depicting him in crowds in special places all over the world.

Many people are doing the same and 'pulling a Waldo' for a weekend, or a week or two at a time, depending on available holiday time. They are 'getting away' and hiding themselves in crowds the planet over.

Often travel seems more like hiding from the stick, rather than being drawn by the carrot. People attempting to recover from busy lives that are beating them down by taking trips and blending into the background of far away exotic places.

The market for international vacations is growing by about 4% per year. 2012 marked the first time in history that total international trips taken in one year passed the 1 billion milestone globally.

Numb from the endless work of keeping up with the Jones', people fly from one destination to another in a search of respite and some much needed relaxation. Turns out it can be more difficult than trying to find Waldo in a double page spread of an Australian beach scene.

Waldo can hide from you (and his boss), but he can't hide from himself.

Wally's exploits in world travel (and getting lost in crowds) were documented in 52 Wally's World magazine issues in 1997-98. They provided enjoyable geography lessons for kids in 14 countries, none of whom had to leave home to learn about their planet.

Since then Waldo has settled down as his restlessness has dissipated, and his jet setting ways have mellowed to a gentle pace.

As Waldo slowed down he came to the realization that wherever he went, there he was. When the newness and excitement of his trips wore off, as always inevitably happened, he was back to square one.

He stopped, and looked in the mirror in a moment of reckoning.

You might be able to run and hide for a short while, but like Waldo, you will eventually realize you can't escape the fact of who and what you are.

Waldo took the ultimate voyage and traveled within. In the process he found peace and contentment, right where he is at.

I Could Live In A Tent

I could live in a tent.

I am not expecting much in the way of a place to live. I could make it quite nicely in a basic canvas cabin tent.

I imagine a small piece of land - a place where I can grow a garden, keep some chickens and a goat, and sing, dance, learn and play with uninterrupted abandon.

Somewhere with fresh air, clean water, and surrounded by nature. A place with positive, cooperative neighbours.

Given these conditions, I swear, I could live in a tent. Yes, a tent, and not for a night, or a week, or the summer, or until my 'dream home' is built.

Right now, the tent IS my dream home.

Tiny home, big garden would suit me fine

Perhaps at some point I would want to separate myself from the bears with solid walls. It might be fun to build my own tiny home.

A tiny home (or tent) and a big garden would suit me fine.