Episode 17: Leaving the Beaten Path
Posted on: October 25, 2008
For a long time I was very deep in the mainstream. In the mid 80′s I would’ve called myself conservative if someone had asked. Much of that, though, had more to do with the fact that I didn’t know of any other way of life. I didn’t really think of going “off the beaten path” because I was so deep in it that I didn’t even realize there was a path let alone that there were ways to get off of it. That was, until I visited Sage’s mom back in the mid 90′s. With a few small exceptions, Sage’s mom, Kite, has lived on a large plot of land in the country with several other women since I’ve know her. Dwellings on the land range from renovated barns to tipis, to adapted storage sheds. Most have electricity (delivered by extension cord) but none has running water (the kitchen is served by a hose for washing and there is a tap that goes to a well for drinking). The only net access available is dialup. The cost to maintain such a simplified life is significantly less than living a “mainstream” life (at one point when we were living in the yurt we could get by on as little as $300/month) allowing one to spend more time doing what is important to them and less time working for someone else.
That visit changed my life by opening my eyes to what other options there might be. And I began to wonder – how others found out about the existence of options other than the mainstream. On a recent visit to the land, I talked to Kite and the other women about how they found out that there was a path other than that which their parents chose.
How about you? Are you living off the beaten path in some way? Care to share how you found your way there? Leave a note in the comments or send an audio comment!
Contributors included:
Todd Tyrtle of Quirky Outtakes
Kiteweather of Living Dragon
as well as Barb, Paula, Badger, and Paul Tyrtle
Theme music was by Josh Woodward
Listen here.
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