Tag Archives: challenge

Volunteer Project: Reach the Beach

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Each year the American Lung Associations hosts a bike ride from Portland, OR (technically Beaverton, OR) to or Pacific City on the coast. Each rider is asked to donate $35 dollars to register and raise an additional $125 for the cause. The Reach the Beach web-site makes it quite easy to make your own little web-site and collect and raise donations. Using this model, generating support from riders and their sponsors, the ride raises thousands of dollars for lung disease research and prevention.

So I did this. I raised the money and packed my things to prepare for the ride. And just to be clear, when I say “packed my things” I mean everything that I would own from that point forward. I had decided that this fundraiser/ride would be the perfect opportunity for me to kick off my extended bike tour adventure.

ONce you register for Reach the Beach you get to choose from 4 different start locations making the ride range from 104 miles (Beaverton, OR) to a mere 26 miles (Grand Rhonde, OR). Reach the Beach has all the amenities of a supported bike tour. They’ll carry your bags, have mechanics on hand and best of all they feed you breakfast, two lunches, snacks and a giant dinner at the end. Nom nom nom.

This year was the second year for me to attempt such a feat. Each year I say that I am going to do the full ride from Portland, but each year I fail. It seems that an 8am start time is just a bit too difficult for me. Who would have guessed? This year I missed the cut off by 18 minutes. So, I started my journey from Newberg, OR just a little over 80 miles from the finish line. I was super excited to be on the road again.

Here is a extremely attractive picture of myself to prove it.

But within the first 15 miles I was already bleeding. Since I wasn’t quite used to carrying so much stuff on my bike, I was a bit wobbly. When I tried to stop, it fell on me and cut me with it’s gears. Sigh.

After that, however, it was relatively smooth sailing. I was at the tail end of the pack, but not so late that the rest stops were already closed. This is particularly important, because Reach the Beach feeds you every 10-15 miles. And to be honest, most of the reason that I enjoy bike touring so much is because I get to eat 5-8 times per day.

Anyhow, I wish that I took more pictures while I was riding, but that’s dangerous. So you’ll have to take my word for it, the route is incredibly beautiful. We rode alongside streams and waterfalls and farms and through lush Oregon forests, but I don’t have proof of that. I do, however, have pictures of logs…

…and a tiny llama. You can use your imagination for the rest.

And finally, 9 hours and 82.4 miles later, I Reached the Beach!

My legs were on fire! I was incredibly tired, but I had completed the challenge and was quite proud of myself. This, however, was only the first step. As we speak, I am in Reedsport on the Southern Coast of Oregon. I biked here as well. I am getting stronger and stronger every day, and look forward to more FEATS of STRENGTH as I set out on my quest to become A Voluntourista!

So ya wanna…

…Ride in the next Reach the Beach?

…Volunteer for Reach the Beach?

…Follow my bike ride almost constantly?

 

 

Hurry up and Panic!! aka. How to Pack for an Epic Bike Tour

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May 1st 2012

All holiness! it’s May! I am not even close to being ready to leave, but I can’t do anything about that today. I need to participate in some volunteer activism today.

May 2nd 2012

Spent most of my worrying on not having a bike or a backpack. Followed by a lengthy fuss over which socks to bring and how to get rid of the rest of my clothing. Finally, I became fed up with myself and bought my first chunk of supplies from Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not too sure if these are the best things to buy. I’m a bit concerned about the bulk of that water bottle & keyboard, but we’ll have to see.

 

May 3rd 2012

Pulled out that old box of randoms that I’ve been carting from house to house with me. Sorted my remaining things into 4 categories: stuff I’ll take with me, stuff to donate, clothes & a survival backpack–a bag to be retrieved upon return to Portland. Felt much better about my progress.

May 4th 2012

Realized that nothing that I ordered from Amazon the other day actually ordered except the batteries and the Ipad case. Well, great. Discouraged, I once again weighed the benefits of each item.

May 5th 2012

Fine, I admit it. I played Magic (The Gathering) all day today. What? Don’t look at me like that. It just happened. It’s a new thing. I’m learning. Whatever.

May 6th 2012

Reordered everything that didn’t come. I didn’t want to look at them again. I just wanted the items to arrive on my doorstep, and pronto! There’s is an approximately 20% chance that they may not arrive on time. My laissez-faire approach is sure to bite me in the ass sooner or later.

May 7th 2012

For some reason, once again, my credit card was declined. None of that stuff from Amazon was actually coming. I called the bank to try and straighten it out. Apparently, my spending spree was “out of character” and was immediately classified as fraud. Great. There was absolutely no way that I could get my supplies in time. I declared good riddance to the credit card and the supplies from Amazon, and sunk into a nearly catonic state of inactivity.

May 8th – May 12th 2012

At this point I had decided to completely ignore the fact that I was leaving and was not prepared in the least. I would sort through things, and occassionally put things in piles or take them some place to donate or give to a good home. However, I can’t honestly recall making much progress at this time at all. I was starting to feel regret and confusion about my choice to leave my beautiful city and friends and work place and the like. Also, at this time I was finishing up a temp job with the Food Bank, and thought that since I was “working so hard” I didn’t need to make progress in any other part of my life. Oh well…

May 13th 2012

Snap out of it lady! You need to start making things happen… and pronto! I had quit my job (again) days before, had my weekend and then realized that there was A LOT more to do before I would ever be able to go anywhere. I started making lists and deciding exactly when and where I would need to go to gather all my supplies. I also did another sort, and realized that I had way more stuff to find a home for than I had initially imagined.

A step by step action plan was in place, and I had approximately five days to enact all of it. Perfect. Bring on the pressure, this is when I thrive.

May 14th 2012

Today the Community Cycling Center was hosting a sale for all volunteers and special people. I decided that this would be a good day to buy as much as I possibly could from my beloved bike shop. Within 15 minutes of entering the store I had purchased: a patch kit, a bike rope lock, a multi-tool and a half-watt front light. I had also scoured their bike selection for a 49cm touring bike to no avail. In a last stitch effort to actually BUY A BIKE I asked the bike man behind the counter if they had anything in my size. He told me he’d check in the basement for me.

I waited with bated breath. If the Community Cycling Center didn’t have a bike for me, I would need to venture into the world of regular bike shops that don’t have amazing community programs, and perhaps even try my hand at purchasing something brand new. I wasn’t sure if I could handle all that stress at this juncture. Luckily for me, he came out of the basement with a beautiful 49cm 1981 Fuji America touring bike. My heart almost stopped.

 

They would still need to price it.

I would need to wait.

“There’s no time! Doesn’t he realize there’s no time! Just give it to me! give it to me!” Gah!

I went to several other bike shops that day. Nothing quite gave me the same feeling as that vintage dream boat from my favorite shop in Portland. I called them about 30 minutes before they closed to see if they had priced it yet. No luck. No bike for me.

May 15th 2012

Though I still didn’t have a bike and was planning on going on an indefinite bike tour come weeks end, I decided that it would be best if I visited with my friends and went to a used clothing store down the street. I was looking for shirts that could also be dresses, and things that were light enough that I wouldn’t curse their existence once I was one the road. I am not much of a shopper, and I had been avoiding this task for quite some time.

I tried on everything from neon tank tops to ball gowns. What? I may need to go to a “function” or something. Can you tell I’m not very good at this? Thankfully, my dear friend and sworn fashion utilitarian showed up to assess my purchases. She made me defend every purchase and then rolled each of the items up for a “scrunch test.” Did they get small enough for me to justify taking them? Will they wrinkle? Will they keep warm/cool?

In the end I walked out with 3 long tops, a skirt and a pair of Dry-Fit running pants. I was extremely satisfied with the size, weight & non-wrinklability of my purchases. We decided to get some lunch to…well, get some lunch, when the Community Cycling Center finally called me. They had priced the bike! and they had priced it well.

“I’ll take it!” I shouted into the phone. “Can you hold it? I can be there in… maybe two hours. I’m across town, I’ll need to bike over there.”

“Sure. Sure. We’ll hold it until 6pm, but no later.”

I was squealing with joy. Today, I got a bike!

May 16th 2012

With my newfound sense of accomplishment and forward motion I headed over to Next Adventure where I purchased that snazzy new back pack that I wanted weeks ago. It was small, light, waterproof and adaptable for my situation. I also purchased some camp soap and cookware. Between this and the bike, I felt like there wasn’t possibly anything else that I could do to prepare for my trip… I was gonna be fine. Right?

May 17th 2012

Though I intended to leave a mere 48 hours from this point the pressure had not yet set in. I decided that doing my laundry, washing my sheets and laying my supplies on my bare mattress from its 7000th inventory would be the most beneficial use of my time.

 

May 18th 2012

Wait? I’m supposed to leave tommorrow?! That can’t be true. I’m not ready. I’m not ready. I’m not ready! Early morning was dedicated to gathering some final supplies. My special friend took me to REI where I bought: a stuff sack, a wash-in waterproofer, and a camp towel. That should do it.

Once I returned home, I focused my attention to all that moving out that I had left to the last moment. I started by setting everything that I wouldn’t mind never seeing again in the front lawn–free box style. By 3pm it was all taken away to be donated.

Finally, I packed up all my belongings and strapped them to the bike. There was one more load of stuff to take to my friends house, and a bag that I was calling my “Safety Bag” that was to be picked up by another friend. The safety bag had all things I would need in case of a return to Portland. There was a few interiew outfits, new underwear an cell phone and some things that I just couldn’t bear to part with. I definintely suggest having one of these, I do it every time I leave a city.

I installed my spedometer, and tested out my panniers and packs. I cleaned and swept out my room, and made sure to clear the house of any residue d’Amy.

By midnight, I was finally where I needed to be. I was going to sleep on my friends couch so that she could take me to the start of the race the next day. I still had some packing to do and had to waterproof my jacket and pants around one in the morning. Sheesh. They say that procrastination is addictive: I should have known I was an addict.

I finally fell asleep around 2:30am. I felt like a kid excited for their first day of school, I couldn’t get to sleep!

…but everything was finally in its place, and it felt oh so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obsessively Compulsive Dilemma (Part II)

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Read Part I here…

I do this thing, where I’ll decide what food I want to eat, and then I’ll seek it out. If I can’t find it, I won’t eat anything else. Instead, I’ll wallow in my hunger and self-pity until I can take a nap or settle for a different food to eat. It’s annoying, counter-productive & ultimately a bit painful. Does anyone else do this? or is it just me?

I tell myself that I just have the opposite of ADD– unrelenting, long-term focus on a single topic or idea. This is why I know the nature of evolution from single-cell organism to our current genetic family or why I never miss any entry on my big money charts or why I insist that I can just quit my job, focus real hard and do nice things for free.

I wish that I could say that this particular characteristic of my personality is always an asset. As you can imagine, this is not the case. I can become, how can we say this delicately, obsessed. While other people seem to move gracefully from topic to topic, I can stay fixated on a single idea for hours upon hours. As I’ve grown up, I’ve learned how to mitigate this issue. Not everyone needs to know that I’m still thinking about that thing we were talking about two hours ago. Yeah, I’m so totally over it. Whatever.

Sigh. Welcome to my inner workings. If have something in mind; I chart & plan & poke and prod until I get it. And if I can’t get my mind wanting something else, I will settle for nothing less. Its kinda like getting a song stuck in your head, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t get it out. Until finally Cyndi Lauper and  ”Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun” comes on the radio and all of a sudden you want to be the one to walk in the sun, and nothing’s gonna stop you.

It requires a lot of focus.

Unfortunately, this is what is happening with me and supply gathering. I’ve been paralyzed by indecision. A few pages of this…

Turned into several things like this…

Which led to the creation of an Amazon affiliate program, and the ultimate erosion of my sanity.

You see, I did not realize the world that I was stepping into: the world of travel bloggers. Who knew? they write, edit, take pictures, make movies, design web-sites, do SEO, advertise, guest blog and slay dragons. The rabbit hole has been making my head spin, and deep in the swirling vortex of funny new words and skill sets are sponsorships & affiliate programs.

This last task has proven to be much larger than I realized, mostly because I can obsess about a single purchase for months and months, let alone a whole slew of ‘em! I have spent hours upon hours on the internet picking out items that I want and matching them to the things on my list. I have not, however, purchased a single thing–not one thing. I may never be able to put up a full Amazon store because I have a reoccurring fear that I will accidentally endorse something that is produced by killing albino rhinos, mining the rain forest & enslaving blind children.

(Short cut: If you are planning on buying anything through Amazon, just click  here first, and you’ll help me out in the process.)

Sigh again. I have purchasing anxiety, and its not getting any better. I think I may just have to suck it up and go to a store–a real one. Not a big one like a Target or a Wal-Mart, I could die in there, but a smaller one like Next Adventure, they sell used stuff as well… that helps. 

The first thing I want to buy is an ultralight backpack. I want a day pack, with little to no metal support and tons of pockets for careful sorting. I figure that if I have one of these I can slowly fill it and begin to whittle down my list until I have everything I need.

Sounds easier than it is, well, for me at least. I mean, look at all those numbers & dimensions! How do I know what would be best? I can’t just buy the 35L size because its divisible by 5–that would be silly… wouldn’t it?

Bicycle! Bicycle!

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  • If you keep at it, you will get better. It does get easier…eventually.
  • There’s nothing wrong with taking it slow, no matter how fast you can go.
  • There’s no need to curse your challenges, instead thank them for the opportunity. A car chasing you uphill is often good motivation.
  • You can always get better gear, but when it comes down to it, you will work with what you have, and its OK to be a little cold and wet every once and a while.
  • People may try to hit you or call you names, but grace is always appreciated. You don’t need need an obese man in a tiny Toyota Corolla trying to chase you down for giving him the the middle finger on your way to work or anything
  • If you work, shop & play close to home, you will meet your neighbors. That’s good for the soul.
  • Climate change is real. We can feel the exhaust from vehicles. Taste it, even. That can’t be good for anyone.
  • Food is Fuel. aka. You are what you eat. When you make your body your vehicle, you realize these cliches are no joke.
  • You will get a flat tire. Be prepared or be willing to walk.
  • You can do it. Seriously. Under any condition, through any obstacle– its just a matter of deciding that you MUST.

Ride bikes everyday!

Q1: Big Money Charts – Attempting to Live on Minimum Wage

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I’ve been firmly unemployed for a little over two months now. I have been thoroughly enjoying my free time. I’ve been able to work on many projects (including this one) that I wouldn’t have been able had I otherwise been gainfully employed. There is, however, one little question that I can’t seem to avoid.

Open scene: intimate gathering among friends, cocktails in hand, light indie music playing in the background, calculated ambient light focuses on two guests on the couch.

Guest 1:    So, what do you do?
Amy: Me? I write and volunteer.
Guest 1: (confusion)  Uhh. So that’s like your job?
Amy:  Not really. I’m doing it because its what I want to do and I think its important.
Guest 1: OK, so then what do you do?

Picture pulls back then rockets towards Amy’s forehead symbolizing entering her inner dialogue.

Goddammit. Why do people ask this question if it’s not the question they want answered. Just come out and say it, “How do you make money?” At least that would be straightforward and honest. What exactly we are trying to suss out with this question still escapes me. Is this person happy? Are they rich? Do they enjoy their work? Can I date them? Are they successful? Can they fix my car?

I have to fight off the urge to say something like, “I work with a very tight knit group of wealthy individuals. My job is to eliminate people who know too much. Shall I go on?” Or perhaps, “Fine! You caught me! I sell my dirty underwear to creepy people on the internet,” and burst into to tears and run off.

But really, com’n, how do you make money?

Well, to be honest, currently, I don’t make any money. I have saved up enough to “pay myself” for hopefully a year or more. Some call it a gap year, I call it a project.

So, starting about one month before I quit my job, I decided that I would try an experiment to limit my expenditures and stretch out my freedom. I was and still am trying to live within the means of someone working minimum wage in the United States, which according to my calculations is about $1160 per month**.

At first, I kept my experiment a secret. It felt almost insulting to experiment with the reality of millions (arguably billions) of people. However, as I failed month after month, I realized that this was a story that needed to be told as well. Honestly, this is the graphic that broke this camel’s back: 

After I saw this, I started to talking with people. I heard about a lot of frustration, shame and guilt related to the issue. As I was comically fumbling through the fringes of frugality, many people I care about very much were carefully navigating this world, and had been for quite some time.

Unfortunately, for some reason, its taboo to discuss money. I suppose if you had a lot if, it may be kinda awkward to tell everyone about it. I forgot, the rich make the rules. But back here in reality, if you’re working a standard week earning what we as a community agree is the value of a standard person’s time, you can’t afford to have two things go right or wrong in the same month. Maybe this is something we should be talking about more openly.

Fortunately for all of you, I routinely keep strict financial records and produce colorful graphs at the end of each month to detail my expenditures. What, doesn’t everybody? Whatever; I do that….and the chips are in for the first quarter of 2012.

In the spirit of advocacy and of just plain letting it all hang out, I present to you…

MY BIG MONEY CHARTS!

January 2012

Despite all my best intentions, in January I overspent by $238.44 or 20.56%. Daaamn! You’d think I wasn’t even trying.

To be fair, I needed to pay the dump & various trucks to free me of my possessions, aaaand it was my special friend’s birthday, but I could have done better. Since I was still employed for most of the month I felt like my lavishness was justified. Oh com’n, don’t look at me like that. I had a lot to celebrate.  What? A girl can’t have a vices column without gettin’ the stank eye? Sheesh.

However, if you’re on the other end of the spectrum wondering how the hell I spent so little, I answer, “I hate shopping, live with roommates and ride my bike everywhere. That pretty much takes care of it.”

I would probably categorize this as my typical semi-frugal fully-employed spending.

Now onto February. This month I only overshot my target by 14.75% or $171.10. Come on, that’s not bad. It’s a 7.41% decrease in spending from the previous month. Sorry, my nerds showing.

Looking for “excuses” as to why I couldn’t keep my spending within the wages of your average minimum wage worker? Well, I went to the dentist.I needed a deep cleaning and a few cavities filled. I only went to the cleanings so far, next month is the heavy lifting. I want to make sure to avoid a root canal. Ouch!

February 2012

Other than that, I splurged on some Mac accessories to try and make the whole iPad thing work for me. Unfortunately, I don’t really like it as a work station. I’m debating getting something else. Not cheap. I’ll probably just make due. Finally, I spent a little extra on food, particularly groceries. We joined a co-op and bought a juicer, so we needed many tiny mountains of nice fruits and vegetables to experiment . So many tasty fruits and vegetables. Nom!

I would like to tell you that by March, I finally got the hang of it, and squeaked by heroically at the end of month. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Somewhere around the middle of the month I decided that being a stingy girl was no fun at all. I went on my Small Town Review, and drank coffee whenever I wanted. And then there were the birthdays, three in one month, and I may or may not have bought everyone a round of drinks on more than one occasion. Um, I do believe that there was also a delivery Chinese purchase for three in there as well. Oops.

March 2012

By the end of the month, I was truly frightened to find out how far I had strayed. I didn’t want to pull the final calculations together at all.

Thankfully, however, I didn’t do nearly bad as I thought. I guess I was able train myself to forego buying nearly anything, and to feel truly guilty for every splurge I make. Oh joy.

The kicker is that I’d have been one Chinese take out night away from success had I not paid taxes this month. Yup. Taxes. Now some may argue, that if I had, in fact, been making minimum for the last year, I wouldn’t have had to pay taxes, and instead I would be getting a refund. That may be true, and as it should be, but that means, my friend, that you are missing the point.

The point is: no matter what, something will happen. There will always be a cavity or a birthday party or worse, an illness or an injury, foiling any attempts to stay housed, fed & out of debt. This is a reality for millions upon millions of Americans.

Bummer, bra, bummer….

Yup. There you have it, I have bore my financial soul to the gods of the internet in the name of those less fortunate than myself.  And yes, concerning this particular challenge, I am a failure. If this experiment were real, I would be out on the streets or just another couch surfer wearing out their welcome. Each month I got better, but I still wasn’t able to do it. Nevertheless, I refuse to reinforce the idea that one is a failure if they are not able to make ends meet on limited (yet socially acceptable) wages. I am not a failure. We are not failures. There is something else, very real that has failed us here.

Thoughts?

**Also, If you have a better idea of how much somone living on minimum wage in the US would make in take home pay, please let me know. I’d love to hear that it is more. Thanks!

Obsessively Compulsive Dilemma

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The shop was unassuming. Tucked away in the back corner of a basement in outer Northeast Portland; it shared a space with the house’s old furnace, King Fire, whose namesake was stamped on its ancient metal door. The mechanic was unassuming as well. His thin frame and stylish glasses made him look 15 years younger than he really was. Only the bits of grey in his beard and neat haircut hinted at any additional maturity.

I sat on a small folding chair off to the right of the room. My bike was hanging on two straps in the center. She was getting a full tune-up. Her wheels had been removed and she looked like a shiny new bike again. Nostalgic, I start to recall the times that we had together.

“You know, that was the first bike that I rode on RAGBRAI. My dad got it for me. I had never known that a bike could be so fast and smooth and light until I met that one.” I would trail off, it wasn’t important that anyone was listening to me, just that these memories could linger in the air for a bit longer.

“Well, I wouldn’t be too bummed about it. You’ll get to buy another bike to ride to the Redwoods. Have you thought about what you’re gonna get. I would love to help you pick something out.”

An uncomfortable look must have crept across my face. I had thought about getting a new bike, but I wasn’t quite ready to admit that to my old bike yet. Geez, talk about awkward. Not to mention, the thought of spending a cool G on my next ride made my stomach turn.

“Ooh. You’re going to need lights and panniers, front & back. Do you have panniers?” He’s getting excited, as if he was getting it all for himself. I could see his mind flipping through the catalog of bike gear that he’s committed to memory.

I’m staring off into space. Flipping through my sets of compulsions to identify which would limit me most from acquiring everything I’d need for this trip. I can’t buy anything new–foreign factory new, that is.  I don’t want to research  things to buy. I hate that. I’m not too keen on dealing with people on Craigslist either. I’d have to try and fit these things into my extremely restrictive budget though.  What do I have already that I can use? I can ‘t just throw out all my current things and get all new things. That would be immoral, I thought.

I was stuck on the idea of which shoes that I already own would be best for this trip when I realize he had asked me a question. I shook my head as if to ensure a safe entrance back into reality, “I have a set of panniers. Yeah.” The question had forced me to start mentally packing each of my assumed four panniers: camp stuff, food stuff, digital stuff, clothes stuff. Perfect: four panniers, four categories. But wait! What if camp stuff is heavier than food stuff? or clothes stuff heavier than personal stuff? *gasp* Personal stuff? Is that a fifth category? What do I do with a fifth category?! I can’t be uneven!

“Do you think you want to buy a bike already made or make one yourself?”  He’s adjusting the back fender with laser focus. One last tweak and she’ll be all set. I can see the Bianchi Volpe from the bike shop down the street…words cannot express.

I covet: Bianchi Volpe

“I’m gonna need a lot of stuff, aren’t I?”

“Well, yeah. I thought you knew that.”

“Yeah, I guess I just didn’t realize.” I could feel my heart beating and my palms start to sweat. “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed,” I reveal calmly.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll definitely help you find a bike.”

That’s great, but a bike definitely isn’t a category and it sure as hell isn’t going to fit in a pannier. 

“Thank you, that’s super helpful. You know I know nothing about that stuff.”

Sigh.

The first moment I was left alone with my notebook and my ideas, I could start to plan for my pending trip. I kicked it off with a list of everything I would need broken into five categories: bike, camp, digital, clothes & personal. Five, yes, five. Its my favorite number. whatever. From there, I highlighted the things that I still need to acquire. Followed by how to best get them with as little harm to people & the planet and the most helpful to those around me (i.e. local business, friends in need, etc.). Next I started planning my stops and who would be joining me where and for how long. At this point, I realized that I needed to stop. Other people often aren’t as receptive to my planning as I am, and may resent being included in my spreadsheets.

My mother & her binder -- RAGBRAI 2011

Pages and pages and pages were scrawled down before I realized exactly what I was doing. I was making a RAGBRAI binder–just like my mother. You see, every July for the past seven years my family has been participating in RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. My mom doesn’t ride her bike, but she drives the support vehicle, which means she goes from town to town looking for the best place to set up camp. She finds the perfect campsite in every town: close to the festivities but not too close, enough trees to set up a hammock & clothes line, support for the solar shower, and proper positioning to insure the perfect placement of the early morning sun etc.

She is very good at what she does.

Each year she makes up a detailed binder with checklists, maps, routes & entertainment options. Each year we make fun of her for going into such detail. Yet, each year we huddle around the binder planning out our days and praising her forethought.

Much to my surprise, I am no different. My binder, however, is. It will be digital and linked up to an Amazon affiliate account. Boom. Internets!

(to be continued)

Blast from the Past: 20 Things I’ve Learned Living in the Woods

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This may come as a surprise, but this is not my first time as a blogger or even my first time as a quit-your-whatever-and-go-do-something-crazy-type person. Believe it or not, I’m a serial non-conformist. Last time around, however, it was a bit different. I blogged, but I didn’t show anyone. I was also doing something crazy, but that wasn’t quite the same either.

I was writing in the time before extreme social networking. In the time before you could Google every person you met.  I didn’t have nearly the same amount of skills or resources or know how or whatever as I do now.  I had just graduated from college and was living in the woods with three dudes. Yup. I’m serious. This is all part of my resume to become A Voluntourista. Seems relevant, doesn’t it?

Anyhow, I recently stumbled across the old blog that I was writing during that time. I thought it might be interesting to resurrect it for the modern eye. I’m really not sure if that’s a good idea, but I guess you all can be the judge. The following was written at the end of a 3 month stay in an uber-rich mountain town living among the woodsies (i.e. people without homes that live in woods). It was quite an experiment, to say the least

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Friday, August 31st 2007: 20 Things I’ve Learned Living in the Woods

Tonight is my last night in this here small town. We will be attempting to hitch hike to Denver in the morning. I will be skipping out on my job, and leaving my home in the woods. In honor of my last night in this village I wanted to compile a list of what I have learned will living in the woods. So here it is:

20 Things I’ve Learned Living in the Woods

  1. Water is precious. There will probably be wars about it one day.
  2. You don’t need a gym to get in shape, just start walking your ass everywhere.
  3. People will always try to help you out.
  4. Be honest. It sucks to have to lie all the time.
  5. Being homeless really isn’t so bad, in fact it could be a choice…so quit judging people about it.
  6. But being homeless is really bad when it is raining.
  7. Take care of your feet.
  8. Befriend your public library. The knowledge there is free.
  9. Don’t do coke. It will only trap you, and when you are depressed and wondering why you are trapped…it doesn’t help you figure it out. (addendum: not from experience, just an observation)
  10.  Pooping in the woods is gross. No one should have to be that intimate with their shit.
  11. Not every sound you hear at night is a cougar or a bear or an ax murderer.
  12. You don’t need to shower THAT much.
  13. Cigarettes make it hard to hike up a mountain.
  14. Appreciate your kitchen.
  15. Its way better to pee standing up.
  16. Bears can smell your mac and cheese.
  17. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
  18. Get your sleeping schedule from the sun. You’ll feel way better!
  19. Drinking too much makes you sick.And the final things that I’ve learned while living in the woods is…
  20. Running water and electricity are sooooo overrated.

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While it was not an easy time in my life, I have to admit that many of the wisdoms I gathered as a woods dweller will be helpful as a set out on this journey. Also, I’m coming up on another two week bout of houselessness. Last time, I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I could have been. I will need to harness the power of previously Vagabond Expert Amy to help the current Four Years Soft Amy as she makes her way into this wild n’ crazy world.

This is where in real life I would yell something like, “Feats of strength!” or growl “bring it on!” to the nearest listener. I can be a trash talker, ya know. However, right now, I don’t really have much room to talk. Oh well.

Here’s a picture of happy me in those same woods five years ago.

FEATS OF STRENGTH!!

Downsizing: Adventures in Minmalism (Part III)

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For me, it’s easy to imagine a life without my stuff—unencumbered, light, free. I have slick back hair in my fantasy…and a one piece body suit. Whatever. But as I carry on my wayward, I’m finding it more and more difficult to part with the last of my collection. Each item seems to represent something outside of itself. Ya know? from that time I went that one place and so on.

Thankfully, I’ve been able to derive inspiration from one of my favorite people, Julia from Today I threw Away… She had been getting rid of five things a day for about a year, but then she took a break. But now? She’s back! Admittedly, I’m quite glad she started this project last year, when I was first thinking about this whole adventure. It made me want to acquire less stuff and scale down for the future. Counterintuitive, huh?

And so it follows, now seems like a good time for an update on the whole downsizing thing. I will once again be ‘floating,” and need to disappear for about a week. So I’ve organized all my stuff. It only seems fitting.

I managed to sort everything in three piles. First, is the stuff that I will donate or “gift.” I have it sitting in the basement ready for departure.

Here’s the helpful infographic to outline the stuff that I’m leaving in the closet. There is still so much to get rid of:

Ok, maybe that’s not all that helpful. Doesn’t it seem like I have more stuff than last time? I’m not sure how that happened, but this is the honest to god last of it—blankets and all. OK fine, I still have one bike… and this stuff, that I’m taking with me:

I swear, the next time that I do one of these downsizing entries I’ll be a lean mean travelin’ machine, or maybe not. This is hard er than it looks…

PS. I had this entry ready to go last week when I began my houseless wanderings, but my transient lifestyle has made it difficult to simultaneously find electricity & internet that my 2005 DELL Inspiron can connect to–she’s finicky. I’m going to need to level up my hardware if I’m ever going to become the digital nomad of my dreams.

Raw Foodist?

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While I was “floating” last week, someone dropped off The Raw Food Detox Diet book. Oh god, not another book about food.

At my last job, we were knee deep in the shortcomings of the industrialized food system. In my humble opinion, a lot of our problems concerning our health, education, nutrition, environment and economy could be solved (or at least addressed) by implementing a strong local food system in every community. It’s heartbreaking how easy it could be. Please pause for a moment of silence for the loss of our natural food system.

I am not, however, here to preach about the problems of the world or act like I have the solution. I’m just here to blog. Right? Whatever.

So anyway, I read the entire book that day–cover to cover. A lot of the information wasn’t new to me. Really, the craziest things I learned about were poop, and the types of poop that there is. Never mind. I’m stopping here.

I’m not becoming a raw foodist. Eat more whole foods. Great idea! I really do feel best when I eat tons of fruits & vegetables and almost no wheat/gluten. I’ll try to be better about that, but that’s not really the epiphany that came out of this. What was the epiphany? Simplicity in food & habits.

The less I need my extravagant food & bad habits the longer I will be able to travel the world. 

Plain and simple.

So what’s the first thing to get the boot? COFFEE.

And what was my secret? NAPS. LOTS & LOTS OF NAPS.

How’s that for some self-help blogger guru bullshit? You’re welcome.

Sweatin’ the Small Stuff: Adventures in Minimalism (Part II)

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There is almost no furniture left in the purple room. I have a mattress and lamp on the floor and a small coffee table tucked in the corner. The rest of the floor space is dedicated to The Great Sort.

Everything I’m going to keep or need to look through is in the closet on the left, and everything to donate/give away is in the corner on the right. Granted, there are still a few piles if miscellaneous “goods” scattered about the house, and front lawn (my apologies Courtney), but most of those already have a new place to go–if not only in my mind. I’m finding new homes for everything. every. last. thing.

Since just throwing stuff away is not something that I can do, this process has been a long and tedious one.You can call it being a bleeding heart environmentalist or someone with some sort of compulsive disorder, I really don’t care. I just need to do it better this time around. In order to demonstrate my neurosis in full color, allow me to show you these, shall we say, “infographics”. Here is the stuff to donate and/or give away:

..and this is the stuff that lives to see yet another day under the careful watch of my discerning eye: 

In full disclosure, I also have two bikes, a laundry basket & a back pack that are coming with me as well. There is at least one more round of downsizing before I am reduced to the epitome of material efficiency, so I think I can still take some extra supplies with me to the next house. The final sort is not far off though.  2012: The End is Near!

No no, scratch that. 2012: The Beginning is Nearer!