Let's Talk Sustainability!

"Living simply is not about living in poverty or self-inflicted deprivation. It's about living an examined life where one has determined what is truly important and enough…and then just let go of all the rest." ~ Duane Elgin, Author & Speaker

Nine years ago this week, we made a decision that changed the course of our lives.  The simple click of a “submit bid” button on eBay for a quirky hunting trailer in questionable condition and built during the Eisenhower administration brought about a cascade of events that has reconfigured our life expectations.

Living more simply and sustainably was a big part of why we chose to leave the typical American lifestyle behind.  After years of trying to balance two demanding careers, maintain a traditional house on a couple of acres, limit our expenses, green our lives, save for retirement, go on vacation, visit family and friends, we realized that we simply sucked at it, the balancing act.  Sorry America, it’s not you, it’s us. We needed a major shift to right our unbalanced lives -- a complete paradigm shift if you will -- in order to live out what we claimed to value. We first expressed this in our very first blog post in 2012, just 2 weeks before leaving.  

We didn’t really know what a new paradigm would look like for us, but we knew we couldn’t keep up the facade of the old one anymore.  We stretched ourselves too thinly and the stress negatively impacted our physical and mental health, our relationships, affected the quality of our sleep which in turn affected everything else -- and we didn’t even have kids!    What we would need to sustain ourselves from an environmental, financial, personal, and relational perspective if it was going to stay just the two of us?

Over the last 7 years we’ve wrangled with these questions and discovered some answers that keep us on the road.  They may not work for everyone, but perhaps there’s some common ground that will keep the conversation going. We’ve realized along the way that sustainability goes far beyond simply reducing a carbon footprint.  After all, we humans are more than the energy we consume, the food we eat, and the miles we commute.   

What sustains us includes spending time outdoors at a human-powered pace, discovering new places and learning how they connect with other places we know, examining the systems of our natural environment, meeting new people, and reconnecting with family and friends separated by miles and years. Our adventure rig allows us to explore these and more at a fraction of the cost of our former life. Naturally, as educators, we feel called to share what we’ve experienced, and learned -- from posting images and scenes on social media to giving seminars and writing articles. It is yet another way that we keep ourselves going. 

We are proud to broaden our “Solar Sundays” to “Sustainability Sundays”  on our social media outlets.  Every other Sunday, we’ll dive into real life solutions as they relate to sustainability: energy, water, fuel, consumption, food, community, waste, purpose, relationships, living spaces, travel, health, finances, nature, and much more.  We will recognize and celebrate this journey with tips, advice, ideas, interviews, and features with good news about what people all over the globe are doing to create positive change in their lives and in their communities.  We want to hear your personal stories, too. Please bombard us with your ideas, stories, and images of things your family, community, business, church, or school are doing that just lights you up.  We want to promote and celebrate it. Positive, sustainable, local to global change is possible! Please join us in the conversation…