Monday, February 16, 2009

Simply Living

I have been blog lazy for a few months letting Steve take over. And he has done an amazing job. I just have been thinking I should post some things out, some thoughts. We get questioned often about how we live and how we do without lots of things, why we live this way. Lots of questions. Well we feel strongly about experiences and little about things. I've always wanted to travel and love to explore. We are life learners. We love to see and do. To learn about things up close and personal. We could read about all the cool interesting places we go and teach our kids out of a textbook but why not let them experience it, live it. Some people like having the security of a stable house, job, life. Others live that way cause they are stuck in the rat race and want out, but are afraid to take the leap. This is YOUR life, what are YOUR dreams? As a good friend told me once, YOU need to make a decision and then make it happen.

So for us, living in an old school bus, cooking on a camp stove, hauling water, using a composting toilet, not owning a shower or bathtub, not owning a washer/ dryer, not having some of the basics (by some peoples standards) are OK with us. And sometimes they make life more fun. Not owning a shower/ pool means we get to go find local pools/ showers across the country and check out all kinds of pools, hot tubs, hot springs. Cooking on a camp stove means we keep our food simple and hauling water means we know how to conserve....big time! Using a composting/ sawdust toilet means our waste is not going into your drinking water....and conserving water again. Not owning a washer/ dryer means I only do laundry 2-3 times a month and get it all done in 2 hrs at the laundry mat, while I read a good book. We own much less clothes then most US families, and we recycle if it's not dirty. How can we live in such a small space, 40ftX7ft with 4 kids 2 big dogs and a cat? Well we really don't mind the small space, except the cat which often tries to jump ship. We have the world as our backyard! We are often found hiking, biking, swimming, exploring, so when we get a rainy day or we feel like staying home, we all just find our spot and relax, read, draw, make crafts, listen to dad play guitar, play games, ect. Hopefully this answers some of the questions about how we live and why we choose this lifestyle. We feel so very blessed to be living our dream!