While I’m not desperate to move out of Hereford, I think I can probably do better if I move on to pastures new this year (2020).
What I mean by do better is that I’ll probably connect with more people, be more creative, have a more balanced life in terms of doing more physical work, still have time to do sufficient intellectual work, still have time to meditate and soft-meditate, save myself some money and hence be able to quit my current very part time teaching job if I do any of the following:
Sell all my stuff, rent out my house and then….
- Move to a full-on eco-village and set up my own land-based project (VAN)
- Rent a house somewhere really cheep and just do intellectual work (move abroad no van)
- Do a long-term ‘workaway’ and live in a van, yurt caravan or hut in exchange for basic work
- Buy a van, don’t base myself anywhere and just drift…
In all cases I will still be doing the following:
- Doing at least two days work a week maintaining my blog/ steeming on!
- Meditating and soft-meditating
- Running 3-4 times a week, even if I’m doing a lot more physical work.
Below I just muse over some of the pros and cons of each of the above options!
Moving to an eco-village
This is my preferred option - it's what I've wanted to do since the early 1990s after all! I see the ecovillages.io as a real opportunity here, but in case the seed-project in Portugal doesn't take off (possibly because of fire regulations preventing building) I've started looking around for other projects.
The only one to date which takes my fancy is Permagricole (warning, links to FeckBook) near Bordeaux in France. It's a 100 acre site and they've put out an advert on Diggers and Dreamers for people to come join them...
I'm also considering moving to Tipi Valley.
As far as I can tell from what I know about these places, it's basically a matter of turn up, hang out, do a bit of work, see if you get on and then, probably after some kind of trial period, you move over there. Both of these seem to allow for a lot of personal space, yet within community, and very very low housing costs. A van conversion would help with comfort in both cases, which is something I might do IF I get a definite long-term invite to either.
I've actually emailed both of these places, who knows what responses I'll get if any, but don't ask, don't get!
One thing I really do need to research is eco-vills in other countries and continents. India maybe?!?
Rent a house somewhere really cheep and just do intellectual work (move abroad no van)
This is something I could do... having got back from Thailand and reflected on my experience, I could go back there and live and work for relatively cheap, somewhere around $800 a month in Chang Mai. I'd probably head up north if I went back, and I guess I could check out Malaysia and Vietnam without breaking my budget either.
The downside here is that I'd need to pay rent, for some kind of co-working space, and meals out, which would be a bit more expensive than growing my own food. I'd also be paying for socialising and I'd end up caught in the coffee-trap again.
Do a long-term ‘workaway’ and live in a van, yurt caravan or hut in exchange for basic work
I've put this third in order of preference, because although financially it's very similar to number one, I'm fundamentally against the idea of being someone's eco-peasant. I don't mind working to build up land on a communal project I'm part of, and being given the freedom to develop my own projects, but just helping some rich person with land build their eco-house, no thanks.
Having said that I did see an advert, again on Diggers and Dreamers offering a caravan in exchange for gardening and help with projects, literally 5 miles away from where I used to live in Surrey. I sent a message, as I'm intrigued, and I do feel connected to the South East, so we will see!
Buy a van, don’t base myself anywhere and just drift…
I really do fancy doing a van conversion, but I've got to be honest, the thought of just living in a van and travelling place to place doesn't appeal to me - I want to be rooted and building/ growing - living in a van in a place would be totally different.
Final thoughts I’m not desperate to move on!
I can afford to do any one of the above, but I only really WANT to do option one above, this would be an escape to, all the rest are really a matter of escaping from my life here in Hereford, which isn’t that bad, albeit economically marginal!
I don’t so much want to escape from my life here, rather than escape to somewhere that gives me the capacity to be a bit more creative, in an ecological sense of the word.