Recap
In Part 2 of the Remarkable Diary, you have heard how I found out about Earthship Biotecture and the whole idea of Sustainable building and the off grid lifestyle. As anyone who has had a Eureka moment knows, these are profound experiences in our lives and are great milestones that change and shape our experience of our present and future. This was certainly the case for me! I had learned about a way of living that made perfect sense, and I was determined that someday, somehow, I would make this happen.
Did you know that the main reason for people failing to complete Eco builds is not by making mistakes? The main reason that people fail to self build is, in fact, by not starting in the first place! Most people who are thinking, dreaming and desiring to self build never actually get started! Relatively few people who start to build actually fail. In my experience, I have found the main reason for this to be confidence. It is not easy to self build. No one with any experience can honestly tell you otherwise. It is experience that gives us confidence, and yet we can't get confidence without experience. There lies the catch! Some people do a course, or try to get some kind of experience, and that is great. Many people don't really have the time or money to participate in these things, and so they never really get started.
Now all these points seem very important. I have even said that confidence is the most important thing to have when self building.. But actually that is not true! It is not confidence that is the most important thing! I didn't have much confidence when I started out, but I had something else that is even more important, and much more powerful!
What I am about to tell you is the most important part of my whole diary. Why? Because if you do what I am about to share with you, then you will overcome the greatest hurdle in the whole process of self building, which is starting! Now to be clear, starting to self build does not mean starting to make a plan of action, find land, or do anything like that. Starting to do something like this requires a clear vision, a real a solid goal that has been determined in a process that I am now going to describe. This process can be used to achieve anything you want in life. I did it, and let me tell you, the results were... remarkable!!!
Portland Oregon 2005
In Part 2 I left off explaining how I had married a woman from the USA, and emigrated from Brighton, UK. This was a big move for me, and also quite an unsettling one! I had always dreamed of living in America and finally that dream came true. With green card in hand, and after many months of insane paperwork, I moved to America with most the rights and privileges of any American citizen. It was quite a journey just finding our place, as we really didn't have much idea where we wanted to settle. Looking back now, I WISH we had made a clear vision before we set off, but in fact did totally the opposite. We landed in Florida, and had a vague idea of buying a house somewhere in the state of Florida because it was so cheap, and the only plan was to drive around from city to city until we found something we liked. To cut a long story short, we found a small cute house in Sarasota, and we were ALMOST about to buy it. We hadn't thought things through, and the whole location and house really wasn't a good fit for us. We both knew it in our hearts, but were both feeling quite desperate to settle down after many weeks of long road trips and many unfruitful journeys. Then one evening, I turned to her and said, "What if the Angels are screaming down at us to get the hell out of here but we just aren't listening to them?" We both knew what I was saying, because what we were about to do made no sense. In the moments that followed everything changed. We didn't even discuss it any further. We both knew, and I was probably right that an angel had come down and made me say that in the first place! We literally got on the phone and booked a flight to San Francisco where her brother lived, canceled the house purchase and packed our things.
Before we knew it we were in the West Coast and things we're feeling a little more upbeat. Whilst we did want to live in a place near Santa Cruz, California, called Felton, which was deep in the redwood forests, we simply couldn't afford it. Instead we looked at cheaper options and discovered the State of Oregon, and the city of Portland. The prices of houses were very cheap, especially a little out of the city, and the whole vibe looked pretty cool and alternative. Much better fit! After a few days with her brother and seeing a few sights of the city, we got in our very cheap second hand car that we just bought and drove to Portland. We were greeted at the state border with a rainbow and lush green landscapes. What a difference!
So my life restarted there, and my focus was mainly on, survival! It took me many months to find a reliable job and in the meantime we both settling in the new world that is Portland. I had my fair share of Starbucks coffees, cinnabons, burgers, SUV's, guns, and ALL the things that were so very American.
I ended up working for a very small company called Whirled Web, led by a very cool man called Mark.. and set in a small industrial area right above a diaper factory. It was an unusual job in the sense that things were very informal and relaxed. There were about 4 of us in the office. Mark was the owner and boss and was probably the most interesting, fun, and inspiring boss I've ever had. Mark ALWAYS had stories to share, and was quite 'Camp' and passionate about things. Mike was our lead programmer. He used to sit in his almost pitch black screened out office (as programmer do) with many empty cans of caffeinated drinks and a suitable array of screens and computers to get the job done. I had my own little office and would design and develop websites for the few clients we had. There were a couple of other guys who came and went in between us. We weren't very busy, and the company was still quite new. Mark being Mark didn't mind us doing other things with our time, and he would often instigate random things like a skydive in the middle of the week!
We had a very comfortable lounge area with sofas and top notch coffee machine. So one day whilst we were all sitting together, Mark started to tell us about this amazing book he had just read. It was called "The One Minute Millionaire", by Mark Victor Hansen. Mark was looking even more inspired and excited than usual, and proceeded to explain the idea of the book to us. It was hard to catch it all, but what I did understand from what he said was that it was all about this 5 year plan. He repeated it a few times, and then told us that we were going to do it as a group as well. We were like, "OK Mark", without knowing too much about it. He said that we would start next week, and it would take several weeks to complete it. Then Mark told us that to start this whole process out, we would need to go home and think about all the things that you are happy about with your life, and all the things you are not happy about. He told us to each make a long list and then bring it to the next meeting.
So I was not really that into this whole thing. I was open to it, but I was not really thinking about five years away.. I was more concerned with right now, where I was struggling to make enough money to pay for the car i had bought, the mortgage for the house we had just bought, as well as my Starbucks addiction. Nevertheless I did write a bunch of stuff down, not that many things.. mostly superficial things that were neither very good or bad. We got together again and everyone was in much the same mood as me. We all wrote something and we shared that with each other. We weren't really into it, and the discussions around it were pretty short and simple. We all acknowledged each others problems and enjoyments and that was that. So that was fun, and I had a few more coffees to get me through it.
So now Mark stepped it up a bit. He then told us the next stage of the process. Now he wanted us to dream. He wanted us to write down a long list of things that we want. All the things that we can imagine. We shouldn't think about whether they are practical, or even possible, but just what we want from our own hearts desire.. no holes barred! This list was supposed to be 101 things as a minimum! He then explained that whilst that sounded like a lot, you can write down to the smallest details like what clothes you would want, or places you wanted to visit. Then, he went on to say, that we should also list all the things that we want in our lives in a 5 year time frame. If you want to read Mark Victor Hanesn's list then you can check that out here. Its quite a list when you really remove all the self imposed limitations that we place on ourselves.
So that was the task. very simply to imagine exactly how we would like our lives to look like in 5 years time. In real details about just about everything we could think of. The more details the better, this list can not be too long!
The first step to success: Creating the Vision.
There is no doubt, that if you are doing this kind of thing for the first time, it is bloody difficult! We are not really used to dreaming big, dreaming with limitless goals and possibilities. It was really quite fun to do! I went home and wrote my very long list! It was hard for me to know many details, because I didn't really know what I was looking for in life.. except, ... Earthships! So obviously building my Earthship was one of the 'A' goals. I rekindled my dream to build and live in an Earthship. I had been in the USA for around 3 years at this point, and hadn't really done anything to realise this dream except occasionally check out a nice looking area that could possibly end up being a potential place to start the dream and build. So by rekindling this idea, and really thinking hard about all the details of what I wanted my life to look like in 5 years, it became clear to me that this Earthship would be far away from the city., not in America, and perhaps on a mountain somewhere. I would be living the dream, and be off grid. I would do yoga every day and eat well and eat home grown organic food. The list was quite long and I cant remember all the details now.. but I think you get the idea! We met up again and this time we shared our lists. The mood was a bit more upbeat now!
This list is the most important list you may ever write. It will set into motion great initiations and changes that you will discover only once you obtain a clear vision and direction. You will push yourself to the edge of your being to really write a list that will take you to your true desires and passions that you may have let go of or buried many years ago.
After this long session, we were all exhausted! Not even coffee would pick me up, so I think I went straight home and rested. The last thing that Mark said was that for this next meeting we were supposed to write around 5 affirmations. These affirmations were based on our 5 year goals, and they should be simple and positive. Once they were written down, we were to repeat them out loud to ourselves every morning for as long as we can. We did discuss them in our other meetings, and help each other make some up.. but the key here was repeating them to ourselves.
Affirmations are the words that you say to yourself that act upon you.. whether they are good or bad!
You see, once you have gone though this process and know exactly what you want, you also know exactly what choices to make. It is very obvious if a choice is taking you toward your goal or away from it. And this opportunity was clearly taking me toward my goal of building an Earthship! This is a very important point. Having a clear vision is very powerful, and in many ways. Not only does the universe suddenly conspire to bring you exactly what you have asked for, but you are also so clear that you know what to do when opportunity comes. There is no delaying or excuse like, "oh maybe next year, I'm busy here now with other things etc etc.." And so within six weeks I was in Taos, New Mexico.
August 2005: My Visit to Taos, New Mexico, USA.
My first Earthship experience
An Earthship in Taos, New Mexico, USA
Suddenly it was all happening! Suddenly I was back on track, and in Taos. I hired a car and drive to Taos from Albuquerque Airport. These were the days before ubiquitous GPS navigation, and so I was map in hand and steering wheel in the other. I found it a little tricky to find them the first time, and surprisingly drove right past a whole community of Earthships without realising it. That is testimony to low impact building; you can't even spot it in a barren desert just a few hundred meters away! So on my return pass I spotted the Earthship Biotecture Sign and drove in.
Needless to say, I had a wonderful time! Whilst I do have many stories about my visit, I would like to share just a few that have really made an impression on me. Most significant is that the temperature in Taos can drop to as low as 15 Degrees Fahrenheit or around -15 Degrees Celsius! The first night I arrived I was told I could stay in one of the original Earthships in the Reach Community. I was given basic instructions how to get there, and that evening got in my car and started driving up there. I was always getting lost when I drove somewhere new, and this was yet another example! So I drove for about an hour or more. The location was no more than 20 minutes away, and I was basically unable to find it. One of those many turns was the right one, but I only seemed to guess the wrong one each time, and was basically driving around in circles. Soon enough the night fell and it was dark. I decided to give up and opt for sleeping in the car. All I can say is that it was a LONG night. As the sun set, the temperature plummeted and it began to get very very cold! Soon enough I was wearing everything I could put on and did my best to keep my eyes closed and at least get some rest. By 3am it was just too much, and I finally gave in and turned on the car to get some heating going. I think I let the engine run for a glorious hour before I was baking hot and able to switch the car off and get some sleep.
I woke up pretty early, just a bit after sunrise and got my bearings. I went back to the HQ where the first day of lectures and talks were beginning. Finally I got to meet Mike and listen to him speak for a good few hours. We were all huddled up in a cozy area in one of their older Earthships. It had a great vibe to it, and I noticed the bananas fruiting and other plants and vegetables growing. Everything felt nice in there, and the acoustics weren't bad either! So we had a great and very Earthshippy day, and I was pretty tired by the end of it, along with almost no sleep the night before.
So finally I managed to get an escort to follow up the mountain to find my Earthship. I spotted the turn that I had gotten lost at the night before, and then we made a turn down a different path that I had decided wasn't the one. We drove up and up through almost impassable tracks that were too steep for a 2 wheel drive car to get to. God only knows how they built a whole community up there. I later came to learn that the land was SO inaccessible and without any amenities that it was deemed impossible to build on. For that reason they were able to purchase it for the stunning price of $50!!! They sure proved them wrong!
The Reach Community, Taos
It was almost sunset and I was shown in and explained the basics. It was a small and very cozy little Earthship with panoramic views. This was the first time I had experienced solar power! This was the first time I had plugged something in to a solar system. The plug socket looked like any normal socket, and I plugged in my super advanced flip phone with COLOUR screen in and hey presto!... It was charging!!! It was a magical moment, even though I didn't really understand why it felt so good. It meant so much some how to be doing this little act. I loved the idea of the sun coming almost directly into my phone without all that dirty nasty stuff going on in the background.
So the night came! I sat in this marvelous Earthship, and there I was finally experiencing the real thing! I was sat on the bed in my boxer shorts. The door was wide open and it was warm. It was Very warm. I was too warm! There was no fireplace or any kind of heating system. This warmth was coming out of the mud plastered tyre walls and into the room. I touched the wall and it did indeed feel warm. Amazing!
How an Earthship stays warm in any climate
The science behind this is very clever and also very simple. I will go into more detail about this in a future post, as I don't want to overload you. The focus and most important part of this post is the 5 Year vision! Very simply though, the sun warms up the dirt in the tyre walls and they store it like batteries. Then when it gets cold, the heat in the earth rammed tyre walls comes out and heats the space up. And it works! It really works! The only blessing of being stuck over night in the car freezing my ass off was knowing really how cold it was outside.
As chance would have it, right on the third day of the lectures Mike suddenly rushed off in the middle of one of his sermons. He looked a bit panicky, and I wasn't sure what was going on. Then he came back after about 10 minutes and said we were going to have long break. He then asked me to come and wanted to tell me something. What had happened was a great environmental disaster, Hurricane Katrina. It had devastated New Orleans and many other places nearby. This was one of the 5 deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. So very quickly I helped with some basic website updates and Mike was doing his best to do something in a crisis situation. Whilst that was all going on, we then picked up again the next day with a tour of the many and varied Earthships around.
How would the State of New Orleans have faired if they had all been living in Earthships!? The majority of people had to leave because the infrastructure collapsed. There was no power or water any longer and people lost their homes and their ability to survive. An Earthship would have faired much better than the vulnerable 'brick and mortar' buildings that they were living in. They would have still had power, and water, and would have been able to continue living without having to abandon the whole city. Things would have still been tough, but they would have been a far cry from what actually happened.
During the next few days I had the chance to try out hands on some of the methods used to build Earthships. I rammed a tyre, mixed some cob up using mud, straw, water and sand. Plastered a wall with it. I made a glass bottle wall and learned how to cut the bottles using power tools. It was all very cool indeed, and I was only TOO happy to have rammed my first tyre. By the time I was done this tyre was hard as rock, pounded with more than 30Kg of dirt in just one tyre. I came to learn first hand how much mass is in one tyre and why they are so good at holding so much heat. There was no way I could lift or even move this thing after it was rammed. I couldn't imagine how much a whole house made like this weighed. These skills that I learned were really very easy. Some of it was hard work, like tyre ramming, and other aspects were very mellow and relaxing, such as plastering. Mike was a passionate tyre rammer and did a few on his own. At the end of the day an SUV arrived full of beer and many people drank blissfully. I think I had even had one too!
"Perseverance
is more important than experience.
Keep on keeping on, keep on driving.
You are going to do it, no matter what,
perseverance wins the day"
Mark Victor Hansen
Before I knew it I was back in Portland, Oregon, with my eyes opened a bit and some great stories to share with my colleagues. A little time passed and things continued to change for me in many ways. I ended up getting divorced quite soon after this, and also lost my job with Whirled Web as they went bust. I had started another a job with a company in London that I was working remotely with, and basically spent about a year recovering from the breakup of my marriage and coming to terms with everything. It was a confusing time in a way, but luckily I had my 5 year plan to guide me. It didn't take long before I mustered the courage to realise and know that it was time to move on. I knew that I didn't want to live in Portland, Oregon, or even USA for the rest of my life. I just didn't fit in, and it just didn't feel right. There was only one place that did ever feel right to me, and that was India!
The decision to move to India was quite an easy one when I thought about it a bit. The final straw came when one day I calculated how much I spent on Starbucks coffee each year. Two coffees a day x 5 days a week equaled something in the region of $2,000 USD! Then I remembered how a Chai (Tea) costs about $0.05, and the decision was made! My basic plan was that I would spend a year or more living there for very cheap and doing my web work. Within a year or two I would save up enough to be able to maybe start building something or at least buy land. I was thinking about Wales, or potentially in India. I wasn't really sure on that, even after my 5 year planning! What I did know was that this was a step in the right direction. I had no savings and I loved India so much that I could hardly wait to sell everything I owned and move on. My suitcase was stuffed with my favorite comforter blanket, and almost no clothes. I took the bare minimum and just got rid of the rest. I wouldn't need any of it in India.
And so, that brings to a close this Chapter in the story of my remarkable diary. If you are considering any life changes, I would certainly recommend you really try out this 5 year vision. It's best done in a group or with family and will yield amazing results. I really hope you do try it, and would be very happy to hear about your experiences if you do.
Please join me next time, where I will head to India, my final destination, before I realise my life dreams!
Read Previous Posts
✹ The Remarkable Diary of an Earthship Eco Builder Chapter #2. The dream was born. ✹
✹ Diary of a first time Eco builder Part 1 | The creation of my life’s dream, a totally off-grid self sufficient home - Earthship Karuna ✹
Check out 2 great posts from people who were a part of this journey
✹ Earthship Biotecture & Self-sufficient Housing: My Journey of Discovery Part II (ecoTrain) ✹
✹ Road trip from Belgium to Earthship India @eco-alex ✹
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