Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year To Everyone

Good, Bad or Indifferently 2012 has begun. This is a time for new beginnings. Which is perfect for this blog ~ A culmination of two years of notes jotted down and shetchs drawn. I started this blog in the last week of November 2011, then added four postings during December 2011. So yes, this blog is a new year's baby for me. Now in the spirit of new year's resolutions ... "I will try my very best to have a new posting every Monday of every week". Sort of like a micro report of various things happening in my life. Of course the main themes will be on living cheaply and alternate styles of transportation, as I work towards my own goals of living as independently as possible. So follow along with my progress (if any), set backs (hopefully few) and those ever present doldrums, where nothing at all seems to be happening.

I hope that everyone who made their own new year's resolutions, has done so in such a way that the goal can be achieved. You see resolutions are a kind of promise, mainly to yourself ... Hopefully for your betterment. Now since most people do not like to break promises, don't make your resolutions to yourself or others that are unattainable. You see broken resolutions are really broken promises.

OK, now here are some subjects that I am considering for this blog; living cheaply both at home and on the road, pedal cycling as a whole, minimalist camping, stealth camping, cycle camping or touring as it is called when traveling from point A to point B, D.I.Y. projects that would aide in living cheaply, also ways to set up the base camp (home?) as an off-the-grid operation and some possible ways of living under the radar as it were. All in all a tall order, but doable. Like that ancient proverb says "A journey of 1000 miles, is started by a single step".

What first started all of this was a simple idea, the thought of building myself a human powered camper/velomobile. To retire into and travel around economically with. That was my foremost goal. Then I started to break it down into, "How do I get to here?" steps. Along the way other possible steps presented themselves. Like, "Could this turn into a possible income stream?", or "OK ... If so, how do I get to that possibility, and make it work?", and so on ...

Another subject that I think is worth exploring is personally tested recipes. Not just for camping, but also along the line of living cheaply. Yes, I know that there are countless cookbooks out and about,  and other places with other people's ideas and advice on this subject. This will be my view of this subject. Coming from a 58 year old (this year) young bachelor, who grew up on a dairy farm for 20 years. Then spent the rest of my life till the present, in the restaurant industry. Whose current income is that of a dishwasher, at what could be classified as a part time job. So yes I personally know that juggling wants, wishes, needs, necessities,  niceties, and dreams with income is a test of will in and of it's self.

Now to touch on that living cheaply theory a bit ... I currently call a 35' camp trailer home, entirely to much space for one person. It is set up in a friends back yard, in a country setting. I pay my share of the electric and have household privileges. Have had to give up the tow vehicle, as it was to expensive to maintain and the tags and insurance were killers. Also that was before gas prices hit and soared above the $3.00/gallon mark. My current wheels are a Honda Elete Scooter, that has a 50cc engine and gets about 110 miles/gallon. Speaking of gas prices, before the new year here in north central Florida, they were inching back towards the $3.00/gallon mark again. However they didn't make it and the fluctuation is on the rise again.

Everyone near where I live is trying to sell off what ever they have extra of, for a little more coin in their pockets. Most everyone is also trying to down size, as it has turned out that 'Bigger, Badder and More' of something is not for the better. This economic crisis is hurting us all.

Now since it is a new year ... At least we can all hope for better times, while we struggle to try to make those better times happen. Personally I am not giving up hope, as I keep pushing forward towards an uncertain future of income, economic stability, livable solutions and sustainability. So let's all tighten our belts and work together towards a better and brighter future for us all.

Sorry but I don't believe that rose colored glasses will help, cool as they may look ...

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