Slow Living on Some Land

I’ve been working toward a slower lifestyle for many years now, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing; but each time I digress I am reminded of how important it is to me to live life in the moment instead of getting caught up in the minutiae.

According to Wikipedia, “slow living is a lifestyle emphasizing slower approaches to aspects of everyday life,” and that is just one definition among many. ‘Slow Living,’ ‘Simple Living’ and the general idea of simplifying life is a movement that many are passionate about. For at least the last decade there have been many who have sold their homes, chosen nomadic lifestyles, or transitioned to tiny homes with a lot less overhead. I have considered all of the above.

My husband, however, has other ideas. While he’s thrifty, frugal, and a saver to the core, he has his sights set on expanding our farm. We already own 19 acres with a nice home and separate garage, and are in the process of building another garage for the various tools and farm equipment we he owns.

My one push toward a ‘semi nomadic’ simple life was the purchase of our Hiker Trailer, a cute, rugged simple camper we’ll be picking up next week. Their mantra, “keep camping simple;” I couldn’t agree more.

So what’s a girl to do when the man she loves needs deep roots, a solid home base (and a few too many structures?) She simplifies where she is. ‘Simple living’ to me is about intentional living, not spending for the sake of spending, taking the time to garden (J does most of this, I’m grateful!), prepare home cooked meals most of the time + write, hike, create, journal, read, learn new things, sew, send snail mail, and do other simple, tactile things with my days instead of contributing to the consumerism that pervades our society.

We have worked for the last several years to eliminate debt and done a pretty good job at it. We will continue to do so until we are able to spend the majority of our days here, doing all of the things listed above and continuing to be good stewards of the land we call home; unless we are traveling simply to new places with our dogs, a good book and new trails to be explored.

It’s the little things that make life worth living.