Sell up everything and live life...

[mountainm]

dont be like a person I once knew who sold their house in order to travel the world for a year, then found they could not afford a new when they returned...

Ask them now, if they knew then what they know now would they do it again given hindsight...

 

[Badger74]

I sold up and moved to the West of Ireland. I'm in the process of buying a do it upper on an acre with out buildings and a shell of a cottage on my patch. I still work for a living in construction here and the UK. I just traded suburban Leeds for rural Mayo.

 

[santaman2000]

That's the key isn't it? To find what you love to do and then be able to make a living at it.

Unfortunately when a hobby becomes a job it can sometimes ruin the hobby, literally turning it into a chore.

Oh I agree wholeheartedly. I never said it was easy, or even possible for everybody. Just a dream to strive for.

 

[mousey]

The trouble with people and dreams is they'll usually want more. You set yourself a goal [get that car, a bigger house, earn more money - give everything up to have more time, it doesn't matter what the goal] once that goal has been achieved it is a very rare person who then says "well, that's me, I'm happy now". More likely the person will set a new goal [a better car, bigger house with some land, earn even more! - try to use there time more constructively, whatever]

It just happens that to be viewed as successful you had to have stuff to show for it, so the house, car, possessions become a yard stick to judge yourself against.

 

[British Red]

It just happens that to be viewed as successful you had to have stuff to show for it, so the house, car, possessions become a yard stick to judge yourself against.

Maybe that's the secret? To be secure enough not to care if we are "viewed as successful" by any standard but our own and to have a more evolved yardstick than possessions?

 

[mousey]

Maybe that's the secret? To be secure enough not to care if we are "viewed as successful" by any standard but our own and to have a more evolved yardstick than possessions?

Or maybe to be content with what you have and stop yearning for that extra stuff which makes you 'better' than the neighbour?

 

[mountainm]

It just happens that to be viewed as successful you had to have stuff to show for it, so the house, car, possessions become a yard stick to judge yourself against.

And the ultimate prize? A really big tombstone.

Memories, experiences, these are what I judge success by. Sadly I fall far short of where I'd like to be - but people who have "done a lot of things" are way more interesting than people who "own a lot of things".

You could judge a person by the number of friends they have, the impact they've had on the planet, their moral compass, how much they invest into their family.


But I think if FIFA has taught us anything, wealth is not a good yardstick to judge success.

 

[vestlenning]

Maybe that's the secret? To be secure enough not to care if we are "viewed as successful" by any standard but our own and to have a more evolved yardstick than possessions?

That's the secret imo. Some days I feel I'm there, other days not so much.

 

[British Red]

A great saying from a man on "American Pickers" when selling very rare motorcycles

The aim is not to own all the toys in the world, it is to have played with all the toys in the world

 

[CheeseMonster]

Great article and nice lively discussion about it after I too wondered what they are going to do after the year but I still think it's worth it. Says he from the comfort of his armchair.

 

[bigbear]

It will be interesting to see whta they do after this year, return to their former lives or stay on the road till the money runs out, or emigrate, I guess they have a lot of choices.

 

[spader]

Haven't thought that far yet, but can see the point - one day who knows. Anyhow for me, chopping woods for wood stove fire is always a great fun.

 

[British Red]

I have to admit logging was less fun today. Blazing sun and a chainsaw suit is a bad mix. But made a great contact who offered more wood and some shooting, plus another huge trailer of wood!

 

[Ed the Ted]

Or maybe to be content with what you have and stop yearning for that extra stuff which makes you 'better' than the neighbour?

I think the real secret is to not have neighbours, or for them to be so far away that they can't see what you're up to.

 

[sandbender]

I think the real secret is to not have neighbours, or for them to be so far away that they can't see what you're up to.

I'd disagree with that, as long as they are the right neighbours and aren't so close that they are looking into the garden every time they walk out their door. It's good to have like minded folks around to join in with the heavy stuff and who pick up your shopping if your out of sorts for a few days. Too far away and they stop being neighbours, they're just folks you wave to from a distance.

 

[British Red]

I do like to be well separated from neighbours...Its an interesting thought as to how close is too close. A density of a few in a square mile is plenty I think.

 

[Goatboy]

I do like to be well separated from neighbours...Its an interesting thought as to how close is too close. A density of a few in a square mile is plenty I think.

Hence the phrase "strong fences good neighbours make"
Funny though isn't it that we tend to know folk better in low density areas whereas in the throng of a city folk tend to be more isolationist.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[21st century pict]

I think it needs a disaster for some people to realise what's important in life, happened to me 10 years ago. My dad had just died in hospital, then I had to wade through a flood at 3 in the morning in a blacked out street to get home, got home, opened a bottle o my dads whisky went to sleep, woke up in the morning with house full of water, my dog sitting on the arm off my char, my bum 2 inches off the water and a rescue boat at the window, honestly, under the circumstances, the flood didn't bother me one bit, but I know it was very rough on some my older neighbours, do you know there is only one thing in your home that isn't replaceable?
"just to clear up this point a little, I'm not talking about anything living like people or pets"
Worth nothing to anyone else and everything " well for me anyway " to me, can you guess what it is?

Life is short, have an adventure, and the very best of luck to Tim and his family.

 

[Toddy]

Rural and spread out is all very well, but the reality is that without industry there would be no internet, no modern medicine, no easy access to mechanical power (or cheap tools either) No decent transport.
Isolationism is for anchorites and hermits, and their religious fervour makes their judgement dubious.

I do think homes ought to be set in an acre of ground though Problem is that that would use up all the land, wouldn't it ? so most folks people gently rub shoulders with their neighbours instead. My elderly neighbours see folks all day long, the young grow up knowing that there's somebody nearby if needed. The rest of us just bustle around in busy lives, and most folks walk to the shops, the P.O., the surgery, the dentist, the vet, the bank and the schools. Our car spends most of it's life in the garage.
Yet we live with woodlands at the other side of the garden gate. The Clyde is less than half a mile away at Bothwell Banks, the Myre burn is less than 20m from the house, the Avon the two Calders and Strathclyde loch are all within a couple of miles….but so it the motorway network that gives us quick and easy access to anywhere in the country.
Looking out my front window though, I not only see the gardens and the woodlands (and they're heaving today, we have gale force winds) but also eight houses, and gable ends both sides of my garden. It's quiet ( gangs of young starlings apart just now ) and peaceful. I can catch a bus at the end of the street, or walk to either of two train stations, two different lines, within a mile.

Just because folks live cheek by jowl doesn't mean any lack of quality or richness of nature in their lives.
Indeed I would vehemently argue that people have not evolved to live alone, that it is a very recent phenomenon to live separate from the family generations.

Do you know what 'industry/profession' is thriving in all this latest evolution of seperated living is though ?
Psychoanalysis and the anti-depressants market ….and housebuilding.

M

 

[British Red]

I don't believe that industry or science require cramming people in together. Indeed in the height of the industrial revolution Bournville and Port Sunlight were built and were not a little bit like modern cities. Around here a lot of our power stations are out at sea or on top of our barns...

I have no problem with those who wish to live close together but I dont think its necessary or, for me, desireable now. Surely one of the major advantages of the internet is teleworking. What is the need for everyone to waste time commuting? It makes no sense. Once you get there, then, in the days of online shopping, why go into town at all (if you don't want to)?