The Thirteen Dollar House...

Amanda Kovattana is a free range writer,
born in England, raised in Thailand and who now lives in San Francisco.
She was in the outback of Colorado a while ago looking at examples of sustainable living.
She met Peggy and Jo and found more for less.
They called their house The Thirteen Dollar House because that's all it cost to build.
One side was bermed with earth. the roof was plywood scraps lined with plastic and covered with cob. It was painted with a beeswax and linseed oil mix for further waterproofing.
The remaining sides were faced with salvaged windows. There's a sleeping loft. And a separate pit toilet. Tomato plants grow in the windows and sunflower seeds sprout on the desk.
A greenhouse for sleeping in and too small to be any concern to building inspectors.
There's more to the story here and wonderful inspiring photo images here...

Welcome To The New Year...

Welcome to 2013.
I'm at perhaps my favouritist place on this planet. Freedom Camping at the beautiful Tokerau Beach in New Zealand's Far North.
The sun is shining. The fish are biting.
What more could any man want.
All I need is enough and enough is what I have.
Happy New Year.
I hope 2013 is a wonderful year for you all...

Tiny Colourful Gypsy Wagons For The Dreamer...

Some eye candy for those who might fancy the idea of living or travelling awhile in a colourful, bohemian styled Gypsy wagon.
Whether it's hitched up to a couple of horses or a vehicle with many under the bonnet, there's still plenty of options for the dreamer.
Just don't stop dreaming...

The Treehouses Of New Guinea's Korowai Tribe...

Until 1974 when the Korowai Tribe were discovered by a Dutch missionary, they'd lived lives of total isolation from the outside world.
Whether the well meaning missionary did this tribe any favours by discovering them can be disputed. They'd lived their lives up till then based on traditional values, concerning themselves with hunting and gathering, water collecting and wood for their cooking fires.
They didn't know the rest of the world existed. Lucky them.
These folk live in treehouses built up to thirty five metres high, in the tops of the forest's Banyan trees.
The shame is that since the 1990's, the Korowai have been exploited by many from so called civilised societies.
Their simple life has all but ceased to exist...

Rural Chinese Families Show Everything They Own...

Huang Qingjun has spent the last ten years travelling to many provinces in remote parts of China photographing families with their possessions.
It's interesting to look at what they have.
To some, they would possess a lot and to others, very little. There would be many who'd envy these folk having what they have.
And too, for what they don't have.
Downsizing is the catchword in the west these days. These Chinese folk have done that already without ever hearing about the concept.
These folk are probably not in debt either.
I wonder if they've ever heard of hire-purchase agreements.
Maybe they do feel hard-done-by.
Who would know.
Six out of the seven families have television.
Are they bombarded with cretinous advertising telling them they aren't good people or they're not having fun if they don't buy this or that?
They will never have heard of the Thoreau quote about success being not what you have but what you can enjoy living without.
And as for keeping up with the Joneses...