Traveling and Living Lightly - Footwear

Are you a boot bigot?  Have you ever given any thought to why you wear shoes or other footwear every day (assuming that you do)?  Much of the world's population goes their whole lives without footwear with many consequences both good and bad.  Given the potential health, financial and other consequences, whether you are a hiker, world traveler, or just like a nice-looking pair of shoes, perhaps it is time to take a closer look.

Knowledge

From the perspective of the education system I was and am a less than ideal student.  It is not that I didn't (usually) get acceptable grades or that I have problems learning, rather, the problem is that I do learn and most of us have lost sight (if we ever knew) of what it really means to actually "know" something.

Knowledge is power - Sir Francis Bacon
Power Corrupts - Lord Acton
I am dedicated to the pursuit of corruption - Shannon Dealy :-)

Caveman

Whenever I see a problem, I like to ask myself one simple question, was this a problem for the caveman?  All of our problems big and small fall into one of the following caveman categories:

  1. It was a problem for the caveman. 
  2. We don't know if it was a problem for the caveman.
  3. It wasn't a problem for the caveman.

Traveling and Living Lightly - My Clothing

When living out of a backpack for long periods (seven months on my most recent trip), you need to carefully consider every item of clothing which you carry.  If we give the same consideration to what we wear at home, it can save money, time, and reduce our environmental impact as well.  This is what I currently carry when I travel and why.

The Calorie Myth

There is a lot of confusion about the concept of "calories" when it comes to diet and exercise and the problem is made far worse by well educated people (including some MDs) making grossly misleading statements such as: "a calorie is a calorie".  While technically a calorie is always a calorie from the perspective of a physicist or chemist, when viewed from the perspective of health, exer

Success Is Not An Option

Throughout my life, I have found that in most cases when I fail to achieve something, it is because I have set myself up for failure.  Success is often difficult if not impossible if we do not make proper preparations to ensure success before we begin.  As I start this article, I am sitting in Chengdu, China, taking a break from studying Mandarin.  I have no particular aptitude f

Traveling and Living Lightly - Clothing Selection Criteria

Traveling and Living Lightly started the discussion of looking at life from the perspective of a traveler as well as some of the goals that I both need and want to meet with the gear I carry.  This article continues the series by examining the selection of clothing.  Your needs may be different from mine, but the types of criteria ar

An Uncomfortable Life

How are you feeling today?  Did you sleep well last night?  How is the chair you are sitting in, are the cushions okay?  Do you need to adjust the air conditioning or heating?  Comfortable now?  Good, let's begin!  We like our comfort in the modern world, we spend large amounts of money to make sure we are comfortable, not just physically, but emotionally and even

Traveling and Living Lightly

By most people's standards, I travel a lot.  Whether you are trying to save money, reduce your environmental impact, or free yourself from possessions, even if you never actually go anywhere, it helps to look at your life from the perspective of a traveler.

The Green Myth

Tomorrow you are going to be executed, you have a choice of being shot in the head or burned alive, which would you choose?  Just because one of these choices may be better than the other hardly makes it a "good" choice!  In recent years, we have come to associate "Green" products and choices with "good".  The fact is, in nearly every case where I see th

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