InsIde thIs Issue

Getting it Right: My Journey in Homesteading

How to Enjoy and Afford a Life on the Move

Living Off the Grid in an Oregon Homestead

Choosing the Best Location for Your Independent Life

Why Epicurus Championed Self-Sufficiency

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Keep Your Options for Geographic Independence Open

By Joel Bowman

Vol. 1, No. 4June 2016

INDEPENDENCEMONTHLY

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When my wife, Anya, was growing up, there was a rule in her household:

No elbows on the table…unless you’d circumnavigated the world.

What she later realized to be a distinctly man-made (i.e. dad-made) rule, she now recalls with much fondness.

“We used to look up to my father, who had been to all sorts of exotic places with his work. There he’d sit, regaling us with stories from far-off lands, elbows proudly perched on the table. I used to think, ‘One day I’ll go to those places…and

more. And I’ll rest my elbows on the table just like him.’”

Being able to go where you want, when you want, is a childhood fantasy for some. For others, it’s a lifelong pursuit.

Today, Anya and I have a somewhat related competition going in our own little household. We even invited her father to play along. It’s a simple numbers game, really. Only, it’s played all over the world.

As you’ve probably guessed, it’s the familiar “how many countries you’ve been to” game. Of course, the “rules” are completely arbitrary and of our own making. For example, layovers don’t count. You have to leave the place of transit…airport, train station, ferry terminal, etc. And in most cases—with a few exceptions—you have to spend the night.

Right now, Anya is ahead by two countries. The day she passed her dad was, I suspect, one of the proudest days of his life.

For the moment, my father-in-law and I are tied for second. But I’m catching up…and I already have a strategy to take the lead sometime later this year. (Though I can’t give that away here…they both read this newsletter.)

The fun part comes in “gaining” a point, when we travel somewhere one of us has already been but that is

new for the other. Anya is ahead of me by two because she has Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belgium on her scorecard…but I have Indonesia and she doesn’t. The rest of the countries we share in common (having been to most of them together).

A passion for travel is something we enjoy as a family. But the quest for what we call “geographical independence” is not just about friendly, intra-familial competitions and silly rules governing where you can and cannot put your elbows.

It’s much, much more important than that. Let’s take a quick look at the backdrop…

Old World, Same TricksTo say the geopolitical sands

are shifting around the world today would be a drastic understatement.

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

—Socrates

©Istockphoto.com/princessdlaf

2 Independence Monthly | June 2016

JUNE 2016Volume 1 | Number 4

WaldenPublishing.com

Editor-in-Chief: Joel BowmanManaging Editor: Cleo MurphyContributors: Andy Fleming, Jan Davis, Eoin Roche

INDEPENDENCEMONTHLY

© Copyright 2016 Walden Publishing All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including online) is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the Publisher. Copies of Independence Monthly are furnished directly by subscription only. Annual subscription is $59. To make an inquiry, see: customerservice@waldenpublishing.com or call (800)-896-0763 (Toll Free), (443)-353-4768 (Local/INTL). Independence Monthly presents information and research believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Readers should investigate any opportunity fully before committing to it.

Here in Europe—I’m writing to you today from a “café office” in Paris—the far right is gaining significant traction as immigration issues boil to the surface.

Parties once thought to be “extreme” are now garnering meaningful portions of the vote and, in some cases, even parliamentary power.

The European Union experiment, a project that (supposedly) began as an idea founded on “open borders,” “trade cooperation,” and “freedom of movement,” has lately descended into hardline isolationism, nativism, and rank populism.

And it’s happening in countries ordinarily considered “forward thinking” and “progressive.” Take a look at this worrying snapshot from a recent article on the BBC website.

• In Austria, for the first time since World War II neither of Austria’s two main centrist parties made it to the presidential run-off.

• Denmark’s government relies on the support of the nationalist Danish People’s Party and has the toughest immigration rules in Europe.

• The leader of the nationalist Finns Party is foreign minister of Finland, after joining a coalition government last year.

• In France, the far-right National Front won 6.8 million votes in regional elections in 2015—its largest ever score.

• The far-right Jobbik party—polling third in Hungary—organizes patrols by an unarmed but uniformed “Hungarian Guard” in Roma (gypsy) neighborhoods.

From one side of the continent to the other, the political landscape is becoming increasingly polarized.

Regardless of where your personal political affinities lie, the result of this kind of collective, protectionist impulse is worrying for those who value mobility, geographical independence, and, in the end, peace.

As the great French writer and philosopher, Frederic Bastiat, wrote in his treatise The Law, “When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.”

May history not serve as prologue.

Doing the “Chicken Run”

Alas, Europe is not alone in its political fragmentation. On the other side of the pond, in the “Land of the Free,” the same isolationist rhetoric is finding a sympathetic audience.

I’d like to present a few data points that I think you’ll find interesting. Taken in isolation, they might not mean much. But in combination…in context…they might mean something very worrying indeed.

You see, it’s not only immigration that’s increasingly perceived as a problem in the U.S.…but emigration, too.

We hear plenty about Mr. Trump’s promise to “build up that wall,” for example, but most of the coverage is concentrated on those “huddled masses” (or “murderers and rapists,” depending on your point of view) trying to get into the country.

Little attention is paid to those who might wish—for whatever reason—to get out. But that door may be closing, too.

For those paying attention, there is a disturbing trend afoot. And this brings us to our first data point…

Last year, the number of Americans who chose to renounce their U.S. citizenship rose by 20%…to an all time record. It was the third consecutive yearly increase.

To be fair, the absolute numbers are still very small…but the percentage increase for those making the ultimate decision to sever political ties with their home country is not insignificant.

In response to this trend, Uncle Sam has cracked down on these so-called “deserters.” Fees to renounce your U.S. citizenship spiked last year by a rather non-trivial 422%.

Hmm…One probable reason for the

surge in recent years is a little known

“It’s not only immigration that’s increasingly

perceived as a problem in the U.S.…but

emigration, too.”

3Independence Monthly | June 2016

law governing how foreign banks and financial institutions treat American customers…even those who live abroad and who derive their income from companies domiciled in foreign countries.

As our friend Nick Giambruno, editor of the excellent International Man publication, explains…

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a U.S. law that forces every financial institution in the world to give the IRS information about its American clients.

Complying with FATCA is a huge financial and administrative burden, measured in hundreds of billions of dollars. It’s a paper shuffler’s dream come true.

This is why the vast majority of banks, brokerages, and other financial institutions outside of the U.S. shun American clients. This, in turn, makes it much more difficult to move capital outside of the U.S.

Combined with other costly, extraterritorial U.S. regulations, FATCA amounts to de facto capital controls.

In a nutshell, FATCA is a way for the U.S. government to control the

flow of money around the world…your money, that is. In addition to banks having to disclose all foreign accounts held by Americans, the law also requires individuals to report certain foreign assets…including all foreign bank deposits greater than $10,000.

As usual, these laws pass under the auspices of “fighting tax evasion” and “tracking terrorism.” What they amount to, as Nick mentioned, is tighter restrictions on just where you and your money can and cannot go.

Here’s one more piece of the puzzle, this time from Forbes magazine…

If you have a large tax debt, you might have trouble traveling, since the IRS power to revoke passports was signed into law as part of the FAST Act. That can be a double worry, since some people may find that passports are required for domestic travel. A new section 7345 of the tax code is called “Revocation or Denial of Passport in Case of Certain Tax Delinquencies.” The idea goes back to 2012, when the Government Accountability Office reported on the potential for using the issuance of passports to collect taxes.

The law says the State Department can revoke, deny or limit passports for anyone the IRS certifies as having a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of $50,000. Administrative details are scant. It could mean no new passport and no renewal. It could even mean the State Department will rescind existing passports.

Can you imagine boarding a plane…only to be told your passport is no longer valid for travel?

Basically, it’s getting harder for you—and your money—to “get outta Dodge.”

Thinking like a Citizen of the WorldIf you want to travel for a good

time, a long time, or both…if you consider the world to be your oyster…if you care about your own geographical independence…then keeping abreast of these issues is important.

And if you sense even the remotest possibility of socio-political unrest brewing in your own backyard, understanding the many and shifting forces at play is critical.

What might happen if another, sudden economic downturn swept the nation? What if banks started to roll over? What if your savings vanished…or your job went away…or if your home was foreclosed?

What if “de facto” capital controls morphed into actual capital controls. Or if you awoke one morning to find your passport had been revoked due to a tax lien?

For the moment, these might seem like extreme circumstances. But it’s better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, rather than the other way around.

Source: IRS/Treasury Department

An increasing number of people are ditching their American passports.

231

2008

5,000 people

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

742 9331,534 1,781

3,0003,415

4,279

Renouncing American Citizenship

4 Independence Monthly | June 2016

A million things can go wrong at any moment, especially when broke governments are looking for ways to squeeze their tax cows for a few more dollars.

That’s why it’s important to be independent in as many ways as you can. You want to insulate yourself against market collapses…currency crises…and social and political upheaval.

And that brings us back to the concept of being geographically flexible. Now, perhaps more than ever, it pays to begin thinking like a Citizen of the World. That is, getting your head in a space that sees beyond borders and, instead, embraces opportunity and possibility.

That might sound unrealistic—indeed, the great majority of people don’t embrace this mindset—but it’s actually easier and more rewarding than you might think.

In fact, you’ll likely find that traveling becomes less expensive and less stressful the more geographically independent you become.

And when you have the flexibility to move around freely, all kinds of possibilities become available. From tapping new streams of income…to discovering new skills and hobbies…to building a broad, international network of travelers and “world citizens” with whom you can share information and insights.

You might even discover that being on “permanent vacation” is cheaper than living in your own home.

So, how do you do it? There’s no one correct way. Indeed, discovering your own path is half the fun. But there are a few tips that can help make the transition to a more geographically independent life easier.

In Times of TroubleTake, for example, the concept

of “crisis vacationing.” I’ve touched on this idea before in the pages of my thrice-weekly e-letter, Truth & Plenty. (If you’d like to begin receiving this free resource, you can sign up here.)

Basically, the idea involves seeking out destinations that are unloved, undervalued and out of favor…then packing your bags and heading directly there.

Of course, few people think this way. Rather, they give a wide berth to places recently struck by man-made—or Mother Nature-made—disaster.

When crisis hits, they sympathize with the plight of “those poor people over there”…from the comfort of their own homes. All while never actually going to stay in those “poor people’s” hotels, eat at their restaurants, or frequent their tours and bars and historic sites.

That’s too bad for them. But for anyone thinking beyond their own back fence, there’s an opportunity.

So, where should you be looking?

A Line of One’s OwnAs I mentioned above, I’m

writing to you today from Paris, France. Compared to past visits, the city today appears virtually empty.

Yesterday, for example, I took my daughter to the Pompidou museum. (Babies seem to love modern art. What is it they know that we don’t?)

Incredibly, there was no line. But for a few other (mostly French) visitors, we had the place more or less to ourselves.

Picasso…Klee…Warhol…Pollock…Rothko…

…and, us.Tourism in the City of Lights

fell sharply after the attacks here in November. Then again when Brussels was hit earlier this year. French hotels and restaurants are suffering as a result. And yet, it is now…when they need our business the most…that people decide not to come.

It’s something I’ve noticed over the years. Everyone wants to stand in a long line to go where the crowds are…but few people want to break from the herd.

I recall visiting Mumbai shortly after the terrorist attacks there in 2008. The place was safe as could be…and cheap!

With most tourists running for the hills, hotels offered steep discounts and suite upgrades to anyone who dared accept their generous offers.

And the Mumbaikars were only too happy to welcome visitors to their wonderful city. Anya and I were even interviewed by the Hindu Times after taking part in a vigil for the victims of the siege in Café Leopold. The reporter wanted us to tell our “fellow foreigners” what a great place India was and that it was still safe and rewarding to visit.

We couldn’t have agreed more and were only too happy to convey the important message.

Paris has seen a drop in tourism...visiting now is good value.

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Of course, it goes without saying that special room rates, complimentary upgrades, and shorter queues are not the most important things here…but neither are they nothing.

Far more meaningful, the “crisis vacationer” knows his hard-earned dollars are going where they are sorely needed…and deeply deserved. People in disaster-affected areas need visitors on the ground, engaging in business and spending money…not well wishes from afar, however heartfelt they may be.

Now, there’s obviously a point of diminishing returns to this particular idea…a moment beyond which the potential upside becomes too risky, too costly.

I’d suggest, for example, sunbaking on the sandy dunes of Brazil’s Fortaleza, as opposed to Iraq’s Fallujah…doing your shopping in Buenos Aires, not Benghazi…and relaxing by the pool in Vietnam’s diving capital, Nha Trang, not North Korea’s dive of a capital, Pyongyang.

Of course, there are multiple versions of this idea…each with its own risk/reward profile. For instance, risk-averse travelers might want to consider something a little more “boring” like, say, paying attention to the forex markets.

More Bang for Your BuckI’m talking here about basic

currency arbitrage. In other words, visiting places where your dollars (or pounds, pesos, pulas…what-have-you) go further against the local scrip.

Currency debasement is a different kind of “crisis,” yes…one caused by politically engineered distortions in the market. But it’s nevertheless one that you can use to your advantage. And, for similar reasons as outlined above, locals will benefit from your patronage.

For reference, the five worst performing currencies of 2015 (as measured against the U.S. Dollar) were:

You’ll know you’re getting a bargain when you trade your valuable dollars for these local currencies.

And there are plenty of others besides…

For example, currencies that depend on strong, natural-resource prices have hit the skids during the past few years, following the price of their underlying assets. Commodity exporting nations are hurting, in other words, and so is the value of their respective governments’ paper money.

That’s good news for Independence Monthly readers who earn and save in U.S. dollars. The greenback just so happens to be tipping multi-year highs, meaning you get more for your money elsewhere.

The New Zealand kiwi, Australian aussie, Canadian loonie and Norweigian krone are all (at time of writing) hovering around six-year lows, or just about.

Therefore, these destinations may present (relative) bargain opportunities for nimble, geographically independent travelers.

____________The CIA world factbook—the

“official” yardstick for our little family travel game—lists 195 independent sovereign states around the world.

We fully intend to visit them all.But although Anya has the

lead for now…and yours truly is strategizing to take over by year’s end…the biggest gainer of new countries over the last 12 months goes to our one-year-old, who has racked up almost as many points as she has months.

At this rate, our little lady will have her elbows well and truly on the table before she blows out her next candles.

Russian ruble (-16.7%)

Turkish lira (-21.4%)

South African rand (-26.2%)

Argentinian peso (-33.6%)1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Brazilian real (-33.6%)

Your dollar goes a long way in Buenos Aires these days.

So whether it’s tickets to Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires followed by dinner at La Brigada…

Enjoying a caipirinha with a view of Rio de Janeiro’s glitzy Ipanema Beach…

Diving with the great white sharks off the coast of Cape Town…

Hot air ballooning over stunning Cappadocia…

Or wandering the capacious halls of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg…

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Independence In ActIon

When I found out I was pregnant with my first child, Dora, in 1990,

I didn’t think about being self-sufficient. I thought about giving my child healthy food and affordable clothing. Back then, I didn’t know anything about growing food, raising animals, or storing anything. But I did know how to sew and I lived within walking distance of a farm stand. Every few days, I’d walk to the farm stand, buy fresh fruits and vegetables which I’d prepare and store.

Dora is now 25 and during that time I have learned how to drive tractors, butcher chickens, and use a chainsaw. I’ve learned to preserve food through canning and freezing. I’ve discovered u-pick berry and vegetable farms to help offset what little I was growing. There were times I was overly ambitious about the self-sufficient lifestyle…and times when I made big mistakes—like buying more land than I could manage and taking on livestock without knowing how to fence them in.

But I’ve learned that self-sufficiency varies throughout one’s life. My journey went from healthy food, to sustainability, to adopting a

Getting it Right: My Journey in Homesteading

By Jan Davis

homestead mentality. I didn’t worry what “society” thought was right. To me, everything seemed broken…our food sources, educational system, and society. It no longer made sense to me. My family thought I would get this out of my system and move back to the city lifestyle…but I never did.

Today, my husband, Rick, grandson, Devin, and I live permanently on a 62-acre homestead, we call Amorphous Acres, in the Southern Tier of Western New York. On any given week, we also have other grandchildren and adult children staying at the homestead for an undetermined period of time.

We believe in homesteading with nature instead of against nature. This means keeping our animals grass-fed, and only adding organic grain or seed when necessary for poultry and pigs. Our goal is to someday create an environment where we grow or barter all our food on the homestead. We are not there yet, but we’re getting closer all the time.

Raising a FamilyBack when Dora was a baby, I

thought gardening would be a breeze. After all, my dad had been an avid gardener in New York, and then in Arizona. He grew everything from fruits and vegetable to roses. He even grew strawberries in the desert heat of Arizona…in sand, under fruit trees. I learned very quickly I hadn’t inherited my father’s green thumb, or maybe I hadn’t paid attention to his teaching when I was young. I never got the chance to ask my father how he did his garden magic, for he died when I was 26.

Then we moved to Washington State where I began teaching. Washington was a great place to live. The soil was magic and gardening was easy. I married my husband Jim and we had two children, James and Makalia. After James was born, we decided I would take a position at the college one or two nights a week to keep my foot in education and stay home with the kids.

Being home allowed me to nurture my “back to nature” side. The kids and I picked wild blueberries and raspberries from an adjoining lot, which we canned or made into pies, which we froze. We grew tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and an array of salad food for the table and canning. I learned to make pickles and salsa. I also learned that slugs liked our little garden as much as we did. What we didn’t grow, we bought from farm stands or swapped with neighbors.

We purchased our first deep freezer and filled it with meat from a local farmer. Twice a week, we’d go to the farm and pick up a gallon of fresh, raw milk. Sometimes, we’d get to the farm early so the kids could watch the cows being milked in a parlor that held only two cows at a time.

We started going to garage sales as a family each weekend, picking up what we needed for the kids from clothes, to toys, to items that made our life easier. I also found several high-end baby consignment shops that would either barter or buy my name brand items. The key was to have name brand items that were in great shape, in style and in season. Sometimes, I would buy items from a

Rick Haveron and Jan Davis are enjoying the homesteading life in

New York State.

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7Independence Monthly | June 2016

garage sale knowing the consignment shop would pay me much more for it.

In 1997, we moved to Glendale, Arizona to be closer to family. I thought my goals of health and sustainability would die. I couldn’t grow anything to save my life, there weren’t any farms nearby that had fresh, raw milk for sale, and no one I knew had the same ideas as I did for health and sustainability.

But I found local farmers markets and canned more than 600 quarts of food a year. We discovered a honey farmer and I began cooking and baking with honey. I discovered a local cooking store that gave classes on making bread from scratch, meaning grinding my own wheat as well. We bought a new freezer when the old one didn’t survive the move, but we didn’t find anywhere local to buy our meat.

HomeschoolingThe first year we lived in Arizona,

I took a part-time teaching position and constantly challenged the administration, parents, and school boards on what needed to be done for students. To me, the school system was broken. It wasn’t about educating students—but sticking everyone into a box. I didn’t fit in the box, and neither did my children. So, we brought all three kids home to school.

Homeschooling was great. We found groups of like-minded people. It was our schedule, our curriculum and each of our children could learn how they learned best. We took a trip with one homeschool group to science camp, where graduate students came out and taught classes. As an educator, I had to forget everything I’d been taught about teaching. I realized I’d learned to teach subjects…not students.

Journal of a Wannabe HomesteaderBy Cleo Murphy

On day one, the first person to arrive was the internet service installer. I thought it was fortuitous. The first caller to my new home was the one who would connect me with the world.

This is an important beginning to my new adventure in simple living. Being connected is essential to me. I want information on composting…on solar tubes…on online courses. I don’t possess a TV (haven’t done for years) but I still want to know what’s going on in our ever-changing and volatile world.

Let me be clear, I am not an all-out homesteader. I am someone who wants to incorporate as much self-sustaining, simple living as I can manage in an urban setting. And I am not giving up the 9-5 existence—it involves the dream job of investigating this whole trend and reporting back to you in the pages of Independence Monthly and on the waldenpublishing.com website.

But I have just purchased a small house in a small city with a terrific—if overgrown—south-facing garden. Both the house and the garden are ready for overhaul, so this is my chance to put into practice my belief that we should pay more respect to the Earth and the environment.

In a previous life, I had an allotment. I grew potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, peas, zucchini, lettuces, beets and carrots…some with more success than others. I spent winter evenings studying gardening books and planning my crop rotation. My small car became a garden shed packed with tools,

compost, wellingtons, gardening gloves, seeds…and so on.

Now, I am faced with the utter pleasure of a 65ft x 10ft stretch of land right on my own back step.

Somewhere back in time, someone loved this garden. We growers leave a mark behind us…covered earth, raised beds, recycled scraps of fencing.

It will take years to get it back in shape but that’s years of healthy weekends and summer evenings, stretching limbs that have spent the day in office mode. I will not be taking out an expensive gym membership to exercise indoors with fluorescent lighting. I will be digging earth, trimming hedges, and then soaking in a bathtub of solar-heated water. I may even throw in a muslin sachet of my own lavender.

I will be warm and cozy in my well-insulated, efficiently heated home. I will prepare nutritious meals in my well-organized kitchen…some from my own veggies, some from the Saturday market, and, yes, some from the supermarket when I can’t do it all by myself.

That’s my vision. I’m not naîve; I know it will be fraught with pitfalls but perhaps you’ll allow me to let off steam when it doesn’t go according to plan…and share with you the joy of when it does.

©Istockphoto.com/Royce DeGrie

8 Independence Monthly | June 2016

When my husband got ill, we put the kids into school. It was supposed to be a temporary fix as we prepared ourselves for his illness and changes that needed to occur. Eventually, I would need to become the bread-winner and he would be home. He died in March 2005.

After Jim’s death, I moved myself and three kids to upstate New York to find peace. I decided to keep the kids in school because I was too scared to homeschool them on my own and I spent the next eight years fighting with the school system to get my children the education they needed.

Mistakes to AvoidI also moved my family onto

farm land, without any knowledge about animals, land and where I was going. I wanted my own meat, milk, gardens, hay, and income from the homestead. And I wanted it all now without a plan or reality. The mistakes piled up one by one as time went on.

First, I bought big Black Angus cows and a bull, 62 goats, three pigs, and 12 chickens. The animals ate way more than my property could provide, the pigs escaped, and I had to find hay for the winter. I didn’t even know what hay was never mind being able to buy good quality hay. I put in an outdoor wood stove, which turned off allowing some pipes in the house to freeze. The chaos didn’t fit into my idea of self-sufficiency or peace.

I didn’t listen to reason even after a 2,200-pound cow rolled me when I tried to load it onto a trailer. It took another kick to the chest from a bull calf and an emergency room visit for me to realize life was way out of hand.

In late 2009, I tried to sell the homestead, but the market had plummeted. I was stuck with land, a big barn, an old farmhouse, and empty dreams. The kids were growing up and really didn’t want any part of my homesteading. I returned to teaching Microsoft Office and basic computers, and helping small businesses get on the web, through the local community college. I love training and helping people but I dislike the corporate world.

I fought everyday with the thoughts of failure but I continued to search, research, and learn.

Getting it Right So I started over. The first thing

I did was create the homestead workbook where I mapped out where I was and where I wanted to go. I wrote out my ideologies and what I wanted to accomplish. How I was going to accomplish my goals was another story.

My goals were simple: Live off the land as much as possible by raising my own meat, milk, and produce. Sell or barter anything extra to help my cause and find like-minded individuals. In early 2010, I bought some chickens and several Irish Dexter Cattle. Not only are they docile, weighing about 800 to 1,200 pounds, but they provide great milk and meat.

In the same year, I met Rick, who was also widowed—and raising a grandkid. We got married earlier this year, so I have a teenager in the house again. Rick has a background in farming, which means I had

to convert his way of thinking to homesteading and working with nature…but it wasn’t that difficult.

Each year, we evaluate what we can add or subtract next. What will fit into our homestead for us? Will we add bees, produce maple syrup, go off-grid, or earn more from the homestead? Yes, yes, and yes.

What we don’t create ourselves we buy or barter as local as possible. We’ve raised goats, rabbits, produce, made our own hay, sprouted seeds, grown fodder, and much more. Every two years we get a couple of piglets that turn the barn for easy cleaning.

We have wild apple trees on the homestead as well as strawberries, cherries, peaches, plums, blueberries, and blackberries. In 2013, we started growing sweet potatoes. We save seeds from year to year and barter with others for different varieties that are organic in nature. In the winter of 2015, we began experimenting with an indoor garden where we’ve been growing herbs, sweet potatoes and sunflowers on a table.

Some things fit better into our world than others, so we try them and move on. Or we try something and alter it to fit.

What we purchase from stores falls into a scenario of good, better, and best for health. After all, we can’t be an island…but we can choose who’s on our island with us. Homesteading is not a piece of land but a peace of mind.Jan Davis’ Irish Dexters are good

providers of meat and milk and are docile animals to manage.

Share Your Story

Do you live a tale of independent life to share? We’d love to hear from you. Drop an email to editor@waldenpublishing.com

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9Independence Monthly | June 2016

GeoGrAphIcAl Independence

Rising housing costs…car payments…price surges for prescription medication…

they all add up to the feeling that you can’t get on with ordinary living.

But with some careful planning, smart thinking, and participation in the Uber economy, you can live a life on the move, approaching it like a perpetual vacation. You can travel around the U.S. or even overseas. Geographical independence is more attainable than ever.

The point is, if you’re willing to push yourself outside your comfort zone to try some unorthodox methods of living, you’ll often find yourself in a much better place than those who are trapped by the conventions of “normal” society.

Cheap FlightsBefore we look at the best places

to stay, let’s talk about the cheapest ways to get there. If you aren’t already, you should be using tools like Google Flights or Expedia to find cheaper airfare. These tools simply allow easy comparisons between

How to Enjoy and Afford a Life on the Move

By Andy Fleming

various airlines and hotels and suggest the “best” options based on price and flight time.

An even better option is Skiplagged, an app/website which helps you cheat the airline system and save hundreds of dollars. Skiplagged allows you to take advantage of what they call “hidden city” fares by booking longer, cheaper flights with layovers in your intended destination.

For example, a direct flight from Wisconsin to Michigan could cost $400, but a flight from Wisconsin to Missouri with a stop in Michigan might only cost $150 to $200. Skiplagged does all the work for you, exploiting these “hidden city” fares so you get the best deal. Just be aware that you won’t be able to check bags if you’re skipping out on your second flight.

If you use credit cards on a regular basis and don’t have a problem managing debt, you can rack up tons of frequent flier miles with little effort. ThePointsGuy is an entire website dedicated to tips and tricks for earning the most miles simply by funneling select purchases through cards with the best reward programs.

Free HousingIn past issues, we’ve covered

some affordable, alternative housing options like tiny houses and container homes, but did you know that you can actually get free housing in the new, Uber economy?

Websites like LuxuryHouseSitting charge a low annual fee ($25 to $95) and allow you to connect with people

who want you to stay in their home, sometimes for months on end. Even if you pay $95 and only book a single week’s worth of house sitting, that still amounts to a $14 per night stay.

As you can probably imagine, luxury housesitting gigs are in high demand, so it’s important to present yourself in a way that attracts attention and reinforces your image as a responsible caretaker.

The Ultimate Guide to Housesitting recommends including photos in your profile that show your face and eyes, so that the homeowner feels they can connect to you personally. You can also subtly suggest that you’re good with animals by including photos of yourself with your pets, and a picture of yourself in your garden. It shows the kind of effort care you put into your own household.

If you have previous experience housesitting, make sure to advertise the fact that you have excellent references available. If you book jobs from certain sites, like Trusted House Sitters, references from those jobs can be automatically added to your profile (with the homeowner’s permission).

A breakdown of the best housesitting websites based on cost and success rates can be found here. While signing up for all of them might be overkill, registering for more than one will substantially increase your chances of finding an opportunity that best fits your specific needs and desires.

If you register with a few of these sites and spend some time forming ©

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Apps to Save (and Make) You $$$Access to tools

relationships with homeowners, you could easily spend most of the year enjoying free accommodations. This sort of opportunity is perfect for those approaching retirement, as homeowners are more likely to hire those with a career behind them and plenty of life experience under their belt.

Rent Your HomeIf you’re not planning on selling

your home to hit the road, you’d be foolish not to rack up some additional passive income by renting out your empty house.

In fact, if you’re currently renting out any property on a monthly basis, listing them on Airbnb instead will most likely add some extra cash to your account. Users report that houses or apartments previously rented for $1,000 per month can generate up to $2,200 per month when listed on the site.

If you’re on the fence about renting out your personal space to strangers, remember that Airbnb rates both homeowners and renters. In the same way that you can expect an Amazon Marketplace seller with

200, five-star ratings to be reliable, you can generally trust renters with lots of good reviews.

Less well known options for short-term renting still offer quality service. HomeAway and VRBO are two of the most popular, just be aware that these smaller businesses don’t offer the kind of comprehensive insurance policies and renter-vetting systems of Airbnb.

House SwappingIf that’s still not enough to

make you feel comfortable, you can instead join a home-sharing network. Websites like Home Exchange and Love Home Swap allow you to find families or individuals to temporarily “trade” homes with.

These sites have registered users in every continent and guarantee you that authentic, local experience while traveling. If you swap houses with another family, you can feel secure knowing that they’ll be treating your

One of the best things about the tech revolution is that developers are constantly creating free software tools which save you money by automating menial tasks.

Last month, we talked about Wikibuy, which compares prices across several retail networks to find you the best deal, and Honey, which automatically searches for and applies coupon codes to items in your digital shopping cart.

Most popular online stores offer price guarantees which extend a week or two after your purchase. So, if you buy something from Amazon for $50, and the next week it goes on sale for $39.99,

Amazon owes you a refund. Most people don’t know about this, and just let these opportunities slip by.

Paribus does all the work for you. Simply direct it to the email address where online retailers send your receipts and the program does the rest, scanning your purchases and issuing refunds as they become available.

Similar sites and apps exist for selling things online. Got any used books sitting around? BookScouter.com automatically compares the buyback prices for your books across 43 different vendor platforms so you’re always getting the best deal.

home the way they want you to treat theirs! For a more detailed overview of some of the best home-sharing networks, check out ShareTraveler.com’s breakdown.

One last tip for renting out your home… the “14-day Rule,” or “Master’s Exception” (named after its popularity in Georgia during the Master’s Golf Tournament), is a fairly cut-and-dry rule which states that income gained from renting out property for less than 14 days a year is exempt from tax. The only catch is that you must also spend 14 days in the house at some point during the year.

Get on a housesitter’s register and you could live in some beautiful places around

the country or around the world.

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11Independence Monthly | June 2016

Homesteader Tim Scullen has lived off the grid for over two decades on his three-and-

a-half acres of land in Gold Beach, Oregon. He built his own house, grows his own food, and is a firm believer in the power of community.

“If you have a lot of like-minded people doing the same thing…this is how you change the world. Not with big, sweeping gestures, but little things…,” he says. “Just believe it can be done. There’s plenty of people doing it and it gets easier the more you do it.”

The land Tim bought hadn’t been developed at all, so his first task was to dig in the water and the sewer line. Then, he built a temporary cabin on the land from what others were leaving behind.

“Originally I used scraps,” says Tim. “There was a big construction boom in the mid-2000s, before the bust, and people were building a lot and throwing a lot away. I gathered up construction materials from condominium sites and different places and used those to build a 10'x12' cabin, which I lived in while I built my real house, which is a 16'x20' code house with a foundation and everything. It’s basically one big room with a loft and high ceilings.”

The house was oriented with solar power in mind so the roof is set up for solar panels.

Tim also built an “in-ground” cooling system for his food.

“I don’t eat much meat so I don’t really have anything that spoils too

Living Off the Grid on an Oregon Homestead

By Andy Fleming

Independence In ActIon

quickly,” he explains. “I built a box into the ground on the north side of a Myrtle tree and inside that box is another box.

“I’m not sure exactly how cool it stays, but I keep things like produce and berries there, and it’ll stay good for a couple of weeks, even in the summer. I could get a propane refrigerator but I haven’t needed to. There’s two grocery stores nearby that refrigerate everything 24 hours a day if I really need something, but I try to rely more and more on stuff I’m growing and what’s available local and fresh.”

Growing FoodTim bought his land from a

friend and now grows as much of his own food as he can. “When I bought the place, it was an orchard with an adjoining piece of property. My friend had planted about fifty heirloom apple trees. I’ve added about 33 blueberry bushes since,” he says.

Conscious of the link between food and wellbeing, Tim grows quinoa in raised beds…Yacon, a tuber from South America, which is full of healthy dietary fiber to maintain the “friendly bacteria” in your stomach…and aronia berries that make a dark maroon juice chock-full of anti-oxidents.

“I like to walk around and graze,” says Tim. “I think dark, leafy greens

are one of our best medicines, best foods…so the more of that I can get going, that I can just chomp at will, the better.”

Potatoes, cherry tomatoes, beans, peas…all that grow well on Tim’s land, too.

“I’m interested in the vegetables that people don’t know too much about, that aren’t so intensive as far as maintenance and dealing with them. I just like having a landscape I can eat. It’s always there for you,” he says.

Generating EnergyAs far back as his schooldays, Tim

noticed that he never felt particularly happy or healthy. At first, he thought he was having a bad reaction to florescent lighting but he has since come to discover that it has more to do with being around power running on alternating current.

“Some electricians I’ve talked to seem to think that most human beings are slightly allergic to alternating current…possibly because it flips between positive and negative charge constantly, which allows it to travel farther than direct current,” he explains. “So, for whatever reason, I particularly don’t like alternating current, and I feel much healthier surrounded by 12-volt power.

“I’m not really interested in grid electricity; I don’t really want anything

Every once in a while you’ll want to run a controlled overcharge to “equalize” the batteries. Like any battery, they build up sulfation on the lead plates, but if you run a higher charge than the batteries are used to, it knocks that sulfur off, which makes them last longer. I run an equalizer for a couple hours every month. The batteries usually charge between 12 and 13.5 volts; the equalizer just bumps that up to about 14.9 volts.

Tip for Solar-Powered Battery Maintenance

Tim Scullen likes living the healthy,

independent life of a

homesteader.

12 Independence Monthly | June 2016

to do with it. I had a friend who gave me a couple of solar panels and I just set up a really basic system and then modified it. I had some help from my friend who runs a solar energy business. We set up two 95-watt panels and those run to two 6-volt deep cycle batteries connected to an inverter.”

It’s never been cheaper to get set up for solar energy.

“China’s just spitting out cheap solar panels these days,” says Tim. “This is a good time to do it. I’m being a bit conservative but for $3,000 to $4,000 you could do a small system and have it work for you for a good amount of time. I use lead acid batteries instead of the gel ones. Lead acid are all completely recyclable, which I like. The lead and almost all the parts can be used again and again.”

Apart from his own health, Tim is concerned for the wellbeing of the planet. He believes we take grid power

for granted when it’s not the best option.

“How many nuclear power plants can we eliminate if more people get on solar? I didn’t want to contribute to, and be dependent on the coal burning power companies. So, it was really about concern for the Earth and concern for my own wellbeing. Grid power is something we grow up with and that we’re told is “normal” but…what is normal?

“Where I live, my solar angle kind of disappears in the winter, so I have a generator (Honda 3000-series) which I’ll run a couple hours a week. I only really need it in the dead of winter, maybe for two or three months. You want to keep the batteries up to a certain level, they’re like living things…if you run them down too much it’s hard to get them back up.”

Most of the time, Tim runs 12-volt power for lighting and music—LED lights and a car stereo which functions

Reap and Sow: YaconAccess to tools

Yacon, also known as the “Peruvian Ground Apple,” is a perennial daisy, native to South America. Although its flowers are mostly unremarkable, the tuberous roots growing beneath the surface are anything but.

Its probiotic bacteria can help you lose weight, lower cholesterol, heal your liver, strengthen your immune system, and prevent certain types of cancer.

Its sweet taste—often being compared to pears, apples, or watermelon—is due to the presence of Inulin, a complex sugar which is difficult to digest. This makes the Yacon delicious, without adding any empty calories. And because the body has trouble breaking Inulin down, it passes through the digestive system without raising blood sugar or promoting weight gain.

as a cd player and radio. When he wants to use the washing machine or power tools, he uses the inverter to create 120-volt power, although it’s best to do this on sunny days so it doesn’t run down the battery storage too much.

And how would he advise anyone making the move to off-grid living?

“Find someone who’s doing it and hang out with them,” he says. “Just observe, that’s how I did it. Meeting people who are actually doing it is the best inspiration, and it spreads. It’s a wonderful thing that we can give to each other, to help ourselves be strong and less dependent on stuff like corporate entities that don’t necessarily have our best interests in mind.

“Try to build in things that aren’t complicated, things that take care of themselves. You don’t want to have to spend a lot of time having to maintain a lot of different things, you want to just let the natural system do its thing and take advantage of it.”

In fact, Yacon syrup is often used as a diabetes-friendly sweetener since it won’t cause hyperglycemia.

Yacon can be planted anywhere with reasonable rainfall and moderate heat. You can easily propagate future crops by harvesting the crowns once your Yacon matures and replanting them next season.

It’s best to plant Yacon as soon as the weather becomes consistently warm. The plants start slow, but can grow up to more than six feet in height during the summer and continue to produce into the fall. Yacon are sensitive to temperature and will benefit from some heat insulation once the summer months reach their end. This can be easily accomplished by surrounding them with straw or bundles of dry grass.

When grown in good conditions, Yacon are low maintenance. Pests and common crop diseases tend to

leave the roots alone and, as long as they’re receiving enough water, the plants can more or less be left to their own devices. Yacon doesn’t need rich soil to grow, but if you can enhance its nutrition with compost and manure, you’ll see the benefit. Some growers report up to 22 pounds of tubers from a single Yacon plant.

Once you’ve got a harvest in hand, there’s a ton of ways to use the plant in tasty recipes. Raw, it makes a great addition to any salad, and the syrup can be used in baked goods and desserts.

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13Independence Monthly | June 2016

You’re ready to make the move; to start a life of independence, freedom,

and self-sufficiency. But where should you go? Choosing the right location for your future homestead is an important step. Sure, finding somewhere you feel “at home” is important, but so is choosing a location where your dollars will stretch the furthest.

Between cost of living and taxes, living in the right area can save you thousands of dollars every year. That’s money you can use to upgrade your quality of life, set up off-grid energy, or put away for your future. This is especially important if you are (or will be) living off social security benefits, since the location of your home determines just how much the government can tax that income.

If you’re already looking into a big move, you’d be wise to keep certain cost factors in mind. You don’t want to unexpectedly find yourself paying thousands more in property taxes or living in an area where groceries cost triple what they did before your move. With a little knowledge and pre-planning, you should see those expenses take a dive instead.

Cost of Living There are 26 U.S. states with

average utility bills over $300. This might not sound unreasonable until you consider that residents in Washington, D.C. are only spending an average of $223 per month on energy. (You can check the estimated energy costs for your state here.)

Choosing the Best Location for Your Independent Life

By Andy Fleming

That’s an annual saving of about $924 from a single source.

Of course, energy bills aren’t the only costs which fluctuate wildly depending on your state. In states with average food prices, $15 is usually sufficient to buy enough ingredients to prepare a healthy meal for a family of four. However, if you live in Virginia, the same ingredients will cost closer to $30.

Some of the best food prices can be found in Idaho, where a similar meal would only cost $9.33. Even at a conservative estimate, this means that someone moving from Virginia to Idaho could expect to save about $1,000 in food costs per person, per year.

Numbeo is a helpful site which aggregates cost of living data from all over the world and can be used to compare food costs between any two cities. Check out this page if you want a quick breakdown of the cost

of living indexes for the 10 cheapest U.S. cities.

Property TaxNew Jersey boasts a whopping

2.29% property tax, meaning you’d pay $4,029 annually for a median-cost home. Compare that to Alabama’s 0.43% tax, and you’d only owe about $764 annually for the exact same house, saving you $3,265 every year.

Believe it or not, Hawaii actually has the lowest property tax rates (0.28%). Let’s say you own an average-priced house in one of the more expensive states for property tax (New Jersey, Illinois, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Texas). If you sell your house and buy a similarly priced one in Hawaii, you’d save around $3,000 per year.

Sure, the cost of living is high on the islands, but if you’re saving over $3,000 on property tax, that might

AffordAble lIvInG

Location, location...your independent life can be more affordable depending on where you choose to live.

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14 Independence Monthly | June 2016

start to look manageable. Here’s a chart compiling property tax data from 2016. How much could you save by moving to Hawaii?

Income Tax The U.S. practices citizenship-

based taxation, which means even moving abroad won’t allow you to escape U.S. taxes unless you renounce your citizenship.

There are currently seven states with no income tax—Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

New Hampshire and Tennessee are also good states to look into since they don’t collect taxes from earnings, only dividend and interest income.

Now, this is where it gets tricky. Even if you live in a state with no income tax, you’ll still have to pay taxes on money you receive from states with income tax. If you manage to move to one of these states, and receive a source of income from that state (or another state on the list), you’re in the clear. States without income tax have higher sales taxes, but chances are you could still save a bundle.

If you’re planning on using social security benefits as your main source of income, you’d be wise to look into states that exempt them from taxes. Most of these states also have 0% income tax.

Social SecurityCurrently, the 10 best states

for retirees (tax wise) are Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Mississippi, Delaware, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Florida. If you want to see a side-by-side comparison of various state taxes and tax breaks, here’s an easy-to-use tool which will give you a detailed breakdown.

There’s also a great argument for avoiding taxes by moving to Puerto Rico. As a U.S. commonwealth you can legally live in Puerto Rico as a U.S. citizen, and need only pay their 4% income tax on your earnings. Compared to the 39.6% federal tax rate, that’s a steal. Plus, Puerto Rico doesn’t tax dividends, interest, or capital gains.

Tax DeductionsWant to see exactly how

much you can save by moving? You can plug your tax status into SaveTaxesByMoving to get a rough estimate. Whynotmove.org offers a slightly more in-depth form that will also factor in the purchase of a new home.

Definitely keep this in mind when planning your future homestead. If you’re going to be working for at least 39 weeks in the 12 months after your move (78 weeks over 24 months if you’re self-employed) you can deduct moving costs from your taxes.

That means the cost of rental trucks, professional movers, boxes and the gas it costs to reach your new home can all be deducted. If a long drive separates you and your new residence, you can even deduct the cost of hotels you stop in along the way.

The only other requirement is that your new home and workplace meet the “distance test.” This states that your new place of employment must be at least 50 miles farther away from your old home than your old place of employment. Basically, this

means that if you were previously driving (X) miles to work, your new job must be 50+X miles from your old home. If you currently drive 10 miles to work, your new home must be 60 miles from your old job...

If you don’t currently have a concrete “workplace,” then all the better! In this case, your new job just needs to be at least 50 miles from your old home.

Keeping an eye out for jobs in areas you’d like to relocate to can help offset the cost of the move. If the price of the move itself is holding you back, get the feds to pay. Remember, you only have to work from 39 to 78 weeks to qualify, so even a temporary job can net you a sizeable deduction.

The IRS may even allow you to start working that time off before your move if you have “special circumstances,” such as a spouse receiving medical care or children finishing off their school year.

For more specifics and a look at the official forms, check out the IRS’ page on moving expenses, as well as TurboTax’s guide to IRS Form 3903.

You can deduct the cost of moving to your new home from your taxes.

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15Independence Monthly | June 2016

We tend to think of “epicures” as those who seek out the most

interesting food and drink they can find…sometimes turning it into a life goal and often spending large amounts of money in posh restaurants.

So maybe you figure that’s what the ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus, was all about—given that his name has been attached to the trend.

Wrong!Epicurus reckoned that if

you are not hungry, nor thirsty, nor anxious—and confident that you will remain in such a state of tranquility—you have exactly what you need and desire nothing more.

Far from chasing ever more extravagant sensory pleasures, the goals he laid out are deliberately modest and straightforward. Epicurus thought they were all quite easy and, in many ways, they are. For Epicurus, anxiety caused by worrying about unrealizable desires or very realizable fears was the big bad, and he organized his ethics around its prevention. He reasoned that the easiest way of achieving this was to treat the source. Limit your desires to what is achievable and simplify your life so your fears are more narrow and manageable.

The GardenEpicurus put his ideas into

practice in the garden of his estate outside ancient Athens and was joined by people interested in his ideas, who wanted to live and learn

with him. The gate was inscribed with a greeting: “Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is pleasure.”

They grew their own food—irrigating it from the nearby Eridanus River—and tried as hard as they could to subsist on limited tools to further detach themselves from Athenian society. Many of them tried to further decrease their dependency on nearby Athens by only eating vegetables, as it was much more difficult to rear livestock by yourself than it was to grow crops.

Epicurus strongly emphasized close friendship. To him, friends are important because they are a reliable dependence, effectively allowing one to spread life’s burdens without adding uncertainty. The school became its own little cloister, occupied by a small community of independent, farming philosophers.

“The Garden,” as it became known, turned into a symbol of the joy found in a self-reliant and simple lifestyle. It was open to any Athenian citizen—including women

and slaves, which was exceptional at the time. It was a welcome respite for those in the city seeking an escape from Athenian political life.

Epicurus championed self-sufficiency as a tool for minimizing anxiety. Simplicity was key. Complexity usually implies that there are more things which can go wrong…and more things to worry about. The chase for perfection is an anxious one. You will by definition remain unfulfilled, which is completely opposed to how Epicurus viewed happiness.

So if you, right now, are thinking of cutting up your credit card and embracing a simpler life, growing your own food and home schooling your children…you are very much on an “epicurean” track.

Being HappyEpicurus was also a hedonist. We tend to think of a hedonist

today the same way we think of the epicure— indulgent and in search of instant gratification—but again, that’s not really a fair reading.

Some philosophers thought a good life was one motivated by something like justice, the pursuit of knowledge, or worship of the divine. In other words, be ethical, educated, religious…or some combination thereof.

In contrast, a hedonist thought that simply living a happy life is living a good life.

A natural question to ask of any hedonist is what exactly they think happiness is. Most will tell you it’s about maximizing pleasure and

Why Epicurus Championed Self-Sufficiency

By Eoin Roche

Independent thInkInG

Food, friendship, and free thinking were part of Epicurus’ philosophy...but he liked to keep it all simple.

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16 Independence Monthly | June 2016

minimizing discomfort. Epicurus would agree to this characterization but to leave it there would be to oversimplify it. He once said, “Wealth beyond what is natural, is no more use than an overflowing container,” which is in many ways emblematic of his overall approach to a hedonistic life. Fill your container, but take no more.

You could better reframe his interpretation of pleasure and pain as tranquillity and anxiety. Anxiety is the greatest source of discomfort for human beings, and Epicurus thought anxiety had its origin in the knowledge of future discomfort. In other words, the inability to guarantee future pleasures.

And let’s face it, there are no guarantees. No matter how stable our situation appears, chances are there is something about it that is making you anxious. This is especially true today, as the world continues to grapple with an economic crisis and we enter increasingly uncertain times. The world is often chaotic, and Epicurus thought that spreading our dependencies out over a wider area essentially meant there were more things to worry about.

“Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth,” he said. If you make

Access to tools

Skills to Make You Independent

When working towards a life of independence and self-sustainability, you’d be wise not to underestimate the value of practical skills. Most people shell out thousands of dollars a year hiring “professionals” to do relatively simple tasks.

If you’re saving up for a big move, or simply trying to pull ahead of the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, cutting costs like these can make all the difference. Maybe you need a bit more info on what’s making that funny noise under your car hood (so the mechanics can’t rip you off) or some cooking tips that will allow you to shift away from high-cost, pre-packaged meals.

No matter the reason, acquiring a diverse set of practical skills is guaranteed to save you money and give you the confidence you need to tackle problems you might encounter as a homesteader. All the information you could ever need is available for free, if you look in the right places. Here’s a few comprehensive databases of learning material to get you started.

• DoitYourself is a website dedicated to offering tips and guides for DIY homeowner tasks, from electrical and plumbing to food storage.

• Skillshare encourages you to learn a new skill each day. Their video guides cover a variety of topics like growing your business or using software to enhance your photos. Most of their content can be accessed for free, with access to premium content costing just $.99 for three months.

• WhatTheCraft.com is all about making, altering, and repairing your own clothes. Depending on how in-depth you want to get with this, you can put off trips to the department store almost indefinitely…and save your money.

• Socratic is a bit different. It mostly focuses on typical academic topics like math, science, and psychology. What makes this site interesting and different is that you can post any question, no matter how complex, and have it quickly answered by a knowledgeable expert. This sort of “knowledge sharing” database has huge potential.

yourself self-reliant you will improve your life, regardless of how much you have to simplify. In fact, the latter implies the former.

We think of Epicurus as being very interested in “the finer things in life,” usually to the extent that it is soured by that same indulgent hedonism that so often creeps

through in a modern epicure’s lifestyle.

But ultimately, Epicurus advised managing your expectations and being content with simplicity. His guide to life can be summed up as: Be sure that you can achieve what it is you want, understand how to get and maintain it, and then be able to act on that knowledge.

As far back as 200 B.C., Epicurus could see the value of a self-

sufficient lifestyle.

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