I recently read about a man who decided to live with only 100 items. He went through all of his possessions, deemed which were the most useful, and got rid of the rest. I find this idea equally refreshing and terrifying. Although I strongly dislike the consumer-driven society that I live and participate in, I find it difficult to stop consuming. I have a strong desire, however, to live very minimally and clutter-free next year in the yurt. In order to fit ourselves and our belongings comfortably into a 24′ yurt, we have to downsize considerably.

The difficulty is that we do not want to get rid of something only to purchase it again in a year or two. It seems counterproductive to fight consumerism with consumerism, so we are struggling to somehow live minimally without developing the “throw it out now, buy it again later” attitude.

We won’t have electricity in the yurt and will need to entertain ourselves; books, music, art, and tools will be important. Clothing will also be quite important, as our little abode will probably be a bit chilly. Unfortunately, it is glaringly obvious that I own too many books, too many art supplies, and too much clothing. I have, therefore, resolved to donate books that I am embarrassed to have on my shelf, art supplies that haven’t been used in a year, and clothing that makes me feel podgy.

In an effort to keep myself accountable, I will continue to keep you posted about my newfound flirtation with minimalism. To get started, here is my list of belongings that [I think] belong in the yurt:

•  books
•  furniture and bedding
•  art supplies
•  musical instruments
•  tools
• paintings and photographs
• cookware
• a smart* amount of clothing

*open to interpretation

Yurt in the Winter

yurt |yoŏrt; yərt|
noun
a circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible framework, used by nomads in Mongolia, Siberia, and Turkey

Mike and I have been discussing the possibility of building a yurt for about a year. Our intention is to build as much of it ourselves as we can, set it up before next winter, and live off-grid for a while. As you can imagine, we have received a very mixed bag of reactions from our friends and family. When we mention that we plan to live in a yurt, some people light up excitedly and express sincere happiness for us while others suddenly transform into broody teenagers who disagree with anything abnormal and hit us with “the look”. You know the look: think back to high school and imagine that one guy or girl who refused to accept anyone or anything new – the judgemental stare down that you received from them as a teen when you tried to do something out of the box is the same look we have received from a few of our friends. Thankfully, the most common reaction is not “the look” but is both well-intentioned and humourous: an awkward, high-pitched, if not flustered “Oh…that’s interesting.” This is perhaps the best reaction one could give because it is painfully obvious to us that this person can imagine nothing worse than living in a yurt, yet they still try to encourage us in our endeavours. Regardless of the reaction, people have a lot of questions that I have tried to answer the best I can.

Yurta Interior

What will you do in the winter?
The yurt will be very well insulated (well insulated for a tent, at least) with layers of wool felt and canvas. It will protect us from the elements while [hopefully] keeping the heat in. We bought a Rayburn wood stove a while ago that we will use as our cooking stove, hot water heater and boiler (for radiators). Evidently, when the fire has not been stoked for a while the yurt will feel like a round ice box, so wool sweaters and socks will abound, but we should be able to live comfortably the rest of the time.

What about electricity?
We are looking into a few options – solar panels, stationary bikes, and using our truck to charge deep-cycle batteries and we have a few oil lamps that will provide us with light sans electricity. We will have to cut back on our electricity usage – a lot – in order to live in the yurt, but this feels like an adventure so it seems fun. We have a gramophone and a pile of records, so even on the days when we have absolutely no power stored up, we can listen to music. My laptop can be charged at work or the library, and our cell phone can be charged in the car.

What will you do about a bathroom?
This has been one of my questions as well, and is perhaps the most difficult to answer because I only know theoretically what we plan to do – Mike is the mastermind and has a plan. He intends to build a cistern or water tank to hold rain water that will be heated by the Rayburn; this water will be used for dishes and showers. A composting toilet seems is the favoured option, as far as toilets go, as it uses no water, is practical in a yurt, and apparently does not smell. The bathroom is the part that most people will get hung up on, and that is completely understandable.

Yurt Interior

What will you do for potable water?
Eventually, it would be nice to filter our own rain water, however, for the time being, we will fill up jugs of water in town.

Obviously, the yurt life is not for everyone. Maybe it isn’t even for us. We might get into our yurt and decide after a year that we don’t like the lifestyle. For now, however, the benefits of a nomadic, off-grid home far outweigh the disadvantages and we are really excited about the whole process.

Bush goggles affect us in a few different ways: how we view ourselves, how we view others of the same sex, and how we view the opposite sex.

How We See Ourselves

There aren’t many mirrors in camp, so it is easy to forget what you look like. And since you can’t actually see what you look like it, it is easy to pretend that you look much better than you do in reality. This is one of the best things about bush goggles – you see how filthy and unkempt everyone else is while still maintaining that you yourself are quite well put together. You couldn’t possibly look as filthy and exhausted as everyone else, so you imagine yourself in a much more sympathetic light. What looks like a dirty bird’s nest to those around you is imagined as a sexy, voluminous mane in your own mind; a tired face made streaky from a mixture of dirt, sunscreen and sweat is believed to be fresh, youthful and glowing; and ripped, bleach-stained clothing is pictured as laid-back and cute.

How We See Others

Beauty is not something a girl can paint onto herself in the woods – she must earn it. A girl is not beautiful because of how polished she is; she is beautiful because of how unpolished she is - dirt and grime are marks of beauty that one can be proud to wear. If a girl spends time each morning putting on makeup, fixing her hair and creating her outfit before she ventures out onto the block, she is thought ridiculous by the other women in camp. On the other hand, if she crawls out of her sleeping bag into yesterday’s clothes and migrates to the breakfast table in a matter of minutes, she is highly regarded by the other members of her sex. In a sense, disheveled women love company much in the same way that misery loves company; the more ragged those around you become, the more ragged you yourself are allowed to be.

How We See the Opposite Sex

Despite knowing that the men look sun-wrecked, tired, and overly too hairy, most of the women in camp can’t help but feel that many of the men are attractive. Men aren’t restricted when bush goggles are present. It is somehow socially acceptable to look like a patchy criminal when in the woods. The men appear to unite in order to convince the women that a sketchy outward appearance is completely normal. Women begin accepting wild beards, unwashed bodies (for weeks on end) and terribly unflattering clothing as the norm. In fact, they soon start believing that these men are not only tolerable, but handsome! Rather than shunning men that one would literally run away from in the real world, one instead finds them to be surprisingly attractive. I can only describe this to be the result of careful acts performed by a mind-ninja (read: a veteran treeplanter).

One day I will write about what happens when a group of bush-goggle wearing planters emerge from the woods into a world of non-bush-goggle wearing individuals.

Four days of driving finally brought us to our destination: the parking lot of a small, run-down motel in Northern Alberta. In a matter of 48-hours,  the parking lot changed from a barren wasteland to a colourful carnival of  nearly a hundred young adults garbed in woolen sweaters, bandanas and gaiters.

Most treeplanters, I observed, are twenty-somethings who enjoy the outdoors, want to give their minds a rest, and are not afraid of hard work. Each prepared for the planting season in his or her own way; shovels were shortened, bags were beaten, and boots were equipped with spikes. Nearly all of the planters accepted the job in hopes of making a large amount of money in a short amount of time. Unfortunately for all of us, however, the snow had not yet melted and we were stuck waiting around the motel until the ground was thawed enough to be sown.

Since most of us were on our last five dollars, standards and expectations became quite low. What would normally be thought of as a hole-in-the-ground establishment suddenly became a comfortable, cushy home for an undetermined number of days. Several planters crammed themselves into four-person rooms in order to save as much money as possible and I learned that if there is a television and small space on the floor on which to sleep, everyone is quite content.

During these couple of weeks of limbo, our friends kindly consented to letting us to use their washroom in their already cramped hotel room, allowing us to happily live out of our 13′ Boler. Each night brought new entertainment: the “hippie” planters from another company moved in for a few nights and entertained us with their circus theatrics (literally – fire juggling, flashy clothing and a unicycle), while other nights were seasoned with dramatics put on by the locals. A camp in the middle of nowhere was a very welcome change once we finally got there.

We set up our camp beside a beautiful lake surrounded by forested islands: a place of beauty and bugs. Small black flies were re-named “Sky Wolves” in an attempt to describe the terror they were unleashing on all of us. It was not uncommon for planters to return home at the end of the day covered with so many bug bites that their faces had taken new shape. One planter in particular – a tall, slim girl with delicate facial features – turned into a female Quasimodo at the unmerciful chomping jaws of the bugs. Her eyes swelled nearly shut, the sides of her face puffed so much that she had no distinguishable cheekbones, and her neck looked as if it had succumbed to a tropical disease.

Despite the changes in comfort that were taking place, camp life very quickly became normal. Outhouses (as well as holes in the forest floor) soon became just as comfortable as washrooms with indoor plumbing; meanwhile, laundry was contentedly washed by hand in an old bucket and hung in the trees to dry. Hairy legs became not only acceptable, but encouraged, and unwashed hair ceased to be a good indication of one’s general cleanliness. Dirt, Watkins and sunscreen became the new makeup that slowly transformed the girls into outwardly filthy, yet inwardly confident, women. I will discuss this phenomenon as well as explain the glorious concept of “Bush Goggles” in my next post…stay tuned.

Cake
Combine wet ingredients:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk or soy milk

Combine dry ingredients:
2/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/3 cup rice flour
3/4 cup amaranth flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Add dry to wet and mix. Stir in 1 cup boiling water. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan* and bake at 350 until knife comes out clean (check it around the 40 minute mark and go from there).

*be sure to grease AND flour the pan… don’t just do one or it will end badly (I learned the hard way)

Icing
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp soy milk
3 tbsp. whipped margarine (the vegan hippie kind)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. cocoa
Beat with egg beaters until it looks like icing – add more icing sugar if you want it to be thicker.

Pizza Dough
Mix dry:
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/8 cup sorghum or millet flour
1/8 cup coconut flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. rosemary (or whatever other spice you want)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or whatever other spice you want)

Mix wet:
1/4 cup mashed potatoes (sweet or regular)
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
1/2 cup soy milk

Combine everything together and mix well. Press onto a greased round cookie sheet. Try to make it as flat as possible (oil your hands a bit if it sticks too much). Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes.

Toppings
tomato sauce
peppers
mushrooms
zucchini
thin sweet potatoes
broccoli
cauliflower
artichoke hearts (soaked in oil – somehow these make up for the lack of cheese)

Throw the sauce and toppings on your pizza crust and bake at 450 for 5-7 minutes, then broil for 2-3. If you like a fairly crispy pizza, bake until the edges are a medium brown.

Mix wet ingredients together:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 oz. baker’s chocolate (4 melted squares)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs (add one at a time)

Mix dry ingredients together:
2/3 cup arrowroot or tapioca starch (or a combination)
2/3 cup amaranth flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup rice flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix everything together, cover and chill for 3 hours (or leave in fridge overnight).

Use a teaspoon to scoop dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in icing sugar (1/2 cup of icing sugar in a bowl is enough). Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Mix wet ingredients together:
1/4 cup mashed potatoes (sweet or regular)
1/2 cup almond or soy milk (or real milk if you can have it)
1/4 cup oil (canola, olive or grapeseed work best)

Mix dry ingredients together:
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (or tapioca starch)
1/4 cup coconut flour
4tsp. baking powder
1tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. Spoon onto a greased cookie sheet (I use a soup spoon to get a decent sized biscuit). Bakefor about 15 minutes at 450 degrees (they are readyonce they start to brown on top ).

*most baking powder has corn starch in it, but I’ve found a gluten-free alternative at a local health store that does not (the one I buy has natural cream of tartar, baking soda, and tapioca starch)

For those recent high school or university graduates who are feeling the impending pressure to “get a real job” and subsequently venture into their adult lives… there is an alternative to becoming a  grown-up: work abroad. Many twenty-somethings are successfully distancing themselves from adulthood through travel. Working abroad not only provides an answer to the doomed “What do you want to do with your life?” question, but it also gives the opportunity to travel, gain life experience, make a bit of money and add something to a CV. For unknowable reasons, working a minimum wage job in Europe seems to warrant more credit amongst parents and friends than working the exact same job at home.

Nowadays, less young adults have the desire to walk into a full time career immediately following graduation. Most want some time to play, but rarely have the funds to do so. This is why working while traveling is such a great alternative. Most cities are very welcoming to young people who want to see the world and make a bit of money while doing so. With a little research, it is easy to find a job overseas that will pay for food and lodging alongside a paycheck.

There are many options to help minimize lodging costs, such as working as an au pair (living with a family and caring for their young children), or working on an organic farm. In both situations food and rent are provided. As an au pair, one gets paid a salary and oftentimes benefits from luxurious family vacations to warm, sunny destinations. Several au pairs have had the benefit of living in their own private quarter of the house, while others have lived in old French castles. Many times, au pairs are given complete use of a car for carting the kids around, as well as for personal use. Organic farms aren’t quite as glamorous as castles but they provide a unique experience that also does the planet some good. Working on an organic farm is less of a job and more of a way life; in exchange for helping care for the farm, one is provided with fresh organic food, a place to sleep, and hands-on education about sustainable farming.

If au pairing and organic farms don’t peak an interest, there are many more options such as teaching English as a second language or becoming a crew member on a sailboat. Whether fresh from high school with little work experience, or an experienced teacher with a degree, one can find an ESL teaching job in countries all over the world. In many places in Asia, apartments and plane tickets are provided for English teachers who sign a one-year contract. Places such as France do not provide apartments or airfare, but they do provide the chance to live in a beautiful city and eat as much cheese as one can manage. If the high seas spark your interest more than teaching, then consider joining a crew and sailing around the world. There are crew positions available for all experience levels (even for those who have never set foot on a sailboat before).

Any job that provides the opportunity to travel, gain work experience, and enjoy life somewhere new is a good way to be productive without entering a full-time job. There are hundreds of websites to help connect employers to potential employees, as well as websites to simply spark an interest in a certain field. The important thing is to start seeking.

Useful websites to get you started:

• www.aupair.com – view profiles of families who are searching for an au pair
• www.wwoof.org – provides information on organic farms as well as links to farms around the world who are searching for volunteers
• http://www.jetprogramme.org – information on teaching English in Japan
• http://www.ciep.fr/en/assistantetr/ – information on teaching English in France
• www.findacrew.net – find a boat anywhere in the world that is looking for a crew
• www.anyworkanywhere.com – search jobs from all over the world; information on working visas
• www.escapeartist.com – get inspired and search for jobs all over the world

Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

Whisk together and let sit for 10 minutes:

1 cup warm water

1 package dry, active yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

1 tablespoon sugar

Mix together:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon each: basil, oregano, and rosemary

1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1-2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Add the spice mixture to the yeast mixture and stir well.

Add:

2 cups gluten-free flour mix

1/2 cup spelt flour

Knead the dough by hand for 2-3 minutes. Leave the dough to rest as you oil and flour a round pizza pan. Using oiled hands, spread the dough evenly over the pan. Leave the dough to rest again and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once the oven is ready, bake the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and either a) put on all your toppings and put back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or b) let cool, cover well and put in fridge or freezer until later.

Perfect Pesto Pizza

1/4 c. homemade pesto

4 cloves garlic

1 red onion

3/4 c. mushrooms

3/4 c. spinach

1/4 c. kale

1/2 red pepper

1/2 c. tofu (crumbled on top)*

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

• in a small bowl, marinate cubed tofu in 3 tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. rosemary for 10 minutes. Crumble tofu with your hands and sprinkle on top of pizza