(Due to living off-grid, Jeannie is posting on Monday this week - enjoy! Tao)

by Jeannie Newell, Crested Butte, CO

This is what I know this week:

Riding your bike everyday can make you feel great!  I have recently joined the ranks of the carless, and it definitely has its challenges, but is absolutely not without rewards. Living outside of Crested Butte, I ride my bike 6 miles into town most days.  I do share a car with a friend, so three days a week I have transportation.  The days that I ride in, I feel so good!  My mood is better, my outlook is better and life is grand. The first time I rode my bike home at dusk, I was leery of bear and mountain lions and all the scary things people told me I might run into.  The second time I rode my bike home late, I felt the most amazing connection to the forest where I live.  Always a chicken, sissy, afraid of everything person, I felt safer than ever.

Changing the subject briefly - I’ve met some people here who don’t work.  They are an attractive, fun, well-spoken couple who don’t have jobs (that’s right - they don’t have jobs.)  They sold their home and their cars and their ’stuff’ after 10 years of working for Intel and being professionals. Fed up with office life, they invested their money and now live on less than $20,000/yr.  They volunteer and do all sorts of creative things to make ends meet. They’ve hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and have biked all over the country. In a couple of weeks they are biking to a bluegrass festival that’s at least a 5 hour car ride from here. Last year they spent some time biking around France. I personally crave the structure that a job provides, but they are finding creative ways to have the life they want.

A friend of mine told me she recently read an article in a literary journal that specifically discussed Crested Butte and the reasons that people here report higher levels of happiness than many Americans do. It’s a hard town to make money in, and is expensive to live here. Lots of people work 3-4 jobs to make ends meet. It’s freezing in the winter - one of the coldest places in the lower 48.  So why so happy? The trade-off is, there is a connection to the community here.  We know each others names, we chat in the grocery store and other spots around town.  We see people we know at every gathering. People know each other and support each other. People smile. Many people create work trade opportunities for themselves and find ways to volunteer, work and be creative about living cheaply. Also, people here have a much greater connection to nature. Most camp, ski, hike, walk, kayak, and get all kinds of exercise. People are riding their bikes. I’ve been outdoors so much more since I got here. I’ve lost over 5 pounds and I’m happier and friendlier. I’m camping for the summer and I’m far from alone. Lots of locals camp out for the summer just because they like it.

Some people say that getting lots of exercise balances your Chi.  Some say it releases endorphins.  The experts say we should get in an hour every day…that it’s more effective than antidepressants and it lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and all those other benefits we know we can glean from getting outdoors and playing hard.

What I’m taking from this is that whatever happens in my life, I always want to ride my bike and talk to strangers.  And find ways to live on my terms, because other people are doing it and I know it can be done.  I’m living in a town of role models, and camping in the woods nearby…

Tags: bike, camping, health, nature, off-grid

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 11:52 am and is filed under Living Local, Local, activism, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.