My bicycle touring lifestyle is relatively simple. Everything I own fits in my bicycle trailer. Nevertheless, I am amazed by my constant neediness. I need food and water. I need clean clothes. I need a bath everyday. I need a warm, dry place to sleep. It never ends! If I don’t pay attention, for example, and run out of propane, how am I going to cook my meals? No soap, no bath. No water, no anything. Virtually every morning, while I am cooking breakfast, I take inventory. What do I need besides water? Paper towels? Half & Half? Coffee? Olive oil?
When I return to civilization, it gets worse! Every additional material possession requires attention and maintenance. A car must be washed and requires regular oil changes. Grass must be mowed. Houses must be cleaned. It continues on and on in this vein like some exquisite form of madness!
While I was pondering this grim state of affairs, I read an astonishing article in the New York Times by David Brooks entitled “The Great Affluence Fallacy.” Here is an excerpt from this article:
“In 18th-century America, colonial society and Native American society sat side by side. The former was buddingly commercial; the latter was communal and tribal. As time went by, the settlers from Europe noticed something. No Indians were defecting to join colonial society, but many whites were defecting to live in the Native American one.
This struck them as strange. Colonial society was richer and more advanced. And yet people were voting with their feet the other way.
The colonials occasionally tried to welcome Native American children into their midst, but they couldn’t persuade them to stay. Benjamin Franklin observed the phenomenon in 1753, writing, “When an Indian child has been brought up among us, taught our language and habituated to our customs, yet if he goes to see his relations and make one Indian ramble with them, there is no persuading him ever to return.”
During the wars with the Indians, many European settlers were taken prisoner and held within Indian tribes. After a while, they had plenty of chances to escape and return, and yet they did not. In fact, when they were “rescued,” they fled and hid from their rescuers.
Sometimes the Indians tried to forcibly return the colonials in a prisoner swap, and still the colonials refused to go. In one case, the Shawanese Indians were compelled to tie up some European women in order to ship them back. After they were returned, the women escaped the colonial towns and ran back to the Indians.
Even as late as 1782, the pattern was still going strong. Hector de Crèvecoeur wrote, “Thousands of Europeans are Indians, and yet we have no examples of even one of those aborigines having from choice become European.”
This strange tale demanded an explanation! Not for a moment had I ever imagined, while watching the John Ford movie, “The Searchers,” for example, that Natalie Wood would have preferred for John Wayne NOT to rescue her! I suppose I had always blithely accepted the Hollywood version of American history. It was time to dig a little deeper. I highly recommend that you read David Brooks’ very fine article. (Simply search for “The Great Affluence Fallacy” on Google.)
As I write this chapter, I have been touring America by bicycle and living mostly outdoors for seven years. During my time on the road, I have come to realize that civilization is not all it is cracked up to be. It is the small things that are most telling. Since I use only two pots, one plate, two cups, and one spork while cooking, it takes me less than five minutes to wash dishes. There is no bathroom to clean because there is no bathroom. It never requires more than one load of laundry to wash my clothes because I only have three sets of clothes. I am used to cooking sitting down. When I return to civilization and cook in a normal kitchen, I am disheartened by all the walking back and forth! The waste of water at every turn is outrageous! Where is the fresh air? Why can’t I hear the birds? Honestly, I stress out at the mere thought of “retiring” from bicycle touring and returning to a more conventional life!
I want to emphasize that I am not advocating that you attempt to become self-sufficient. Such an attempt is likely to require even more work! The efficiencies achieved by civilization are not to taken lightly! Do you really want to spend all your time trying to grow your own food? It is far better to embrace new technologies, in my opinion, especially when they offer opportunities for making our lives simpler and better. My lightweight tent, high tech bicycle clothing, and Kindle Paperwhite are indispensable tools for which I am exceedingly grateful! I am simply advocating that we are more likely to enjoy life if we spend more time outdoors. We are also more likely to enjoy life if we do our best to live simply with fewer material possessions.