true life planet

One thing sure has changed since the start of this trip..I’ve become a lot different about the way I value money….

Back in the States, I was never rich. But I spent money on alot of things that, looking back on it now, I didn’t really need.

That’s all changed drastically as I travel around the world.

It’s not just about making my piddly US dollar last longer–it’s about the changed perspective I now have on what is a useful and valuable use of that dollar.

When I think I want something now, I have to first examine if I really need it; and then, look at what that amount of money would buy for someone less fortunate than myself. It continue to amaze me that many things that I want and decide are necessities turn out not to be …when I consider  3rd world conditions and sensibilities.

Coming  from what is basically a throw-away culture, I have to admit that I’ve thrown money away my whole life.

I was talking to a friend recently who told me that his family never talked about money when he was growing up. He had no idea how much money his parents ever had, or if they even owned their house. They would tell him often that they had no money, but he would see them buy many luxuries.

Moving out and living on his own, he got many credit cards and ended up going deeply into debt. He never talked about his money problems to anyone, because he had learned growing up that it wasn’t something one did. He ended up thinking that you could have no money and still buy whatever you wanted. In the end, he patterned his own spending habits in the same way as his parents, and  recently declared bankruptcy.

I’m not sure my family ever really sat down and talked about money, either. If we did, it wasn’t in any great detail. Perhaps we should have. I’ve never declared bankruptcy, of course–but I have to admit that before this trip, I never really understood the value of money. And I’m 40 years old!

Money, and talking  about money, are big taboos in my culture. Everyone is so mysterious about it. Everyone buys lots of stuff to make it look like they have as much money as possible–and then go into terrible debt.

It’s also not terribly popular to be proud of being frugal. And God forbid you are actually poor or broke! We come up tremendous webs to weave to keep anyone from knowing that we don’t have  a dime! And Western culture likes it that way.

I remember a friend of mine at home, was always terribly frugal. She never bought anything and lived very simply. Worse yet, she talked about it! I remember people that I worked with thought that she shouldn’t talk about it so proudly and that it embarrassed them.

I, too, thought certain luxuries were necessities and kind of looked down on people who didn’t think the same luxuries were important. I, too, was influenced by the idea that stuff brings status. Now, I find myself embarrassed  that I had this point of view.

Traveling the world has changed all of that. It’s not just trying to make my dollar last that counts–it’s where and how it’s being spent.

Now I pride myself on being able to do everything on the cheap. No matter what it is, there’s always a cheaper, better way to do it.

So much of travel today is marketing. We eat it up. We think that we need our vacation in Hawaii, that we need to go to Paris for our honeymoon…and that when we get to these places, we have to have see certain things..It’s a big business, tourism. But I spent two weeks in Paris, for less than 200 usd. (See blog entries from about a week ago if you want to read about how I did it.) That experiment pretty much killed the idea that I when I went to one of the most expensive cities in the world as a tourist, that I had to spend loads of money.

I like to think of the Paris experiment as an experiment in being a traveler in a city, as opposed to being a tourist.  I think tourism can be fatal for the traveler. It kills the desire to experiment, to seek out, to live like a local. It’s makes travel just like being at home.

The whole idea of traveling for the sake of travel gets lost. Travel is not all about extravagance and spending lots of money. It’s often the small moments and events that stay with me long after I have left  a place.

There are times when I’ve been on the road and needed a nice hotel–like when I was walking the Camino and I had to have a bath, just once! Or when I met my boyfriend in Spain and the last two nights we splurged for a beautiful hotel room, knowing we wouldn’t be seeing each other for a long time. Sometimes, comforts are a good thing to have.

But living simply on the road means that I get to live like a local alot of the time, and really see what it’s like for the people in the country I am visiting. It’s so much more interesting, invigorating, and …memorable.

It also exposes me to things that can’t justify my old habits of spending and consuming. I’ve become a nightmare for the US economy…I’m a hesitant consumer !

When I left Panama last time, as I was saying goodbye, I realized how much stuff I had. I looked around at the straw huts, the women in their dirty dresses, the kids in no shoes..and I just starting giving it all away. I realized that I still needed some clothes and things for my own comfort, but they needed what I had so much more than me. When they asked for my underwear..I drew the line! But I still ended up giving them almost everything else.

It is a delicate balance, to find my way between giving everything away and self care. For example, getting ready for India I have spent 70 euros..buying everything to a sleep sheet to hydration mix. But it’s an investment in my health and well being, in what would be a difficult 5 months without a few comforts.

Still, it hits me over and over on the head that I don’t need much. I keep thinking that I do..and then the harsh reality of the 3rd world pulls me back towards frugality and simple living.

Since I gave most of my possessions away before I left on this trip, when I go home I’ll be continuing to apply living simply to my life back in the States. I’m kind of excited about that. It means that life at home will be a become somewhat of an adventure, too.

One thing I am thinking alot about is how most people in the world do not have enough to eat. It makes me look at producing my own food in a totally different way–now, it seems like more of a necessity, rather than just a hobby. So many communities I have met on this trip either did not own land to farm or had land which barely produced enough to keep them above poverty level. Many people are using age-old farming techniques that destroy the land and cannot keep up with their needs.

Now, I look at having  a backyard garden in  a whole new light. It’s a necessity. Even If I grow more than I can eat, there are so many people who need food in the community where I live.

Another thing that has really affected me is the beef cattle industry and it’s environmental and social impact on the globe. It’s easy to eat beef back at home, where I don’t have to actually see the conditions of the animals. When I don’t have to actually see how the raising of cattle has stolen the lands of indigenous people, leaving them with very little land to farm, and contributing more to malnutrition and world hunger. When I go buy my ground beef at the supermarket, I never have to even consider any of these things–and no one wants me to.

People don’t like to have things like this pointed out to them. We like our steak. But a single steak now has a price tag that I cannot afford. Not only is the cost of meat expensive–both for me and for the problems it creates for the poor– it is not an efficient source of protein, either.

I also find myself attracted to the Voluntary Simplicity movement–a movement that is growing larger and larger in the USA. The idea of living simply so that others may simply live is no longer a trite saying on a bumpersticker for me. It’s a necessary reality.

The more I use, the less there is for those who need it. Every single thing I buy impacts someone somewhere else. Every dollar I spend could go to end poverty, world hunger, education, literacy…the list goes on and on.

Those are pretty heavy hitting words, but they are true.

This has been an unexpected lesson, something that once again, I knew..but I did not know before.

I’m looking forward to India, the ultimate experience in living in a culture where everything–positively everything–is recycled. I plan on buying my souvenirs only from cooperatives, or buying things that are only made from recycled materials.

Maybe when I get home, I will blow up a big photo of trash pickers in India, and put it on the kitchen wall above the recycling bins.

Above it it will say..” Before you throw it away, can you think of anything else you could do with it?”

In living out of a backpack and learning how to live frugally, I’ve ended up joining the Voluntary Simplicity Movement and become a Queen of Green. Who would have guessed?

gigi

Oh..and a few good sites to check out if you like the idea of Voluntary Simplicity, living cheaply and well, and living in a way that has the least imprint on the Earth are (and these are just a few of my faves) on the right hand side of this blog, under “Lesson Your Imprint On The Planet”

and there’s also a great link to traveling green, on the right hand side of this blog page under “Resources for women travelers”.

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