may-2010

“I also forage
for food from the wild”
on the fact that you can’t go to the pub or
cinema, but they’re the only two things
you really can’t do. I miss going for the
odd pint, but that’s all. I organise fi lm
nights as a kind of alternative cinema,
with free fi lms from the Internet. Actually,
living off the grid, I have way more friends
than I ever had.
The hardest thing is that everything
takes much longer, because I don’t have
the conveniences that most people have.
I have to fi nd and chop my own wood or
go to the city for broken vegetable boxes.
I get around by bike and cycling to Bristol
takes me an hour and a half each way. I
cycle around 100 miles (160 kilometres)
a week. To wash my clothes I have to boil
up nuts to make detergent, then wash the
clothes in cold water, hand-wring them
and leave them out to dry.
I’m living the fast life and the slow life
at the same time. I work from early
morning to late at night doing interviews
and writing a book, but I also have to
spend a normal working day just looking
after my own needs: growing food and
getting wood. At the end of the day, I lie
back, read a book by candlelight and listen
to the sound of the owls.
People are interested in my lifestyle but
can’t imagine doing it. They think it’s all
hard work, but I don’t see it as work, even en
though on a human level it’s quite
demanding. What you do is what you
should love doing. I don’t want to do
something just because I have to earn a
certain amount to pay the bills.
There’s nothing I need money for.
Obviously you need it for an iPod or
things like that, but I don’t want an iPod.
There is nothing I need that I can’t get.
Also, you don’t need special skills to live
like this. If I can do it, anyone can. To be
honest, I think most people could do a
much better job than me. It depends on
what you want to spend your life doing.
Do you want to spend it watching reality
TV or do you want to live life in reality?
People think it’s more special than it
really is, but it’s quite a normal life once
you get your head around it. I just don’t
use any money.”
INTERVIEW
Read all about it
Mark Boyle is the founder of
the Freeconomy Community
(www.justfortheloveofi t.org).
The Moneyless Man, his
account of a year living
without money, is published
by Oneworld and is out in
June. And, no, he is not
keeping any of the proceeds.
They are all going to a
special trust fund for the
Freeconomy Community.
FREE Holland Herald 61