Podcasting and Selling the Car

I'm so excited about this movement in a state known more
for its coal-fired power plants than its environmental activism.

Last month, the shoe was on the other foot for this green journalist. Kathy Sipple of Sustainable Indiana 2016 interviewed me about my family's experience downsizing and decluttering. You can hear the podcast here. (Kudos to all the people I've ever interviewed ... it's much easier to ask the questions!)

I'm talking about decluttering again tonight at Earthworks Market in Plymouth. Every time I share about my family's experience, I'm reminded that we are not the only people searching for a "right-sized" life. Every Monday I get an email from Miss Minimalist with another story of a "Real Life Minimalist." Though my family released 3/4ths of our possessions and moved to a house in town that was half the size of our suburban dream house, our adventure was not as radical as some have undertaken. I'm humbled when I read about people who gave up even more than we did, but who would never go back to a life of unconscious consumerism.

I keep finding ways to downsize, even now that we've downsized. It's fun to find ways to live a simpler, yet richer, life. My husband's been doing it, too. He's contemplating selling his 2008 Mustang GT (a gift from his parents for his 40th birthday) to fund a family trip to London before our oldest goes off to college. I can't make that decision for him, but it's another amazing demonstration of how our values have changed from people who own to people who would rather live.

Incidentally, my ebook Declutter for Good: Share Your Stuff and Reclaim Your Life will be out at the end of the month, God willing.

Get On the Bus, Gus

We often take the train to Chicago, when
we need a taste of city life to remind us
why we live in a small town.

I was heartened to hear this good news from the New York Times this morning: 

"More Americans used buses, trains and subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956 as service improved, local economies grew and travelers increasingly sought alternatives to the automobile for trips within metropolitan areas, the American Public Transportation Association said in a report released on Monday."

We have the millennials to thank, perhaps. This is one generation who seems to want a quality of life beyond just accumulating a lot of stuff. It sure takes a load off the atmosphere when people stay out of their cars and trucks. 

Where I live in rural Indiana, we don't have much in the way of public transportation. Or do we? Now that I think about it, we do have a town taxi service (which my husband has used to get from here to there once in a while) and we have a public bus service run by the Life Enrichment Center (which most people think is just for old folks, but anyone can ride). 

One of the reasons my family moved downtown was to be close enough to walk and ride our bikes to most destinations. And we can, mostly, though it's still a bit of a haul by bicycle to pick up a gallon of milk or a couple of nails. I would love to see a five-and-dime downtown, a place to pick up those sundries.

We have a Mexican grocery downtown that I patronize, but the last time I checked, they didn't have milk or eggs--er, leche o huevos.

In a few weeks, my daughters and I are going to take the South Shore Line to Chicago for a day or two over Spring Break. In eighteen years of living in Plymouth, I've only driven to Chicago once. Taking the train is one of my favorite things to do with my kids. We get on in Chesteron, IN. They read, knit, listen to music, take naps, and I watch the landscape go by in between the pages on my Kindle. We manage to find public transportation whenever we've traveled to the city--Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago. Our greatest vacation ever was taking Amtrak's Empire Builder to Glacier National Park. 

Alas, we can't take the train to Indianapolis or New Albany, the town where our parents live--there's no convenient rail system going that way. Ironic, eh? 

How about you? Do you take public transportation when you get the chance?