I have spent the last 5 years in pain. It’s been a long five years. Around the time I was 40, I mysteriously started getting migraines and severe tension headaches. They steadily increased in frequency until, at one point, I was having them almost half the days of the month. A lot of things go…
I’ve gotten several requests to itemize my emergency supplies, so that’s what this post will do. I am what you would call a “preparer.” I like to have supplies on hand in case of emergencies. I’m not as extreme as a “prepper”, especially since I have limited space in my 500 square foot apartment to…
I did no editing of this video, and I have no shame about it, so don’t even go there. It’s a bit long, but there’s some interesting stuff in there. I take emergency preparedness seriously. I hope you find my finger tic entertaining. Behold… A few things to add to this: My car is a…
Many of you read my Traveling Light post wherein I talked about my new system of packing for 5-day trips. After taking my first trip, I came away with some thoughts. First, the new backpack suitcase bag was fantastic quality. The compression straps were great to have, and the bag carried comfortably. It was so…
This post will be the last in my Havana series. In it, I’ll discuss my observations of life in Havana and Cuba. Entry Customs in Cuba was a breeze, but once through, the airport was chaotic. Customs deposits you outside where loads of people line up to greet their loved ones upon arrival. I was…
In this post, I’ll discuss public art in Havana, Cuba. If you’re visiting this post on your cell phone coming from Facebook, be sure to swipe left through photo groups when you see the bouncing right-facing arrow. Public Art in Havana If you read my last post, you can imagine that there isn’t much “official”…
In this post, I will examine the public spaces in Havana, Cuba. Public Spaces Communism is a very utilitarian form of government. The dictionary definition of communism is “a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and…
When I travel, my goal is to wander aimlessly in a city to see how the local people live. Since I’m an urban planning wonk and this blog is about urban living, that’s what I focus on in my travel blogs. This post is the first in a series about my trip to Havana, Cuba.…
As a minimalist, I always aim for traveling light. I try not to produce much waste on my journey. I bring my own refillable water bottle and reduce my footprint whenever possible. But for my upcoming 5-day trip out of the country, I also wanted to avoid being burdened down with a lot of “stuff.”…
Humans have a habit of getting into habits. We often mindlessly continue to do something, sometimes out of sheer laziness toward investigating other options. Last year I analyzed some of these habits and discovered some very interesting things. It turns out that I was wrong about the things I thought I couldn’t live without. The Night…
This morning, I got an email from Indiegogo. It’s their regularly scheduled email filled with the latest and greatest campaigns people are raising money for. As I scrolled down the list of fabulous gadgets, I was reminded that people have become addicted to comfort. The first item I noticed was a key chain. As its Indiegogo…
I just finished reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, and WOW! There was so much in those pages I could relate to. The book is mostly about relationships and the accompanying burdens. The people in the story who got out of serous relationships experienced the greatest feeling of lightness. They no longer felt they…
Many things I do are cause for great consternation among my family members. For example going to Europe by myself for several months, voluntarily giving up owning a car for several years and online dating. I have always loved people, and I have never been afraid of taking social risks or interacting with people I…
Before I moved to Florida, my northern friends always told me they would never move to Florida because of the bugs. I moved down more than a decade ago, and while I’ve dealt with my share of critters, I never felt overwhelmed by them… until this year. In the past, I’ve dealt with your average crazy…
How we benefit both economically and intrinsically from the presence of and our interactions with nature. One of my favorite sounds in the whole wide world is the sound of bird calls. The bird call that makes me happiest of all is the call of the Barred Owl. When I lived up north, I would lay in bed…
