The burden of stuff: seeking the simple life in the Rockies

[msungs]

How community from saint patrick's day factored into your decision is truly mindboggling. It is a bunch of drunk people wearing green, claiming to be Irish, and drinking until they puke. I am glad I woke up and quit the police and realized that 9-11 was an inside job and left the USSA.

[danielbillingsley74]

Le Corbusier chairs? Is that living "simply?"

[neonbackpackk]

I hate the suburbs because there is no art and no one talks to one another. It's so depressing and weird and impersonal and anonymous. Literally no one talks to their neighbors. Sometimes you don't know who they are.

[billpeart]

Who are the Jones' and who wants to be like them???

[katherinegonzales82]

super like!!

[justangvano]

I loved this video because I agree with what they have done and are doing and I really like that he brews beer. I am a home brewer and have been for a few years now and have thought about doing commercial level brewing. It is encouraging to see that someone has done this also.

[youtubinwizeass]

Thanks to all the camera switching I had an epileptic seizure watching this.

NOTE to Post Production crew: Keep this in mind, excessive switching causes seizures in some people.

[juanitarn76]

Is the sound "funny" because they are filming in a large, totally empty room? LOL

[kirstendirksen]

@juanitarn76 Probably part of it. But I also recorded their conversation via an online video chat so it wasn't the best quality.

[juanitarn76]

@kirstendirksen I was just being silly, really (empty room, because they're minimalists). The sound is fine, to be honest. :)

[dr1345]

they had good jobs, lived in a nice neat house, had a fancy car and no kids. nothing wrong or very stressful there. no need to get away from that. minimalism means living with less, but it's not necessarily means you have to downgrade your lifestyle by living in the shitty conditions in the middle of nowhere. if they're both educated and prosperous they didn't have to elevate their stress level by keeping up with the Johnses. here you have a typical example of a throwing baby with the water.

[kirstendirksen]

@dr1345 I don't think they really went to an extreme. They simply got rid of a house with too much maintenance (e.g. with swimming pool they rarely used) in a city where they had to drive too much (which made them unhappy) & moved to a town where they can walk most places & into a home that is still fairly large (it's not a tiny home like some I've featured). They also left jobs they didn't like to start up jobs related to things they enjoy. I don't see this as extreme, but living deliberately.

[dr1345]

@kirstendirksen All right, so it was not a minimalist approach, but rather a change of lifestyle. It's different, but still not minimalistic, where you scrape by a bare minimum, living frugally, having very few things. They just got tired of a yuppie rat race and keeping up with appearances, so they traded it for more calm, outdoorsy, rugged, rural life, or whatever you wanna call it. Running your own beer company in the boonies is not simple or minimalistic by any stretch of imagination.

[johnmonk66]

@dr1345 I agree, the secret to frugality is to cut your expenses, not move into a box in the woods. Just smart food shopping, and cutting expenses can increase your cash by 30 percent

[Rhinoch8]

When i buy stuff, i buy tools for a transition workshop :D

[putzamoale99]

2:53 who was watching porn when editing this??

[jsternberg]

Great video! Really good story, and well edited as well.

If I could, would it be OK if I just gave you one pointer for the sound? If you put a short fade in and out transition on your audio clips, it gets rid of some of that 'popping' effect you get when a sound bite starts. I only bring it up because it looks like you put in a lot of effort here and it has worked for me in the past.

Again, great job! I liked it a lot.

[SquishedButterfly]

for me the first, most important, and hardest step was getting rid of TV, radio, magazines etc because that's where a lot of the need to own begins. I think once you realise you can live without that stuff, and are actually happier, the rest just comes easy.

[yay78900]

LESS stuff =MORE space, MORE time, MORE money

[kirstendirksen]

@homesteadingqueen Interesting point. Though Anda and Brad didn't move into a tiny house. Their house is smaller than the American average, but not that small. They are more focused on getting rid of their stuff and not adding more stuff to their lives.

[MotherLodeBeth]

kirstendirksen Thank you for pointing that out.

[MotherLodeBeth]

Doesnt seem a simple lifetsyle as much as a change in environment. Simple anything to me means less. Traveling isnt a simple lifestyle to me. Neither is creating beer or anything someone doesnt need to actually live simple.

[kirstendirksen]

@MotherLodeBeth I think they did downsize their lives quite considerably. They got rid of a house with a pool, a 2nd car, boxes & boxes of stuff... Granted they're not living in a shack, but they definitely don't have excessive amounts of stuff and they don't want a lot of stuff to enter their lives (which is why they consider carefully anything new that enter their home). He's brewing organic beer... perhaps not essential to life, but not exactly "stuff".

[kirstendirksen]

@homesteadingqueen Close. A Skype video call. Best I could do given our distance, though perhaps the sound would have been a bet better if they'd had carpeting.

[herculesAML]

so, I am really curious about the finances. How do they earn money? How do they sustain themselves without jobs? And how does their retirement work? Or did they give up on it also?

[kirstendirksen]

@herculesAML Good question. Actually that's part of the story that I didn't cover and would like to. Brad started an organic brewery in Fort Collins (CO) called Funkwerks. And Anda is using her law background to write legal guides for people who want to open breweries or wineries.

[ElnAlter]

Rofl, simple life? They're using skype and youtube to promote their hipster lifestyle.

[kirstendirksen]

@ElnAlter They're not claiming to living in extreme simplicity. So while they may have given up a house with a pool they are still using things like Skype. As for youtube, I posted the video. I also wouldn't say they're actively trying to promote their lifestyle. I was the one who asked if they would do a video interview with me after reading a comment they left on one of my videos.

[CimaraNyx]

that should read *lot...not log!

[CimaraNyx]

zehkhooper, that CAN come true. My husband and I did it. We were stuck in a trailer park and dreamed of owning land. Then the hurricane hit and it seemed like a distant dream. But eventually, we managed to save enough for the land, not a huge log, but enough for garden and couple chickens, now we have a second-hand trailer to move there...we've unplugged and you can too.

[jeepers2655]

if most people would do this,think of what would happen to the Banking industry and the High End Stores!.......and not worrying about what neighbor has what.......and not worrying about your precious cars.....and worrying about how it looks,mine is beyond washing and waxing,the clearcoat is coming off in areas so I quit washing it,it`s a 90 Accord.I`ll drive it till it dies.

[Harassing]

I disagree with phoenix not having a community; it's what you make of it. To each their own.

I love arizona. I love our valley and desert. It isn't for everyone, but for those that love it, we really love it. West is best!

[speedbmp]

What's wrong with the sound? I thought it was my speakers, but it's not. :(

[kirstendirksen]

@speedbmp I recorded the interview via Skype (they were in Colorado; I in Barcelona) so the sound is not great. But there story is so good I hoped it wouldn't matter too much.

[speedbmp]

@kirstendirksen It was very good, and despite the sound I did watch the whole thing and hit "Like" on it. :)

[whisperingwind2]

Look up full timing, boondocking, workamping, etc if you want to see a simple and adventurous lifestyle. I full timed for a couple years, and I have plans to do it again soon. Not everyone would want to do it, but many of us do, and once you get past the initial fears, you find it to be a very exciting, yet cheap lifestyle.

[nipzilla]

once they get older their view will change; especially if a kid comes into the picture.

[Suwai0303]

Interestingly, many Eastern philosophies and societies emphasize simple living. One of the great teachings of Buddhism is to be humble. I'm glad the West is finally catching on to the teachings that were always present.

[BJ219]

The audio sucks

[Suwai0303]

I lived my first ten years of life in Myanmar poverty. Hence, what my family and I own was based on function, not on fashion. We moved to America to achieve the American Dream, and we did. Now, at the age of 24, I'm simplifying my life by getting rid of things I do not need and living in a tiny space - cycling to functional living (minimal consumerism). I came to realize what I already knew: simplicity is freedom.

[rainmechanic]

@Suwai0303 "simplicity is freedom."

The sooner people learn that in life the better off they will be..... I made it a point for most of my adult life to not have PETS... I met my wife and she started collecting Animals... Its been nothing but one massive never ending burden / headache...Under no circumstances should someone who wants freedom have animals... they are a burden to mobility and finding places to live/rent on the fly..

[tiburonsmoke]

Their new house didn't look that small to me. By British standards, it was really big. They seemed to have plenty of stuff too. And they now only have one car between the two of them? Hmmm.

[clydelaz]

This same trend is happening in the Urban East Coast. It used to be if you lived in a city it meant that you could not afford the suburbs. Not any more. I live in a 450 sq ft studio in Newark NJ. I don't need any more space. I don't need a car I can walk or take the subway most anywhere I want to go. I can walk to pro Hockey or Pro Basketball, Minor League Baseball, 2 symphony Halls for concerts, Museums Libraries plus I am a 20 minute subway ride to New York city.

[elainebmack]

@clydelaz . That's the way to live. Cities are actually better than suburbs because you don't need a car, especially in the NYC/NJ area. You are very lucky to live in that area.

[MillyVanillification]

Oh thats fun. It took the Americans 60 years to figure out that stuff is a burden! Lol! Why haven't they ever questioned the cosumption delusion before? Seems it needed a crisis to switch the brain on.

[norbert779]

It amazes me that people need a wake-up call to realize things like this. I've lived frugally my whole life. I've never valued material things and couldn't imagine working even the 60 hours per week that this guy "downsized" to. Since I was a KID, I've always said, why spend a lot on a car? It just gets you from A to B, so any will do.

[iwantosavemoney]

im gathering material to build my house it might take me 3 years to have all the material and have enoff money to buy land and build my house. bigger cost to much to heat and cool and is not better. just build smarter double duty rooms and good storage im building a 20' by 20' home with a loft i have a 5 year plan to be free of all my bills and to be able to work from home and to do all the things i love

[elainebmack]

@iwantosavemoney . Good plan. You'll make it!

[erwannbd]

bigger heart is better !!! more inteligence/reflecting is better!!

[zekehooper]

The only thing I would want bigger is "raw" land. Right now I live in a trailer park and dream of having some land someday. I want at least 5 acres, 10 would be better. at least haveing an acre of land would be nice. Some day I will make that dream come true.

[C24B9]

@zekehooper dream it! do it! best of luck with it.

[LithiumLogica]

@zekehooper The only problem with a large amount of land is upkeep. Lawn maintenance, landscaping, keeping it clean. Not a large consideration for someone who hasn't had land like that, but on the whole, it is something to consider. Having personally dealt with nearly 8 acres for over ten years, it's not as easy as it might seem.

[zekehooper]

@LithiumLogica That is true but I still would want the 5 or 10 acres and most of it would be woodlands for my heating needs. I would not have a lawn...just pasture for some animals. Maybe some wildflowers that come back every year.

[mrsrmarkham]

@zekehooper what lawn? Ours is slowly giving way to edible landscape, most of it trees, bushes, etc that take very little upkeep other than pruning in late fall and watering during the driest months of the year.

[ElveeKaye]

I've been in Phoenix. There are malls and conglomo-businesses everywhere. It's doesn't have a friendly, "homelike" feel at all to me. Plus, the temperatures in summer are unbearable! It takes a fortune just to cool a house in the summer in Phoenix.

[makkalpadai]

what?...amercan can think small?...ummm!!

[Gunnarsguns]

A new minimalist culture is being born from the ashes of McMansions and rat race debt slavery.

[bigslambo]

@Gunnarsguns Amen Brother! A new day has dawn...

[T33V33]

@Gunnarsguns

Now could we please get the fucking stupid zoning laws made by snobs to reflect that culture? 'Oh, we're sorry, but you'll need to build a minimum 1,200 sq ft to have a house there. If people have a plot of land, they should be able to have on it wtf ever they want!

[dr1345]

@Gunnarsguns yeah, but why do people always have to go to extreme measures? how about staying in the middle, keeping your balance, just being normal?

[circusboy90210]

@Gunnarsguns people who live in mcmansions are not in debt.