Frugally Green

Since I wrote on Monday why I think big, polluting jetliners are actually a good thing, I thought it might be nice to balance it out with a word on staycations.

For those of you that might not be privy, a staycation is exactly the same as a vacation except for one major aspect – you don’t go anywhere.  At least, you don’t go very far.

I’m a huge fan of staycations and take advantage of them on a regular basis. They’re a great way to get away without the hassle and expense of actually getting away, never mind the ecological benefits of a vacation close to home.

However, the staycation is a bit of an enigma.  When I tell people how much I like them, I usually get an eye roll followed by something like “Why would you use your time off to sit at home?”

This is how most people look at the staycation, so it continues to lack the respect it deserves.

Enjoying a a truly gratifying staycation is an art form.  It takes practice and, believe it or not, an adventurous spirit.  When done right, it can be a really lively and refreshing experience.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can experience a truly awesome vacation in your own backyard.

Be a tourist

When people from out of town come to explore your city, what do they do?  Where do they go?  Do those things and go to those places!

When you’re living your every day life, you probably overlook a lot of the things that people find really fascinating about your home.  A staycation is a great way to reconnect with your city or rediscover the things that drew you to where you are in the first place.

When I staycation here in Portland, I might go to the zoo, have a picnic at the rose garden, or go for a hike in our famous Forest Park. These are things I vividly remember  falling in love with when I moved here, but rarely take advantage of anymore now that I’m settled.

What is your place known for?  How can you reconnect with it?

Find a new hole-in-the-wall

Life at home can really become routine with your day to day responsibilities. Does your typical day looks something like this?

• Wake up and go to work
• Eat the same lunch you did yesterday
• Go home and eat the same dinner you do every night
• Distract yourself with the same thing you do all the time
• Go to bed, wake up, repeat

If it does, take the time during your staycation to slow down and open your eyes to the places you pass by every day, but never notice.  When you’ve got a routine down, every day becomes getting from Point A to Point B with fewer and fewer interruptions.

This kind of efficiency can be great for productivity, but you’re likely missing out on some great stuff that is right in front of your face.  Spend a day biking or even walking your commute to work or other places you commonly go.

The slower pace is like turning up the resolution of life. There are likely all kinds of shops, restaurants, and cafes that you pass by all the time and today is the day to discover them.  Take it slow and enjoy.

Is there some interesting place you pass by all the time, but you’ve never been inside?

Reconnect with friends and make new ones

Life is all about relationships and a staycation is the perfect time to nurture them.  Just like all the things at home you miss during your day at work, there are people you probably miss, too.

Take a second to give them a call and let them know you’ve got some free time coming up and would like to spend it with them.  You’ll probably have to work around their busy schedule since they’re still working, but that’s OK since you’ve got your free time during the day to take care of other business.

Also, don’t pass up an opportunity to strike up a conversation with some new faces at your new favorite hole-in-the-wall. You never know who you could meet.

Quick.  Who’s just a hop, skip, or jump away that you’ve lost connection with?

Explore a new neighborhood

A staycation is a great time to get outside the comfort of your neighborhood and see what other parts of your city has to offer.  Sure, you probably make your way around town once in while, but do you really know what’s going on in other neighborhoods?

When I was in college, I took a few courses in urban planning and one in particular required that I acquaint myself with a different neighborhood each week and report out in class.  In just ten weeks, I had learned more about my city than the previous 2 years that I’d spent hanging out on campus.

Don’t forget that learning a new neighborhood is a great opportunity to find that hole-in-the-wall cafe and meet interesting people. Better to not miss out.  Double up wherever you can.

Where’s the one part of town that you keep hearing about but never get to?

Finish a project

This is probably the most highly contested piece of advice for a staycation, but I firmly believe in it.

Critics say that to make the most of a staycation, you need to do all you can to leave your daily life behind.  That’s fine for some people, but not for me.

I take on all kinds of projects in my free time (this site is one of them) because I really like them and want to spend time doing them.  Most of them get finished, but some of the harder, time consuming ones end up by the wayside when work and responsibilities get in the way.

A staycation is the perfect time to focus your energy on that project you started but haven’t made time to finish yet.

A word of warning, though – I do not recommend you use this time to work on projects you started because you had to.  Use it on one you started because you really wanted to.  This can be extremely liberating and fulfilling.

Those projects you still have to do?  Don’t worry, you’ll still finish them because, well, you have to.

Which project have you been dying to finish? If none, which one have you been dying to start?

Perfecting the art

It should be noted that your perfect staycation might look completely different from mine.

Before you embark, take some time to think about how you can really make the most of it.  The perfect staycation is more of an art than a science.  It’s very subjective, so try not to worry about what your friends think of your plans.  That’s why they’re yours.

What does your perfect staycation look like?

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If you think hanging out at home is as cool as I do, leave a comment, or subscribe get free updates.

Connect with me on Twitter: @tylertervooren

Image of backyard playground by trbpix

Seriously.

We do all sorts of things every day because we think we have to.  We go to work every day to provide for our families and our futures.  We offer our resources to causes we rather wouldn’t because we feel obligated.  We do this kind of stuff all the time and it’s draining.

When was the last time you really wanted something, but didn’t buy it because you thought it was the responsible thing to do?  “Oh my god, I want it so bad, but I can’t afford it.”

Are you pushing yourself beyond comfort to squeeze the last little bit of elusive sustainability into your life?  Why? Because you feel guilty?  Are you afraid the Earth police are going to come kick down your door and check your thermostat?  If it’s set above 60 degrees, you’re going to be awfully embarrassed.

If you’re trying to green your life because you feel guilty, you’re doing it wrong.  Seems harsh, but I think the sooner people start realizing this, the sooner we can actually start making some meaningful changes in our lives.

There are at least one million different ways to make this world a better place.  There are least one million ways to live a financially sustainable life.  I quit counting at about three-hundred-thousand, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

With all of the options out there, anybody should be able to find something they can do without resorting to guilt as motivation.

What do you care about?  What turns you on?  When you wake up in the morning, what do you wish you were heading off to do?  Why not focus on those things?  There’s no limit, really.

Do you love watching the smurfs and care about the environment?  Make a parody cartoon where the smurfs band together to stop a neighboring tribe form chopping down the forest between them.  Start a website and post your episodes on Youtube.

Love going out for sushi but hate all the disposable chopsticks?  Why not design a beautiful, functional, and indestructible chopstick and start selling them to your favorite restaurants?

If you really want to make a difference, you have to do something you care about.  I really don’t think there are any shortcuts.  When it comes to environmentalism, the difference you make is in the influence you exert on others.  Wiping your ass with one sheet of single-ply instead of four sheets of two-ply toilet paper is never going to fix our environment unless it really excites the hell out of you.

Environmental experts and economists like to argue about what the biggest impact changes we can make are and, if biggest impact changes are what excite the hell out of you, then pay close attention and do what they tell you to.  If that doesn’t describe you, then quit paying attention to the experts and go do your own thing.

Life is too damn short to do a bunch of crap you don’t care about, especially when it’s not going to make a difference.

Here’s the bottom line:

If it doesn’t excite you, you’re going to half-ass it.  If you half-ass it, no one is going to pay attention.  If no one pays attention, you’re wasting your time.

So forget everything you’ve been told about what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to do it.  Start making your own rules and empowering others to make theirs.

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Connect with me on Twitter: @FrugallyGreen

Jumping image by α is for äpΩL †

Last weekend I enjoyed myself in a whole new way.  I didn’t spend a dime on entertainment (except a few tips) and only hopped in the car twice for a quick carpool.  I spent the whole day Sunday biking around SE Portland, hanging out at parks, farmers markets, and street fairs. The best part?  It was completely impromptu.

Waking up Sunday morning, I had no plan to spend the whole day out and about, let alone leave the house (yes, sometimes I’m quite the hermit).  So how did I find all these things to do on such short notice and no real plan?  I have to hand it to a local blog I frequent, PDX Pipeline, for keeping me in the loop about all sorts of less publicized things going on around town as well as a few community bloggers at The Oregonian.

I think the lesson here is that to find the small, fun and free events in your area, you really need to stay in touch with the local community.  All the big, paid admission events with sizable advertising budgets are easy to find.  They’re also full of people.  I’ve found it’s a lot easier to hang out and connect with interesting people at smaller events.  I think you let your guard down a bit more when you’re not being bombarded by other people.

Let’s dissect my Sunday escapade.  There’s likely some useful info in there that will apply where you live and can help you find free, local events to learn more about sustainability and meet interesting people.

Farmer’s Market

Every weekend I get up at the crack of dawn to help Jessie load up her car for the farmer’s market.  Sometimes I’ll tag along and sometimes I’ll just go back to bed or sit around in my underwear until I feel like greeting the day.  On Sundays, she’s pretty close by so I’ll ride my bike out to make a quick appearance, eat a cupcake and wander around. This week, my mom was in town with no bike, so we took her car.  It’s easy to spend a few hours here shopping for fresh, organic produce, talking with booth owners and market goers, and listening to the live bands that are practically obligatory for every open-air market.

I recommend anyone interested in sustainability and food spend a little time at their local farmer’s market.  Vendors are usually more than happy to chat about their farms and what they’re doing to help promote the local food movement. This weekend I had no need to buy anything, so I simply sat at one of the open tables at the center of the market and tapped my foot to the music in the air.  Drop a dollar in the open guitar case and I’m off to the next adventure.

Sunday Parkways

While driving out to the farmer’s market, I couldn’t help but notice that the police were blocking the street at a number of intersections (thinking “oh great, what’s this protest about), allowing what appeared to be a sea of bicycles to cross uninterrupted as cars backed up for blocks, waiting their turn.  As soon as we got home, I hopped on the Oregonian site to see if there was any news about it.

Sure enough, there was an article explaining that 3 times a summer, a huge swath of streets are shut down in different neighborhoods around town to allow bikers to ride around, just for fun, without the hassle of cars for a day.  The pathway normally leads to a number of different parks where people can mingle, learn about local clubs and organizations that serve the community, and, presumably, talk about bike stuff.

Awesome! I hop on the road bike I bought in 6^th grade (cue memories of the bear riding the tricycle at the circus) and head out to see what it’s all about.  Along the way, I engage other riders with thought provoking statements like, “Hey!”, and “What’s up?”

Bike Share Demonstration

While searching for info on the parkways, I happened upon another article explaining that the City of Portland was planning to implement another really cool program that we have no funding for: a bike share program!  They promised it would be different from the free program we tried in the 90s that ended with a bunch of vandalized and stolen bikes and everyone scratching their head asking, “What happened?” A demonstration of possible solutions was being held all day at a nearby park for public comment.

Turns out, there are a number of cities embracing this idea now.  Lots of places in Europe have functioning systems, Washington D.C. has a small program, one was just installed in Montreal, Denver is putting one in, and now Portland is interested again.  “Cool,” I thought, “I’ll take the Sunday Parkway down and check it out.” Synergy.

The event was much more than I expected.  I must have spent about an hour talking to representatives about their programs and how they could work in a city like ours.  There was a band playing that I sat and watched for awhile, and I made my way around the park, stopping to chat with the local clubs and programs promoting themselves at booths set up along the walkways before hopping back on the bike and heading home.  And I almost didn’t go, thinking it wouldn’t be worth the ride all the way over to the park.  Glad I took the opportunity.

Hawthorne Street Fair

Thinking that my day couldn’t possibly be filled with any more free entertainment, I rode home and hopped back on the internet to read a few blogs.  Lo and behold, PDX Pipeline kindly reminded me that the Hawthorne St. Fair was taking place all day today.  There would be more vendors, neighborhood programs, art, music, and likely a few tall bikes cruising around, pissing off drivers.

I was kind of tired, but how could I pass it up? Unfortunately, I had to abandon the bike to get my mom and Jessie over there with me, but it was a short car trip and completely worth it (it would have been better to ride the bus, but we were in a hurry to get there before it ended).

Two hours later and I had met about 15 more awesome neighborhood artists and businesses, won a button spinning a big wheel, and found a new favorite street band – The Bellboys.  Here’s a link to their myspace page.  I’m sure they could use a few new fans.

How to make (and keep making) your own frugally green weekends

Wow, what a day! Waking up I never would have imagined what it would turn into. I had lots of fun and learned about sustainability for a total of $3 that I left in tips for artists and musicians that I appreciated. Looking back, I think I picked up a few basic ideas that anyone can use to find these kinds of events and then keep finding them.  They all boil down to staying in touch with the community around you.

• Read local newspapers. They don’t come out frequently, so this is better for events you can plan ahead for.  If your city has neighborhood rags, they’ll be your best bet for finding the cool little things that slip through the cracks of the bigger publications.

• Social Media is key. For last minute ideas, city/community specific blogs are awesome for keeping you up to date.  You can also rely on friends to clue you in on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

• Don’t miss an opportunity. If you know something is going on and you’re just not sure about it, go check it out anyway.  The worst that will happen is you’ll skip it the next time it comes around.  In my case, I wasn’t expecting to run into all that I did at the park, but I’m sure glad I did.

• Sign up for email lists. If you run into something or someone you find interesting and they offer email updates, sign up!  Nobody likes spam, but my experience has always been that there is an inverse relationship between the size of an event and the amount of worthless advertising they send out.  Most of the groups you run into at these small-time events just want to let you know what they’re up to.  Lots of times they’ll even point you to other groups doing interesting things that you’ll be happy to know about.

This kind of entertainment is not exactly mainstream or conventional. It’s not as easy to find as a nightclub downtown or a movie ticket to this weeks blockbuster hit.  But you know what?  I think it’s a lot more fun.  In all my years, I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone new or interesting at the movie theater, but I probably met 20 new and interesting people just this Sunday.

What kind of free entertainment do you enjoy? How do you find (or create) it? Please join in the conversation.