Live Like a Dirtbag
A Freedom Strategy, Not a Poverty Strategy
He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.
~Lao Tzu
Hello, Friends—
Welcome to another installment of The Understory, a place where I share a look at the decisions, tradeoffs, mindset, strategies, and costs of living a life on your own terms. Admittedly, in this capitalist nightmare we’re living, this is not always easy, but in my experience, it’s very much worth it.
Like many kids, I spent endless hours pawing through each new issue of National Geographic, imagining other worlds and other landscapes. Our growing, dog-eared collection of yellow-spined magazines introduced me to Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey and their chimpanzee and gorilla friends, Thor Heyerdahl and his Kon-Tiki, and the great sea explorer Sylvia Earle. I was transported from Bhutan to Antarctica, the Ganges to the Amazon. I was transfixed.
So when I was invited to co-teach a semester-long field course in Ladakh, India—high in the Himalayas—with six weeks’ notice and an offer to cover my expenses and provide a modest stipend, there was no question I was going. The course would focus on natural history, sustainable development, and wilderness skills—all the things that make my heart sing. The experience was everything I’d hoped it would be: extended backpacking through remote Himalayan terrain, prayer flags and mani walls, stone monasteries nestled into cliffsides, the sounds of Ladakhi women whistling as they carried bundles of sticks on their backs. My senses were alive, my heart was alive.
The life you were handed and the life you actually want may be two different things.
Paid subscribers get access to The Understory, where we explore that gap. Get insights, journal prompts, and a community reflecting on these questions together.
Join today.
