Comments on: give up your urban “devil”

By: Wendy

Wendy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:44:31 +0000

what if you could try alternate lifestyles for a short while? Maybe farming is not going to cut it, but helping a community in need develop advanced social programs tapping into your urban skills may be your call.so just try.

By: juan

juan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:05:29 +0000

“allowed nature to flourish more in our cities”… one of my friends came back from a trip to Buenos Aires amazed at the density and maturity of its green spaces. Letting the city find its way around the existing nature is much different than trying to bring a few young trees to the sidewalks and hope for the best. Many modern cities have made fundamental mistakes in this area that will take decades to rectify, even if the will is there. In any case, the first step is to applaud those cities that have found the right balance and showcase their beauty.

By: Millican_Jorrit

Millican_Jorrit — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:04:01 +0000

Juan, I think you’re so right in your reply to Liz. My wife and I moved from the city to the countryside a few years ago. But we both also love big cities. And there are aspects of them that we miss. The challenge is how one can live in a city and still slow down and connect with nature. If we allowed nature to flourish more in our cities, it would help. It feels like we need to re-think how we design cities so that we don’t feel so divorced from nature there. Jorrit.

By: meaningful experiences » Global Culture

meaningful experiences » Global Culture — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:53:33 +0000

[...] before I repost an abstract of their model it is worth revisiting where this quest comes from: in give up your urban “devil” I suggest that some sort of experimentation is needed for the global citizen to learn of other [...]

By: juan

juan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:52:49 +0000

Carmen, a few years ago I had the opportunity to coach a group of students that were about to immerse themselves into such a program. They were all thrilled about the experience but I bet more than one found it to be a bit overwhelming. We tend to romanticize certain things because we are completely disconnected from them. Farming is likely a great example: it’s not only until you’ve been on your knees for 3 hours, digging the ground that you realize this was nothing like what you had expected. As matt suggests in his comment a more urban version of this may be more appealing.

By: juan

juan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:19:58 +0000

matt: good point! In fact I’m certain that many of these travel experiences that we’re planning will end up being in dense urban environments where the type of “escape” will be accomplished by forcing yourself to try something new yet not completely disconnected from your domain of expertise.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:36:40 +0000

Great post. One of the entities out there that I find really interesting is http://www.wwoof.org (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. By becoming a member you can get a list of worldwide farms that will exchange room and board for labor. It can be a great way to see the world, get back to our roots and do something good at the same time.

By: matt

matt — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:11:08 +0000

farming seems a dreamy concept for urbanites. maybe a more tangible retreat is closer than you think?

there are local problems in need of skills that many of us take for granted while still offering a refreshing escape from the ‘urban devil’.

local volunteering – community gardens, conservation, building/habitat for humanity, etc – offer a temporary change in lifestyle (for the technically inclined), but can be just as fulfilling.

local-agro-tourism?

By: meaningful experiences

meaningful experiences — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:32:21 +0000

By: juan

juan — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Liz: I think there is a general romanticization of the rural landscape and its powers to bring us back to the simple life that we’ve lost with the advance of urban centres. Yes, it is nice to appreciate in first person the life that fewer and fewer people lead so we are reminded of the complex systems that are needed to sustain us, but my point is that it is likely a mistake to pretend that by experiencing we’re going to be converted to rural people. We’ve moved into the urban centres because of our voracious appetite for progress, innovation, change. But we resent the price we’ve paid for it.

So, the big question is what kind of experiences (without going to the extreme of becoming a farmer and growing your own food) are likely to become attractive enough that you would want to try them for a longer period of time? Where would you have to live to slow down enough that you can perceive the improved lifestyle and yet continue to feed your inner urbanite? These are the kind of experiences I’m interested in.

As a person who’s travelled and lived in many different places I KNOW the hectic pace of one of the largest metropolis in the world is too much, but the serene way of live in the mountains of a small village in South America leaves you out of the race. Being able to experience several ways of life is a privilege that very few have had the opportunity to savour. I think I can do something about that. Soon.