Classifieds: Hippies Seeking Land

Today is Saturday, and we have been on this trip for about 2 ½ weeks. Today I felt discouraged. My life feels embarrassingly cliché. Here is a short clip - the story of our life:
Four hippies file out of the VW van - in any random town - at any random gas station, grocery store, coffee shop, or real estate office. Inevitably someone will ask, “Where ya’ll from?”
All four hippies at once: “Uhhhhh….”
“Where are you going?”
“Uhhhh….”
“Ya’ll musicians or something?”
“No man. We’re travelin’ around looking for a place to live.”
“Where do you think you’ll end up?”
“Uhhhhh…..”
In mean honestly… Do we really want to go through the WHOLE explanation yet again? REALLY? For this random gas station attendant, person parked beside us, or coffee shop patron. Do we honestly want to rehash the fact that we’re from Alaska, California, Colorado, and Kentucky? That we all met in New Orleans doing disaster relief.
“Oh yeah? New Orleans huh? How’re they doin’ over there?”
That we are traveling around looking for 20-40 acres where we can start a sustainable community… You know, just like all those other VW vans, full of idealistic hippies. “Oh, and by the way… ya’ want some granola? Cause we’ve got plenty.”
Anyone in their 20’s and early 30’s is excited and intrigued by this information. They want to tell us about everyone they know who is doing anything sustainable - or that they are just about to do EXACTLY the same thing themselves. Older people flash us the familiar “OF-COURSE-you-wanna -start-a-sustainable-community” face. I know what’s going on behind that face. If you turn the corner of that forced smile, this person’s brain is sifting through all her friends who tried to start communities when they were OUR AGE. And how all of them FAILED.
Yes, I recognize I’m bein’ a little paranoid. I hope so anyway. But I don’t blame “the face of experience.” There are 10 million hippies that wanna start communities. if it were even a little-bit easy, we’d all have been born in tiny villages, raised on fresh baked bread and organic veggies by 23 mommas, 18 papas, a forest and a river.

But we weren’t. We were raised on Spam, Jiff, and saltines - by one mother, a tell-a-vision, and a 12‘-by-14’ back yard.
According to “Creating a Life Together” by Diana Christian, which - by the way - is the official bible of this expedition, only 10% of the communities that try to form, ever transform to actuality. And that’s 10% of the people who even make it to the “trying phase.” It has already taken me 7 years just to work my way out of the “talking” and into the “doing.”
Despite my initial confession of discouragement, I’m pretty sure that we (the Tuff Roots) are in the running for that “successful 10%.” Partly this is because we are determined to be clear and communicative about what we are looking for, and the steps we need to take to reach these goals.
So, here I am… on the blog… trying to make all this very sharp and understandable for everyone. If there are any remaining curiosities… or fundamentals I have glossed over, please let me know.
WE ARE INVISIONING:
*20-40 acres
*Water on the property (pond, river, creek)
*Plenty of trees, but preferably 2 acres clear and flat for garden space and building structures
*A structure on the property would be nice, but we aren’t willing to pay a whole lot extra for one, because the land is what’s most important, and we’d probably end up drastically renovating it anyway.
*Zoned so that we can have one large communal building and enough out-buildings for up to 10 families.
*One hour or less commute to a nearby city or town (work/fun/people who aren’t scared of my hair - armpit or otherwise)
*Under $250.000 (Ideally around $150.000)
We recognize that it will very likely take longer than the 3 or 4 days we allot ourselves - in any given town - to discover this 30 acre squirt of utopia. We are using this trip to: learn about land prices and discover the perks and deficiencies of the areas we visit (length of growing season, rain fall, zoning regulations, job opportunities, general vibe. Etc.).
We will use this information to choose an area.
We will move there
We will begin encouraging others to move there
We will compile our resources, obtain more resources…
From that point on - there will really be no stopping us.
The Tuff Roots could very possibly re-configure the universe.
Am I getting carried away? Can you tell I’m feeling better? See… It’s all about re-connecting with your goals. We’re NOT just another band of roving hippies guzzling fossil fuels in the name of sustainability. We are THE TUFF ROOTS.
Good lord. I’m gonna stop before ya’ll decide I’m too cheesy to make a community with.
I love you.
Jes.
*side note - I apologize to all those who take offence to my lavish use of the term “hippie.” I have only one response: “if it don’t apply, let it fly.”
*other side note - (for a more logistical “Benja - composed” list of our strategies, click the “mission and vision statement” piece on the right hand column at the beginning of this blog)


Everywhere we go we meet kind souls and kindred spirits...
Hi Jaqui!

Some of them are even doing the same thing we are! This is Brett, Seth, Charley and Matt. We met them outside a real estate office on the Olympic Penninsula. They looked a little like us, VW and all, so we made lunch together.

all the interesting food in our van can attract an odd assortment of critters... no mice yet, but an interesting breed of elves that are exceptionally good at finding ALL of our secret food stashes.

We Brought EVERYTHING with us. Even the sewing machine.

This is my brother (sorry, this is Valisa speaking). He is one of our gracious hosts. Thanks for being understanding when we call and ask if we can stay with you... uh, tonight, and when we show up and don't leave for several days.