So, pretty soon, this blog will be shifting focus for a while. The shift will map changes its main writer and partner make to our lives, as we consciously, with effort and will, in all of our particular and general circumstance, ruggedise as much as we can, in attempts to move towards as much future proofing as we can.
Whilst remaining an account of record, it is this blog's hope that, in tandem with everything else here, what will follow in much more practical focussed posts will constitute something of a non-prescriptive 'how to guide'. It was always its intent to be something of a one site, one person, one writer, 'think-and-do-tank'.
Theres been a lot of thinking and a lot of writing about it. It hasn't precluded the 'doing' parts, they just haven't all been recorded here. Some of the other posts should indicate that this is because much of it has been investigatory and preparatory for what will follow in practical posts. Much of it has been frustrating, chased itself around and into societal and legislative cul-de-sacs and dead-ends. If your using any of this blog as a 'how-to', prepare yourself for your own versions of those and, above all, persevere, you owe it to the future, yours, your chldren and grandchildrens and everyone else's. Oh, and to the only planet we have to sustain it.
It might be worth, as a 'first up', foundational primer, hearing from one of the key proponents of ruggedisation, the futurist Alex Steffen:
I watched that video when it was first posted. Inspired and motivated, it kicked off my journey towards future proofing. Its been long and arduous, with some necessary detours and life considerations to make along the way. In the meantime, increasingly present necessity has been the single most key motivating factor.
Life may take turns and it may be absoulutely necessary to follow them, but the world keeps turning too. Be in no doubt, we are making the moves we are because the time is not just now, its almost too late!
More than anything else, its the visceral nature of that feeling, the all pervasive impending and ever-=resent nature of where the world, where people are at, which has me, in my own ways, also feeling a need to share, to offer tips and all that other altruistic stuff. Not to preach or tell anyone they are doing it all wrong. Just as with virtually every post in this blog, the emphasis for posts tracking our journey is on difference. Just as there are essential differences of perception among and about people, there are different ways of doing things and perceptions of why, and perhaps, despite prevailing alternatives, they might be just what is required.
As I try to shine alight in them for you, whilst there will be a practical focus, some reading between the lines will inevitably be required. There may also be a presumption in some forthcoming, related posts toward at least a little prior knowledge, not least because much of it is offered elsewhere, in other posts, on this blog.
With apologies for utilising the seeming ease, convenience and ubiquity of prevailing systems, often referred to in them, the following are some useful primer videos. If they were collated or hosted anywhere less embedded in those systems, I'd link to there. They're not.
Pulling them together here, even when they have been linked to in other posts, is a simple exercise in simply inviting, into the necessary conversations around what the forthcoming practical posts are rooted in and inspired by, those with little to no knowledge of them. Of course, we'd recommend also reading through related previous posts, for a more full priming experience - particualrly here, here and here.
This post, though, should provide you with a basic knowledge of the terminology, concepts and ideas behind the practical application of them to follow. It will save repeating and explaining them everytime and follow up on previous promises to keep posts here shorter which may proven difficult for this writer to adhere to, given my communication style (and nature of neurodivergence in which it is rooted). It may have proven previously, in some cases, following on from that promise, to publish and be damned. And damn shortened attention spans and gamified cognitions too!
So, first up, to help the unintiated understand some of our journey towards ruggedisation, utilising access to different types of building and access to land, its been necessary for me ot explain to various folks (estate agents, building and planning departments etc) just what we mean, what our intentions are. For most of them, we needed to start with basics and I sent them the following video.
It is older, some of the references are outdated because of that, and it 'America-centric'. Nevertheless, it does cover some basics of what to expect or where perceptions of what a house or home is, or needs to be faced with impending and here right now meta-crises, and how related perceptions also need to and are shifting. Just how old the video is should also give you an idea of how far down the road early adopters might be.
I'm going to follow it up with a Scotland specific example, just as an offset to that America-centricism - the same consideration of early adoption apply. After that, I'm also going to include a video exploring the benefits of tiny house living for sustainability:
And, just for the hell of it and because I love it, I'm including this next tiny house, with its beautifully crafted and considered aesthetic, as well as for the attitude of its owners being exactly what is required as a shift in perception towards what a home is and what it means:
Of course, tiny houses, as they are described in the videos, are not the only solution. There are a myriad of options (earth houses, shipping containers, rammed earth, adobe sacks, 3d printing builds etc), alternative means of providing a ruggedised home for yourself - finding them and making the right choice is down to you.
Changing perceptions, beyond the impending, sometimes overwhelming need for ruggedisation, by its very nature, is also a person specific thing. It may be that thinking about the 'big', beyond self or personal reasons, is not a motivating factor for you. Maybe mental health and general work-life balance benefits are. Slow-living is a fundamental mind shift, into which ruggedisation fits snugly, where these are foregrounded, tangible. Maybe this will help explain:
Food insecurity is increasingly a consideration as meta-crises impact our lives. If your caught in the loop of working for money, to provide shelter, heat and food, theres an unnecessary, self-propogating step in there. Your running to stand still, just getting by. And theres never time to find means of providing those things for yourself, without that step. How you break the cycle of it is crucial to how you start ruggedising and its down to you.
There are of course lessons to learn from both people who are making the same kind of changes, just as there are from peoples who have always, still, hold to traditions and folkways. Someitmes, most of the time, ancient wisdom beats modern industry:
The three sisters model of planting has inspired many a food forest and led t not jus self-sustaining but bounteous (in the widest possible sense) living. Its expanded upon in this graphic:
Food forests also incorporate elements of permaculture, so its owrth understanding something about that too:
So, integrating all of that, we've chosen to place a tiny house on some land. Land ownership is so unbalanced in Scotland, to get started, to address the whys and wherefores in as immeidate a sense as possibe, we've also had to choose to buy land somewhere else. We intend to turn it into a food forest.
Some of the practical posts to follow will offer how-to advice on navigating buyng land in another country, whilst others will focus on building, buying or reclaiming what is needed for a tiny house in a food forest. Others will focus on growing a food forest. It seems pruirient to end this post with some folks who have already done it and are reaping the benefits, have done for more time than I've been attempting to make the changes they did: