Moving Up & Slowing Down

I was awoken, startled by a noise.  It was definitely early, the air seemed a little chilly as fall was just starting to set in, but the sun was already up.  The noise definitely came from inside the shed, maybe someone from the house was grabbing their bike.  "Who's there?" I called out.  No response.  "Hello?" - still nothing.  I ripped open the tent flap and there it stood.  A chippy little squirrel, eyes blazing at me in response.  "Well good morning to you to..." I told him as he ran out between the crack in the shed doors.



My humble abode.



    

Which way to the bathroom?



It wasn't a usual occurrence, but it also wasn't unexpected.  As I went to sleep at night I propped a car ice scraper into the handles on the inside of the shed so that the doors didn't fly open in the middle of the night and spook me like they had the first night I spent in the shed.  There was still a decent sized crack in between the doors, not on purpose, but it allowed for some good ventilation, a little morning sunlight, and the chance of some visitors whether they were welcome or not.  The set-up was, well, nice.  Two blankets, two sleeping bags, and two pillows inside of a tent on a box-spring and mattress on a dirty carpet on top of a dirt floor in a shed.  Out of the month that I was stationed in the shed I probably spent half of the nights actually sleeping there, finding refuge the other nights at my friend's place.

The shed was pretty solid but it made me really appreciate the convenience of a kitchen.  I can deal with taking off the blanket and having to face the morning temps, sprinting on my bike to make it to the bathroom in the morning, showering naked with a bunch of other dudes in the gym showers (I don't know what everyone moans about, no one seemed to even notice when I dropped the soap!), but the worst part about living in the shed is not having a sink for a steady stream of water to cook and wash dishes, a fridge to store perishables, and an easy-to-use stove and oven.

I am very curious to know how I would handle the shed as winter rolls in but fortunately I don't have to experience that.  For the past few weeks I have been staying at a house that is about ten to fifteen minutes away from the UofM by way of bike.  I was invited by a friend who is house-sitting and although it's not exactly on campus it's definitely a lot closer than my parent's house is; as a plus it also does not come with parents obviously, but it does come with free rent, free utilities, and all those great amenities that a house provides.

So for now the adventurist lifestyle is taking a hiatus, which doesn't imply that I'm now focusing on homework, just that I should be, and I'll probably spend the three weeks in between the end of my house-sitting stint and the end of the semester at my parents' place for the sake of convenience as I search for balance in life and school.

Commuting from home to shed via light rail.

On a side note, as the snow falls outside, I really wish my tricycle was functional.  For those of you who don't know, tricycles handle very well in slippery conditions due to their extremely good balance and they also make for a great transportation option when needing to carry a heavy load (grocery shopping, moving, etc.).  After a few days of joyriding, my tricycle decided to start getting fussy and my trike mechanics and  I have had great amounts of trouble getting the two chains to work together so it's just sitting in a garage for now.

Shedding Slowly

Originally I was going to try tenting out for as long as I could but as I mentioned before, there was the possibility of a shed.  That shed has become a reality so I will no longer be tenting out, but shedding in.  Living in a shed? Some might consider this torture but really for me it is a stroke of luck.  Actually I should rephrase; it's not that I'm living in the shed but more so... sleeping in the shed.

I brought my sleeping pad and bag, $30 Target tent, and pillow from home by way of bicycle and light rail.



First night tenting out.



My commitment to the idea is still very strong but so far I am taking it very slow.  In the past week I have slept once at my parents' house, once in just the tent outside, three times at my best friend's apartment on campus (17 more times there and I have to start paying rent), and twice in the shed.  Currently, and probably for the rest of my stay, I am sleeping in my tent on a bed in the shed (that is not red).  This allows for protection from dirty dust that gets kicked up from the dirt floor and security from bugs and small animals that can creep through the crack in the shed door or might be living in the mattress.

First try at buying food.

I have only cooked one meal so far using the gas camping stove (a can of chicken noodle soup and chunky beefy soup; and a few friends came over with some apples and a delicious loaf of bread) and I also for the first time this morning had my own bowl of cereal (honey nut cheerios plus half gallon of milk stored in a cooler with ice).  To wash my spork/knife (3-in-1 craziness!) and plastic containers I use biodegradable soap and a refillable gallon of water.  I shower and brush my teeth on (almost) a daily basis at the Rec Sports Center and I keep most of my stuff in a full sized locker that I have for the entire calendar year (only $50, that's pretty good rent for a year!).  During the day I think about doing homework (eventually I will actually do it in accordance with the whole rigorous schedule thing), go to class, go to ultimate frisbee tryouts, play soccer with some friends, hang out with peeps I happen to walk into, but most importantly, scour for free food on campus.

Gracefully, I have been fed a sandwich from a few friends here and there, which I am very thankful for.  A few times, though I hope to keep it rare, I have eaten out - a sub here, a taco there, some chinese one day, and its leftovers for lunch the next (kept the leftovers in a friend's fridge).  But the amount of free food being offered is incredible (though not always the healthiest).  One day I got a burger, another day I got a bagel, and a third day I got, well, popcorn. Today however I hit the motherload, a "fest", U-fest to be exact.  I think I racked up: a dollar breakfast burrito coupon for Qdoba, a buy-one-get-one chipotle coupon (anyone buying? no? I'll probably just hop in line behind someone and ask if I can piggyback off of their purchase), two free Punch pizzas, three free single tacos at Chipotle, two free subs at Jimmy-Johns, a free cookie at Potbelly's, and I got at least two sampler Qdoba cups and loads of pumpkin pound cake from Caribou (not to mention the back-massage, t-shirts, and mystery prize tickets to Nickelodeon Universe.  Between using the free food coupons in the next week I hope to become more consistent by cooking myself rice or noodles and buying some fresh vegetables and fruit.  However, tonight there is Catholic mass with a free BBQ afterwards.

My shed is still being worked on and I can't wait to show you guys the finished interior.  Until then!

The Idea

You know when you get a crazy idea and then you get really excited about it because it might actually work but then you never follow through with it?  This summer I started following through, sometimes.  For example, what if you just woke up and then walked all day until your feet were too tired to keep going? Well perhaps you would have walked 24 miles! Or, what if you just worked full-time almost all summer?? Yeah that was a bad 'crazy' idea.

Well my most recent idea is based off of a frugal, sustainable, adventurous, active, and minimalistic lifestyle.  What?  This fall, at the UofM, I would like to live in a tent for as long as I can.  The point is to live on campus without paying rent and by doing so I could potentially avoid paying a few thousand dollars worth of rent, use relatively little electricity and water, attempt to brave cold and nasty weather (as well as make the most out of beautiful weather), and develop rigorous discipline by creating a rigid schedule and routine in order to make sure all bare necessities and academic goals (if I set any) are met.

Despite several uncertainties I have finally secured a backyard in which I can pitch my tent for at least one week.  Also, there happens to be an unused shed with an abandoned box spring and mattress in the backyard, perhaps it's a sign.  Not all of the details have been finalized as to how this will work but with two days left before school starts, I have thought through a lot of it and think that it is definitely maybe possible.

Maybe some ideas don't work out because they are not supposed to work out but I think they mostly don't work out because of lack of dedication and motivation.  Will this even last a week? A month? Will I keep up with homework? Can I make it past the first freeze? How will I eat, shower, poop, study, and print? Won't someone just steal my tent? Do I even have a tent yet? Guys. Relax. I have some of it figured out.

Wish me luck? Thanks.