Adventures of an Urban Nomad - House Do's, Don'ts & Maybes

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, April 29, 2012

As an Urban Nomad we're privileged to stay in many different places and so we find out what works about a house and what doesn't. Here's our list so far:

Must have

Solar electricity generating panels (or photovoltaic cells to be technically correct) - just because you ought to. There are actually many good reasons like reducing your household electricity bill or ideally being off the grid completely.

Gas heating and cooking - immediate heat when you turn it on and stops when you turn it off. It's also easier to adjust.

Deck or verandah all around the house - you can sit in the sun (or avoid it depending on the season) at all times of the day.

Household help - at least a lawnmower person (usually a man) and cleaner (not gender specific - often they come as a pair). Saves you having to do those things you really dislike and helps share the wealth around.

Wood heating - it's wonderful getting up on a winter morning and lighting the fire - makes you feel warm straight away. Chopping and carrying the wood is great exercise. Also, very romantic.

Skylights. I'm amazed at how much light they bring in

A dog - preferably saved from the pound. If you're thinking "What about a cat?" remember "Dogs have masters, cats have staff".

A dog door. You don't want to be a doorman for your four legged family member.

Ceiling fans and adjustable awnings - makes a significant difference to the temperature in summer with no operating costs.

Air conditioner (emergency use only) - because some days are just too hot.

Significant distance to your neighbours - you really don't want to know them that intimately.

Kitchen garden - vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, chickens (and/or ducks). It's wonderful going out into your garden and deciding what's for dinner based on what you have. When something's in season you get really creative about what to do with all the food. And when you go visiting it's nice to take something you produced rather than something you bought.

Located close to bush especially a national park.

What not to have

Carpets - they're incredible dust collectors and NO vacuum really gets them clean.

Round tap handles - seriously challenging with wet, soapy hands.

Light switches NOT at the doorway. It's astounding where some people put switches - they seem to bear no relationship to the room they're for.

Nice to have

A bath big enough for two. Very important after you've been out wood chopping.

Swimming pool - if someone else does the maintenance. There are some days you need that quick cool off.

That's our list. What do you think?

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Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Trapped

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, December 11, 2011

In Jewish tradition rain is called a "siman brakha" - sign of blessing. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

Recently, we had a phone call at 8 o'clock one morning from the owner of the property on which we're staying. She'd had a call from one of the locals saying that if the rain didn't stop by midday we would be flooded in and she was ringing to warn us.

This raised some interesting dilemmas for us. 

Firstly, we had a visitor staying over for the weekend and if we were trapped he'd be with us for an indefinite period. That was OK (he's quite a nice guy) but he'd just started a new job and we were a bit concerned about him having to ring his boss and say he wasn't coming in, at very short notice.

There are animals on the farm (horses and cattle) and they needed moving to higher ground. Sancho would be in his element for this as he's become very proficient at herding cattle. Our challenge would be to get him to move them where we wanted.

Did we have enough food and supplies to last?

So we spent a very anxious morning watching as the rain got heavier trying to decide whether to take our guest to the nearest railway station and hopefully get back before the roads were blocked.

I could tell you about how the waters rose and we were out in the rain moving animals and how we ran very low on fresh food and how we had to call clients and move meetings etc. I could, but I won't, because that would be lying (otherwise called "poetic licence").

What happened was that by midday the rain had stopped and the day became quite hot and humid. The river rose almost to the road but that was it. And so an opportunity for a new experience passed us by.

The interesting thing since that happened has been to notice the type of conversations people have around here. In Sydney it usually gets on to house prices. Out here it's about how high the water gets, when the last big one happened (2007) and who'll be stuck.

This week we move to Rose Bay so concerns about flooding will be off the agenda for a while.

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Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Powerless

Laurence Harrould - Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'm writing this using pen and paper. (Well, clearly not this specifically because it's now on the web. The original was done with ancient technology.) The reason is that there is a power blackout. Apparently, they occur fairly regularly in this part of the world. A tree brought down the powerline. I can just hear the proponents of development saying "you wouldn't have that problem if you cleared all those useless trees".

It's now been hours without electricity and the impact has been quite significant. Firstly, no computers. Not only could I not check email (with the consequent raising of anxiety levels) but all those "important" things I had planned to do today required a computer.

The second impact has been no water. Being in the country, the water supply is pump driven and, of course, the pump is electrically powered. I was able to get one glass of water from the kettle for drinking but that was it. No water for washing and with the toilet you only get one flush (what's held in the cistern). Thankfully, this house has three toilets but still required very judicial use. It's been raining solidly for a few days now so I've resorted to using puddles for handwashing.

On the bright side the telephone works (but only if you use one of those old non-powered handsets - the joy of old technology). Also, being in the country, we have a couple of fireplaces so it's possible to warm the house (and lunch).

For me, this is a good example of why you should have your house set up to use batteries and solar power. 

The worst thing about this is the beer getting warm - and that's life threatening!!

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Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Oh What A Tangled Web

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, September 25, 2011

The Universe works in fascinating ways. Have you ever thought about how you came to meet a particular person who had a significant impact on your life? They may be your husband, wife, partner, mentor etc. It might have appeared as a 'positive' or 'negative' experience. Ultimately, it was probably for the best but that's another story.

We recently had a fascinating experience of this. It could get complicated, so stay with me.

The first housesit we booked was for October. It was booked months ago and over that time we've had a number of conversations with the couple whose house we'll be minding. While we were staying on the farm between Wiseman's Ferry and St Albans, Danita called the lady of this upcoming housesit to wish her a happy birthday. The conversation, as it usually does these days, went to "Where are you staying now?". Danita told her our location and she surprised us by saying her son (Barry) lived at Webbs Creek which was just down the road from where we were. Like us he's into sustainability and rides a motorbike so naturally we wanted to get in touch with him. This we subsequently did and arranged to meet a few days later.

Now, I don't believe in 'co-incidence'. Everything happens for a reason.

The conversation above and subsequent outcome was 'co-incidence' number 1. 

Number 2 was when we found out that Barry's wife (Cath) is a naturopath. I'd just released the software I've developed for naturopaths, herbalists, homoeopaths and other natural therapy practitioners (see NatTrac.com.au) and so having a chance to show it to her and get some feedback was very useful.

Co-incidence number 3 was a conversation with Barry concerning his marketing needs for his business. These were quite specific and needed a specialist marketer. Prior to our move to the farm we'd looked after a house and dogs in Artarmon. The business of the couple who we housesat for, was exactly the type of marketers that Barry needed. Of course we were able to put them in touch and last we heard there was a great likelihood they'd be doing business together.

Funny how things work out. Have you had experiences like that?

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Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Stuff

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, September 18, 2011

On Thursday we moved back to the big smoke. We're now in Sydney's Northern Suburbs with housesits booked until December with a prospect into January  in the wings. As a nomad, knowing where you'll be living for a couple of months is very comforting.

Today we went shopping. We've become very proficient at moving (since we do it so regularly) and needed some containers for packing away our winter clothes as well as a few other useful items. The thing that struck me was how much stuff we DON"T buy. Being restricted in the amount of space we have available and the fact that we'll soon need to pack up anything we buy has made me very conscious of my tendency to "stock up" on food or other items I'm sure we'll need or is cheaper if we buy in bulk.

The other thing I realised was that since we no longer have a "permanent" residence I'm not looking at all the bits and pieces I need to fix things around the house. Have you walked down an aisle and bought that box of screws or set of hinges you need to fix the door only to have them sit in your garage for months until they eventually get buried under all the other bits you've bought to fix this or repair that? As housesitters we're free of all those responsibilities and it's proving to be very liberating. 

Shopping has become a very different experience for us - we go with a specific list of the items we need and come away with our list complete but without all the extra things. While this might not be helpful for the economy it's been great for us.

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Campaign for Causeless Love

Laurence Harrould - Friday, August 05, 2011

Let's start a campaign for causeless love.

There's plenty of hate in the world and it can often be justified. The simple task of getting help from your telco will usually result in angst and frustration. Often we take that out on the person at the other end of the phone. After all they are our only connection to the company which is causing us such a problem - they've overcharged, we can't access our bank account, the phone isn't working etc etc. We're angry, frustrated and hostile and need someone to vent to and who better than the person representing the organisation which is the cause of our problem.

When we ring a large company we EXPECT it will take a long time to get a solution, if we can get one at all. We EXPECT to get passed around to multiple departments, having to repeat our identifying information at every step and re-explaining what our issue is only to be told we've come through to the wrong section and get passed to the next department. That's what we EXPECT and that's usually what we EXPERIENCE - hence justifying our expectation.

But let's stop for a moment, take a deep breath and think about what's happening. On the other end of the phone is a PERSON. They spend their day dealing with calls like yours and callers just like you. The fact that they can stay calm and not shout back and scream about what a hard time they're having when all they're doing is simply trying to solve your problem is a testament to their patience. Yes - they understand your anger but if they aren't skilled, knowledgeable enough or authorised to deal with your issue the only thing they can do to help you is pass you to someone they think can. Added to that there's often the complication that they're not even good at your language - not to mention local and cultural nuances. (This is an issue and should be addressed but the person you're talking to can't do that.)

So let's spare a thought for the PERSON at the other end of the phone. Be nice, ask how their day is going and are they having a pleasant time. Tell them how much you appreciate them trying to help and how you understand that they may not be able to get the resolution you want and how grateful you are that they're trying to find the right person to help. I'll bet we'd all find it pretty challenging but what a different world we'd live in if that's how everyone behaved.

Ghandi said "Be the change you want to see in the world".  What change do you want?

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Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Channeling Joni Mitchell

Laurence Harrould - Sunday, July 03, 2011

This week the house was sold - YAYYY!!! Well, at least we think so. There was an offer and an acceptance and then the lawyers got involved :-( A clause in the contract which the buyer's lawyer was not happy about. Very minor and easily sorted but has put the process back a bit.

But that's not what I wanted to share with you. What the sale of the house has done has made me realise that very shortly we will be gone from there permanently. I'm finding that I'm noticing things around the place which I hadn't before. Having lived in the one place for 11 years we've made quite significant changes. There's the rosemary plant which we brought home as a single stem and has now turned into a thick hedge nearly 6 feet tall (that's about 2 metres for you youngsters). Also, the lemon tree which came in a small pot and is now producing beautiful lemons at an incredible rate (after a year where we wondered if it was going to do anything at all). And the 20 foot tall olive tree given to us by some friends, the water tank where we get our wonderful-tasting drinking water (filtered using a ceramic filter), solar panels producing electricity - our power bills have been a steadily increasing CREDIT for some time, a vegie garden where we decide what to eat based on what we've got in the garden and lots more.

All these are things which we won't have once we move out. While the move is the best thing for us at the moment, it has created a bit of nostalgia and brought to mind the words of Joni Mitchell - "you don't know what you've got till it's gone".

Are there things in your life which are worth acknowledging and enjoying?

Till next time...

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How to get excited by your electricity bill (huh???)

Laurence Harrould - Thursday, April 15, 2010

About 8 months ago we had photovoltaic cells installed to generate electricity. Since then we've been tracking the amount of electricity produced by our system. To date that's 971 Kw. This gives us a warm fuzzy feeling because we're contributing to a more sustainable planet. However, while gratifying, it's not exactly exciting.

Yesterday the electricity bill arrived. It was $86.97. The bill for the corresponding period the year before was $315.00. Now THAT'S EXCITING!!!

Given that the cost of electricity is set to rise dramatically (60%) over the next 3 years we're very pleased with our decision to go solar.

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