Knowing Home

Big ideas can come in small spaces.

One idea that appeals to me more and more is living a smaller life, one that requires less consumption and travel. As it turns out, Kurt Hoelting has also had that idea. In fact, he has put it into action. For a year, Hoelting stayed within a 60-mile radius of his home, never using a car or plane. Now, he has written about the experience in a book called The Circumference of Home: One Man's Yearlong Quest for a Radically Local Life.

I found out about Hoelting by listening to a recent BirdNote podcast, and his book really interested me. For one thing, the idea of cutting back helps the environment. Also, by making a conscious effort to focus on the area close to home, a person can really come to know and appreciate the details of that place.

Hoelting's idea challenges the traditional notion of bigger being better, and it gives us a new approach to living. We don't have to do things just the way he did, but we can accept the great challenge and opportunity to minimize our impact and get to know our little spot in the world better.