Category: North America
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Lessons from Spain: helping new neighbors
Moving to Spain has been different from when I stayed in Costa Rica or Slovakia. During those visits (which were two to four months), I had a specific program and personnel who helped me understand the rules of how to live in another country. In Spain, I am largely on my own, being helped along…
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Where to hike around Austin, TX
I’ve been asked a few times about the best hiking spots around Austin. This list is not exhaustive but features some of my favorite places. Outside of Austin Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge Located around 40 miles outside the city, Balcones Canyonlands offers three key hiking areas: the Warbler Vista Unit, Doeskin Ranch and the…
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Tiny house: start to finish
Photo by Alex Bugg Photo by Alex Bugg Photo by Alex Bugg Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project including my neighbors Tiffany and Tom Eaton, De’Renda Phillips, Nancy Franklin, David Lee and Elena Bugg, Richard Tate, Chuck Braun and many others. Thanks to the friends who helped build: David Eversole and David…
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We must respond to genocide
First, a confession I have been a friend and family member to people from various countries since 2013, when I moved into a new neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas. When I was an intern in an unfamiliar city, it was Iraqis, Somalians, Sudanese and Nepalis who invited me into their homes for elaborate meals moments…
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Year in Review
So we had a rough year. Crises escalated; more people were forced from their homes. People in Michigan continued to live with contaminated water. People in North Dakota feared their water would be taken away. Others had no access to water at all. We elected someone who didn’t know the meaning of the word “unprecedented.”…
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Why I must be a better citizen
It happened. The thing we all laughed about, but no one took seriously. The thing that was too tinted by a surreal, orange haze to be considered a true threat. We elected a candidate whose rhetoric is openly misogynistic, racist and xenophobic, who is largely unfit to be president. What were we thinking? This…
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Tiny house update: finished exterior, started interior!
The last few weeks have been slow as busyness, logistics and conflicting schedules have gotten in the way of sustained work. However, within a month or two, we finished the exterior, painted, began the interior and completed much of the electrical rough-in. This thing is so close to being finished, but I still have to…
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Tiny House photos: making progress!
Some of the progress from the past few weeks. Hope to be finished with the shell this weekend 🙂
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Tiny house update: framing!
Since I last wrote, we had a few minor setbacks in stabilizing the trailer. First, the springs I bought were a little too short, but the next size up were too big. Thankfully, my neighbor offered to fix it at his shop so it would fit correctly. Until we stabilized the base, it would be…
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Do the thing that scares you
What do you get when you take 35 strangers with varying levels of outdoors experience, lead them into the wilds of West Texas, and ask them to primitive camp on a trail that isn’t usually open to the public? Pure mountain magic. What should have been a logistical nightmare, ended up being one of the…
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The mountains are calling: Texas State Parks reflection
I spent five days in the wilds of West Texas with 35 strangers and zero backpacking experience, learning to navigate the unforgiving desert, and climb to the top of personal and literal mountains. Despite the heat, dehydration and blistered toes, it was one of the best weeks of my life. When you return from mountaintop…
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Going Tiny: moving into 195 sq ft
It’s been my goal to build a home on wheels for a while now. When your father is a carpenter, you want to be more sustainable (or figure out what that buzzword actually means) and house prices are out of your reach, it makes the most sense economically, environmentally and socially. How to build a…