About

Why are we doing this?

Nature on our doorstep

We both studied and qualified and set out on conventional career paths, Sonja as an editor and myself as a biologist. Alarm bells started ringing during the four and a half years we spent in London. The pace of life. The rocketing stress levels of the densely packed humanity stretching for miles in every direction. The ever narrowing focus on consumerism as the only goal in life.

So, we stepped out of it for a bit. Went travelling, saw a good chunk of the world, looked out for opportunities to follow a different sort of life.

Travelling was great, but being normal folk of normal means, we couldn't keep it up forever. Nothing in the alternative lifestyle bracket had cropped up, so we stepped back on to the straight and narrow.

It couldn't last. We'd thought about life and questioned its goals and ideals too much to slot back in. We took up sailing and went off exploring and enjoying the freedom of one of the last great wildernesses - the open ocean.

Time to grow

That was a wonderful time too, but there came a moment when we both realised that it was actually time to settle down and start building something else. It was finally clear that if we wanted a different way to live, we were going to have to create it for ourselves.

What was important to us to have in our new life? Freedom, space, a view of the open sky and a connection to nature and the living world. Tall order? Maybe, but doable.

One of the distressing aspects of having a glimpse into the lives of different people around the world was the evident homogenisation spreading everywhere. Age old differences in values and lifestyles are rapidly disappearing as people everywhere enthusiastically embrace the consumerist dream. Innumerable babies are being tossed out with the bath water.

Okay, so what could we do? My answer is to focus down. Globalisation and world affairs may be all well and good, but not if everyone neglects what's under their noses. An increased emphasis on localism may be exactly what's needed to remedy many of the ills of modern life.

We cut our ties with city life once and for all and grabbed a spot in a quiet part of the country with a good climate for growing. We decided to aim, not for complete self-sufficiency (recognising that isn't even realistically possible), but for the nearest reasonable approach to it.

Ready for the next load

Hence the title: Reasonably Good Life. This has to be something attainable. Something that will lead to an enhanced quality of life.

In these pages, we'll look at what we're doing as well as why and how. There will be practical information to help anyone interested in taking up any or all of the things we're working on here, but also food for thought.

We've been at this since October 2013 and, yes, it has been seriously hard work. But we're fitter, stronger, happier and healthier for it. No regrets!