What about rents? Or do you happen to own a place?
Also, do you manage to be sufficiently independent from others, or is it not a goal au all?
Also, do you manage to be sufficiently independent from others, or is it not a goal au all?
None of us are completely independent, we all rely on other humans, animals, plants, and the eco-system to exist. I don't think, practically speaking, there is much of a difference between doing this with currency or without.
That is a great insight! We are all connected. Very countercultural.
I imagine it's quite easy to find like minded people though.
Time is not money, it is infinitely more valuable.
Actually, I've yet to have a serious freegan partner, most are pretty normal.
Indeed, but some are more independent than others. And for some reasons (I suspect some childhood sh*t) I take great pride in depending on no one. As much as I find your life style fascinating and appealing (I met a few people living your way years ago, two of them also unsurprisingly in the free-software world), I'm also very much attracted by the opposite lifestyle in this regard and have been contemplating recently living on my own on a sail ship away from shore.
> I don't think, practically speaking, there is much of a difference between doing this with currency or without.
I don't know. I view currency as something that has been invented to separate exchange of services and goods from richer, more complex and also more troublesome relationships. Indeed we all depends on each others but the economy based on money limits this to the bare minimum. We don't need to be good pals with my baker so that I get some bread in the morning, and indeed that would even be illegal for him to refuses to sell any bread to me if he doesn't like me.
Whereas in your case, if someone does not like you for any reason it can cause real problems, so I guess you have to be nicer, sometime hide your thoughts, etc... So you have more freedom with regard to the tyranny of money and commercial relationships, which is a big plus, but you have less freedom from the tyranny of others judgments. Not being a homo œconomicus is great, but having to play the social ape game is not so much.
Sorry to be verbose, this topic is important to me ATM. Back to more basic questions:
How do you find places where you could stay in exchange for being helpful? I'm assuming you live in the US, where this endeavor is not particularly encouraged. Are there websites to help facilitate this kind of non-commercial exchanges? Or do you rely on your pre-existing network of acquaintances?
Also, have you considered doing an AMA? :)
It's true, I am nice, but I don't see any downsides to that. Everyone has a level of truth they can handle, and we manage that in all our interactions.
I find my accommodations by praying and keeping my eyes and heart open. I do live in North America. I'm working on the websites. My network helped in the beginning, and it is expanding.
Thanks for answering, and please consider this AMA :)
(edit: phrasal verbs are hard)