[Nicholai]

I havent used this forum in ages but I thought I would write a little hello and see what everyone thinks.

I started reading about peak oil and climate change when I was about 16. I read Monbiot and Lovelock, I dabbed into some peak oil, I read Catton etc.

When I was 18 I decided to try a jab at economics at my local college. Suffice to say, we had a falling out.

During the first year of college I spent my free time working two side jobs incase I decided to travel. 8 months later I found myself on a plane from Edmonton to Montreal. I hitchicked to an ecovillage in rural Quebec far from any major city on a beautiful mountain overlooking the St. Lawrence. I hunted for Canadian Geese with some locals, I went fly fishing and laboured around the ecovillage for about 1 month.

After that month, I headed to Germany to visit friends throughout the country.

Once out of Germany, I visited an ecovillage in Denmark on the island of Fyn. It was very alternative but a nice experience none the less. After visiting this place I made my way up to a collective in northern Denmark where I have been living for the past 8 months.

I can now say that I can speak English, French and moderate Danish and have learned an enormous amount over the past year. I will now have to decide whether or not to stay in Denmark in a large and beautiful collective or start my own life at an ecovillage in the most beautiful part of Quebec.

Choices, choices...

Anyway, my concerns in regard to overpopulation, peak oil etc. have all been the driving force in my trip. I have made some great friends, learned some great skills and I know that my life will never be the same.

Im never going home.

All the best,
Nicholai

[vision-master]

Like A Rolling Stone

[Narz]

Congrats on all you've learned & good luck!

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Way cool. Hope it all works out for the best.

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('uNkNowN ElEmEnt', 'W')ay cool. Hope it all works out for the best.

[dunewalker]

Nicholai, your life sounds great! I wish you well and know you'll excel.

[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nicholai', 'I') will now have to decide whether or not to stay in Denmark in a large and beautiful collective or start my own life at an ecovillage in the most beautiful part of Quebec.

[RedStateGreen]

Nicholai! Nice to hear from you!

[BigTex]

What a refreshing response to the peak oil-related cluster of problems.

Very inspiring.

When you hit a vein of inspiration in life, I think you do well to follow it all the way to its end.

After you have continued living your current lifestyle for a few years, you may find that you have accumulated an utterly unique set of experiences and network of friends and contacts. This future you will be a larger than life expression of the challenges and opportunities we face as a species. It's not inconceivable to think that you could become sort of a peak oil equivalent of Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery.

Imagine the future you driving high performance hybrid vehicles and being pursued by oil company executives with bad motives while women you meet along the way ache for your love.

The Nicholai Post-Peak model XK-99 "Shaguar":



Nice!

***

Think it sounds crazy?

Think again...



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[dday]

Hi Nicholai

So you are still in Denmark. If you are in Roskilde please stop by for a cup of coffee (or herb tea.) +45 30671044. Like to hear about all your experiences and thoughts.

- David

[mos6507]

BigTex, you're still here? Man, you never post anymore.

[davep]

Well done Nicholai!

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'B')igTex, you're still here? Man, you never post anymore.

[Nicholai]

Dday,

Yeah we will have to have coffee one of these days. I will be moving to Copenhagen in August to save some money before either going back to Quebec or coming back to the collective. I will message you my cell number although reception isnt the greatest out here in the countryside.



To the rest, thanks for your comments. I wasnt sure about spending all that money on traveling but it has been well worth it. Its just a matter of choice for me now but I think I will end up going back to Quebec. Europe is just too crowded. We had an Italian guest come and visit the collective a few months ago and he had never seen a squirrel before...I couldnt believe it.

Ive tried to teach some folks at the collective about peak oil but most people arent really open to it. Even collectives like growth. Thats why the collective takes out millions of dollars in loans to build new windmills, despite the fact that profit from these windmills wont be seen for at least 10 to 20 years (this was the case with their previous windmills).

I messaged MonteQuest a few weeks back and he got back to me with some advice that Ive really taken to heart. Surround yourself with MacGyver types and you should be well positioned.

Thoughts?

Nicholas

[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', 'B')igTex, you're still here? Man, you never post anymore.

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nicholai', 'I') messaged MonteQuest a few weeks back and he got back to me with some advice that Ive really taken to heart. Surround yourself with MacGyver types and you should be well positioned.

Thoughts?

Nicholas

[Nicholai]

I figured this would come up and Im glad to answer.

I had always heard stories about my friends in school making trips to Cuba or Europe for 2 weeks and flying home. It seemed so strange to me. Visiting 8 countries in 2 weeks and flying home. Seeing Berlin for 4 hours. Something didnt seem right.

I made sure that when I visited a place (especially flying)I stayed for a long period of time. I dont have a great muscle mass so I couldnt exactly swim to Europe, but if I made the one flight and spent a year or two in Europe, I would feel that all that energy and all that pollution had a meaning. I learned a new language, I experienced new cultures, I changed my view of the world, I changed my direction in life....

I know that flying should be criminal, and I know that anyone reading Monbiot would say I have blood on my hands...and I dont know what to say from there...I do, simple as that. But this will be the only long distance trip in my life unless I am wrong about everything, and maybe this trip gives me the knowledge and the direction to go back to Quebec and help an entire village prepare? Who knows.


Im saying that this trip has had an enormous influence on my life and to compare and to compare me to those environmentalists that fly from New York to Sweden for a 4 day trip to measure moth migration patters is not a reasonable comparison.

Anything to say about Lovelocks philosophy (enjoy life while you can)? I dont buy it, but just curious what ou think.

All the best,
Nicholai

[BigTex]

I have a practical suggestion regarding how to fly without feeling bad about it.

First, you will need to be in pretty good shape physically and being of average size is helpful. Travelling light is also a must.

Okay, so here's what you do: you buy your plane ticket on a very heavy route at a popular time. Just make sure that it is a flight that is sure to be full.

Next, as boarding time nears, check out the people who are flying standby. Do some quick calculations regarding their approximate weight, along with the bags they are carrying.

So long as your weight (including your luggage) is LESS than the total weight (passenger + luggage) of at least one of the standby passengers, then the fact that you are on that flight will actually SAVE energy, since the plane will burn less fuel with you on board than with the heavier standby passenger that might have been on the plane if you hadn't booked the flight.

If you're feeling really saucy, you might pick out the heaviest person preparing to board and see if you can heckle them into giving up their seat to a thinner person on the standby list.

This technique does not work if you are morbidly obese yourself or travel with a lot of luggage, but if you are a person of average size who travels light, this technique might be just what you need to ease your eco-aware conscience.

Like Ben Franklin said, the marvelous thing about being reasonable creatures is that we can find a reason for doing almost anything.