It’s rare to be a beginner as an adult. As kids, “beginner” described our lives. Everything a kid does is new. They’re inexperienced and unafraid of grabbing a sweet potato and peeler for the first time ever and skimming the blade over the peel without hesitation. But as adults, we almost never put ourselves in the position of not knowing how to do something. We drive our cars via muscle memory, we do the laundry...
I don’t think I’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution. Ever. In my frittered youth, I made impossible, vague and numerous resolutions. I’d resolve to “lose weight, achieve inner peace and volunteer more,” all in the same year, with no specifics, no action plan and no accountability. I think we can all see why this approach failed. And it didn’t fail just once. It failed every single one of my resolution-making years, which was probably...
When people ask why we moved to Vermont, I always answer “the woods!” And it’s true, we love our woods. We love looking at them, thinking about them, discussing them, photographing them and, most of all, being in them. However, as you might’ve noticed from my recent photos on Facebook and Instagram, we are currently in the depths of a typical Vermont winter–in other words, we won’t see our grass again until sometime in late...
It’s no secret Mr. Frugalwoods and I are hiking devotees. We’d hike every day (ok, maybe every other day) if we could and hey, we will once we live on our homestead of wooded land! But for the present moment, we’re relegated to hiking on the land of others, which is a wonderful experience all its own. After all, it’s unlikely we’ll ever “own” an actual mountain (although the thought has crossed our minds… )....
Woot To continue the hiking theme we started earlier this week with Mr. 1500, I thought I’d regale you with a little Frugalwoods family tale. Once upon a time (like two weeks ago), Mr. Frugalwoods and I were mistaken for through-hikers. What is a through-hiker you might inquire? A through-hiker is a crazy amazing person who hikes the Appalachian Trail (AT) or the Long Trail or some other ludicrously lengthy trail from start to finish without stopping. This would...
The idea for this post was not mine! All credit goes to someone Mr. Frugalwoods and I revere: Mr. 1500 from 1500 Days to Freedom. He proposed we both write about our favorite hikes today because, well, hiking is amazing. I’m grateful to Mr. 1500 for suggesting this as it gave me the opportunity to post a lot of hiking photos reflect on the highlights of my favorite hobby. Make sure to check out Mr. 1500’s My Favorite Hikes (or How I Learned...
It’s glorious summer in New England, which lasts about 11 minutes before we return to epic winter, so we’re relishing the great outdoors. All around us, people are dropping dough on kayak rentals, croquet sets, badminton shuttlecocks, pool noodles, and sunscreen (just rub some free mud on your skin, people!). I jest. A few years ago, Mr. Frugalwoods and I discovered the one weird trick to free summer entertainment and I’ll share it with you now: hiking. Plus,...
