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Opting Out: An Introduction
Ever since I moved to the Yukon Territory, in northern Canada, four and a half years ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about the choices we make about our participation in society. More specifically, I’ve...
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The Peacemaker
The trial took place in Fairbanks, Alaska, under the fluorescent lights of the northernmost Denny’s franchise in the world. It was January, cold and dark, and outside, the neon signage of a handful of...
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Opting Out: Preparing for the End of the World
Early in my third year of college, a category two hurricane struck the small East Coast city where I lived. The power went out, and stayed out—in my apartment at least—for eight days. The telephone...
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Opting Out: Papa Pilgrim and the Lure of Off-Grid Wilderness Living
In January 2002, a man who called himself Papa Pilgrim arrived in McCarthy, Alaska, with his wife, Mama Country Rose, and their 15 children. McCarthy is a small, end-of-the-road ghost town, a relic of...
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Opting Out: Why Women Are Embracing the New Domesticity
We all know about the resurgence in knitting, and the rise of the backyard chicken coop, and chances are you’ve heard about the renewed craze for canning, pickling, and preserving, too. Some call it...
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Opting Out: What Is Homesteading, and Why Does It Matter Today?
An antiquated term that has recently been dusted off and refurbished, historically, “homesteading” referred to the granting of federal land, generally at little or no cost, to individual families for...
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Writing From the Woods: Surveying the Literature of Opting Out
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” —John Muir In 1869, a young man named John Muir...
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