photo credit: >>>WonderMike<<<

Or hold house was in the perfect location. Three blocks from the park and library, a couple more blocks to the shops downtown, and if I felt snackish a little further to a Subway. Only if the weather was bad, or we were going to the grocery store, did we need the car.

Here, we are not as lucky. Though the park is semi-close, it is still too far for the kids to make it. There is a Walmart almost walking distance, but A) again, the kids can’t make it, and B) it’s Walmart. All around us are fields and cows and wide open spaces. Cut through by a couple well-traveled mini-highways. Great for scenery, not so great when we need to go somewhere.

Since our move I’ve been thinking about getting a bike. I found a gorgeous retro bike, mint green with cream details, for a reasonable price. But that still leaves the kids. There is only 2 roads from my house to town, and both are heavily traveled sub-highways with no sidewalks. The 6 year-old is questionable, the 4 year-old is absolutely not mature enough to stay out of the middle of the road when cars are zooming past. And then there’s the baby, who thinks seats she has to be belted into are evil.

As it is now, Craig’s List has been a deadman’s land for bike trailers, and there isn’t a Freecycle here (I really need to apply to start one). I want to drive less, but most of the advice I find is geared towards family’s with 1 child and living in a suburban area. Riding through a deep ditch growing with cacti to avoid heavy traffic with three kids is not the peaceful car-free experience I keep reading about.

Whenever public transit and bicycles are proposed as solutions, a small but vocal group of naysayers argue that they cannot bicycle to the grocery store and carry groceries, or schlep their children to day care on buses. Some of these concerns are valid for some people, but most people are physically able and resourceful enough to manage. -The Moral Imperative of the BP Oil Spill: Drive 20 Percent Less

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. So I’m going to look for alternative ideas for getting out of the house. Maybe try solo-grocery shopping in the evenings, or attempt to carefully cut through a field.

photo credit: Birgitta Seegers

When I think about the future there are always three images in my mind.

The first is moving out west, to Washington or Oregon, and buying a nice piece of land out there. I know several families who live out there and I can see myself getting along well with the general eco-friendly politics of the area. Except for the winters we could be quite happy out there.

The next is moving up to Canada. Most homesteading websites have ads for plots of land that are incredibly cheap. We could buy a few acres for less than the cost of buying a new car. And many of the Canadian politics I’m in favor of. But then that winter thing comes up again.

The last scenario, and most expensive, is taking off to Costa Rica. Warm tropical beaches, lush rainforest, and a generally atmosphere and relaxation. After a few people I know online moved down there with their kids I became overwhelmed with the idea of visiting at least. Hopefully making a more permanent move someday. That is, if it weren’t so darn expensive to move there.

I spent all day Saturday reading Costa Rica Birth and Residency. Apparently one of the ways to lower the cost of moving is to have a child in Costa Rica. Your child is automatically a citizen, and immediate family members can become citizens more easily.

I want my own little home somewhere. Somewhere where I have enough room for a real garden, for a few chickens, maybe even a cow. I want room for my kids to run and climb and play in real trees. Not the fake plastic trees bolted together at the park. I want nature to be a real part of our family. And in Costa Rica, that could happen. But it would mean moving thousands of miles away from family and friends and the things we are most familiar with.

So many choices with the future, each with their own positives and negatives. I have an image in my mind of our future home, but it’s location is still unsure.