North Idaho, Country Life, and the Vienna Woods

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You say you want to go to Europe, but you don't have the money? Do what Stephen Allen of Bonners Ferry, Idaho did: Move back to the land, cut down on fossil fuel consumption... and "write your own ticket"!

Recently, while sitting at a charming wine garden in the Heuriger section of Vienna (where I'd just finished a delicious dinner of Parisier Schnitzel), I lifted my glass of German brandy and made the following toast: "To the Vienna woods ... and northern Idaho." Northern Idaho, you see, had made my trip to Vienna possible.

It's strange. Many people think that in order to live in the country, you have to be willing to do without a lot of things (as if deprivation and rural life somehow went together). This simply isn't true. On the contrary, a move to the country can enrich your life and give you things of real value ... such as Vienna, Paris, London, or Amsterdam. I know. I've been there.

HOW I WENT FROM NEW JERSEY TO EUROPE ... VIA IDAHO!

Several years ago, I worked as a high-powered newspaper reporter in populous New Jersey. At the time, I pulled down $260 a week ... hardly what you'd call a regal wage, but not bad when you consider [1] the paper was non-union and [2] journalismespecially newspaper journalismhas never been known for its high salaries.

But the point is this: I desperately wanted to go to Europe ... and I couldn't afford to do so without borrowing money.

So I moved to the country. Now I'm working as a low-powered newspaperman in a small (population 2,500) town in northern Idaho ... and-although I make only $125 per three-and-a-half-day week (not counting the income from two additional part-time jobs) I'm happy to report that I've just returned from a three-week trip to London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest, Transylvania, and Paris. And I didn't have to borrow a cent to finance my trek,

How did I do it? Simple: I started living within my means ... and pocketed the money I would otherwise have handed over to the Arabs, the giant oil companies, and the electric utilities.

Four years agowhile I was living in New JerseyI was paying out approximately $400 annually for fuel oil. (Today, it'd be much more than that.) I also spent about $300 a year on electricity. And I threw away close to $1,000 every 12 months for gasoline. (Needless to say, the cost of petrol has gone up some, too.) Add it all up, and you can see that I was shelling out no less than $1,700 (conservatively speaking) each year on energy when I lived in the Garden State.

Here in northern Idahoby contrastI lavish zero dollars per year on fuel oil ... zero dollars on electricity ... andbecause I bicycle to and from work when the weather is goodonly about $200 per year on gasoline. A grand total, in other words, of $200 annually in energy-related expenses. Which leaves me $1,500 a year of "found" money to spend on things such as tools, supplies, and trips to Europe!

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