The weather’s so beautifu, it makes us think of going on a road trip. Dave Hax’s fast-and-minimalist packing job begs the question: What do we REALLY need to take with us? via i.imgur Thanks Holton!
Read MoreShipping Pallet Transport Vehicle
(Video link HERE). Shipping pallet creations are among our most popular posts and we’ve featured A LOT of them over the years. Tomáš Moravec‘s re-purposing of the simple pallet may be the most inspired of all: “A new transport vehicle brings change into the spatial perspective of a passenger in motion and generally changes the life of…
Read MoreAnnals of Bike Hacks: An Electric Suitcase Scooter
On the way to the airport ten years ago, He Liangcai, a Chinese farmer-turned-amateur inventor lost his luggage. That loss gave him the idea for a transportable suitcase that could come with him to the terminal. He spent the next ten years developing his drivable suitcase using the frame of an electric scooter with a suitcase wrapped…
Read MoreA Net Bag Becomes a Scarf and Necklace + DIY
When I was presented with a beautiful net bag recently, something made me loop it like a scarf around my neck so I could wear it. It is one more surprising use for a net bag, which, I’ve discovered you can make yourself.
Read MoreThe Burning House: What are Your Most Essential Objects?
We’ve written about Foster Huntington’s love of simplicity before, but we’ve recently discovered another project of his: The Burning House. This one, makes us think about our Life Essentials by asking the question, “What would you take with you if your house was on fire?” We love that Huntington has taken this familiar question a step further by asking…
Read MoreRamp Season: Odes, Festivals and Recipes
Every April, I start thinking about ramps, the first wild food to peek through the cold ground in early Spring, and the focus of equally wild festivals throughout the Appalachian mountains. For decades, I’d travel down to West Virginia to the Helvetia Ramp Supper to get a transformative blast of ramps, both raw and cooked.…
Read MoreHome is Where You Park It
Home is Where You Park is an inspiring book that celebrates the joys of living a minimalist’s life on the road, in camper or car, an homage to “people living really cool lives, doing things they love as opposed to the expected”…with Nature as their living room.
Read Moremaking art in an airplane lavatory + other long-haul improvs
Long-haul flights can seem like a singularly uncreative time for many people. Artist Nina Katchadourian discovered that an airplane’s lavatory provided the art materials necessary to make Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style. It is part of her larger piece Seat Assignment, in which she improvises with a camera phone and materials on hand in…
Read Moreel cosmico’s teepees, tents and trailors (for rent or inspiration)
El Cosmico, a hippy-ish retreat/hotel with wonderful amenities and a very cool philosophy, offers a variety of simple, unique accommodations — teepees, tents and trailors — that promote sitting on porches, naps and other moments of non-action
Even El Cosmico’s website is both freshing and inspiring. We took a mini virtual vacation.
2 weeks in Sri Lanka in 2 minutes: many improvs + a leap!
(Video link here.) Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine made a fast, sweet video of their 2 weeks traveling through Sri Lanka by foot, moped, car and boat. Turning OFF the irritating music makes for an inspiring little journey of swell everyday improvs. We especially love the LEAP at 1:50. It’s one of many illuminating escapist videos at The Perennial Plate;…
Read Morenew american nomads: freedom with less and walmart
We recommend checking out the illuminating slideshow in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, about nomadic Americans who travel around in their R.V.’s, campers or cars, spending nights at Walmart parking lots, which apparently, welcome anyone with an R.V. or trailer. Photographer Nolan Conway has been taking pictures of Walmart’s ‘nomaic guests’ at several stores in…
Read Morechanging plans last minute…to surf in Ireland
(Video link here.) We WISH we were the kind of person who just switchrf gears on-a-dime, as surfer Nic von Rupp did to great reward. Having gotten a call about the extraordinary surf in Ireland — IRELAND!!— he canceled the flight to Hawaii he was about to get on, and flew to Ireland instead, into…
Read Morevirtual traveler: ‘a day in india’
A Day in India from The Perennial Plate on Vimeo. (Video link here.) Seeing this wonderful day in India makes us see our own day here a bit differently. (There’s a lot of seriously wonderful-looking food…
Read Morearomatherapy sniff box: diy or buy
Recently, we were enticed to buy a travel-size-two-fer of Les Floralies Sniff Boxes: one to encourage sleep, the other “focus”. Sniff boxes are little vials of “aroma beads” infused with various mixes of essential oils designed to assist well-being. We enjoyed Les Floralies‘ scents and charming packaging — and found that opening a sniff box did…
Read Moreflood improvisations in venice
Just about the time Hurricane Sandy was wreaking havoc on the United States’ east coast, heavy rains and high tides brought some of the worst flooding to Venice, Italy in years — almost 5 feet of water. Because the “acqua alta”, or high water, is a common yearly occurrance in Venice — and because Venice…
Read More2 minute vacation: a virtual trip to paris
It’s August and in real time the city of Paris is virtually deserted; everyone is away. But that doesn’t stop us from taking a virtual tour of Paris in our heads, and reveling in that magic city, and refreshing our overworked brains. Researchers are now saying downtime is ESSENTIAL to creativity (which we knew all…
Read Moregoogle street view as time machine + aide memoire
Usually we hear people talking about Google StreetView as a virtual armchair travel tool. You can “visit” all sorts of exotic places you’ve never been to without actually traveling to them, like Stonehenge and other UNESCO World Heritage sites. With the exception of artful manipulation like The Wilderness Downtown, for me these visits remain mostly…
Read Morelife lessons from the olive harvest
In last month’s Atlantic, Sara Jenkins tells the story of her family’s annual olive harvest in Tuscany, which is, ultimately about taking risks and learning as you go. The Jenkins family has a rich history in food–Sara runs Porchetta and Porsena in New York City, and her mother Nancy Harmon Jenkins is the author of six…
Read Morethe sistine chapel’s fab virtual tour at/for home
Charlie Allenson alerted us to the Vatican’s brilliant website that allows you to fly around the vast Sistine Chapel from your armchair. Using your mouse, you can click left/right/up/down…zoom in or out at astonishing Renaissance frescoes, including The Last Judgement widely believed to be Michelangelo’s. We are stunned at it’s beauty. As with just about everything…
Read Moresighting (india): ironing board computer table
Our intrepid friend Peggy Markel just arrived in India to prepare to lead one of her amazing culinary adventures, Tasting Royal Rajasthan. She sent us this amazing picture of an ironing board computer table and the story behind it: “We’re staying with a new friend, Rajiv Jani, friend of a friend. It is his rig,…
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