There's a radical honesty in the way Boyle presents what he's doing: he doesn't pretend to have a fully coherent, publicity-friendly philosophy that works as a manifesto for everyone; he's doing what feels right to him according to his own personal definitions and experience. I liked this very much and found it enormously refreshing, as it's like talking to a real person, who hasn't tried to perfect everything to present to the world, someone not academic in mindset, whom you wouldn't usually meet as the narrator of a creative non-fiction book. (I had thought that, in the book he might use clear definitions of types of technology, perhaps based around the 1970s appropriate tech movement, but instead he rejects the define-your-terms scholarliness for the same man-in-the-street, or man-in-the-field haphazard usage from his columns.) It feels like hearing someone from the offline, non-media world. (As it should, after he spent so much time offline to write the thing!) From one perspective, the book could have done with more editing to polish the style and reduce repetition; on the other hand, its unvarnished, home-made feel is part of the appeal. This is a book about trying to live, as far as is possible and practicable, without modern technology - including no internet. Yet every time I've tried to write about it, the review is partly about … things people say on the internet. But the internet is the main venue for environmental and political commentary now, so maybe that's not as ridiculous as it seems. I found the title through a list of puctre books for older children and I kind of spoiled the ending... But some people here did the same! u.u There are lots of characters from different stories in the book, e.g. the big, bad wolf, the woodcutter, gigantic giant. Can you think of other books that they appear in? As tough as his new life was, it was good for his mental health as he had none of the stresses of modern day life. He rose with the sun, and life around the small holding was dictated by the weather and the seasons. Some days there were never enough hours in the day to do all the things that he needed to do. On other days he had the luxury of time to pursue projects like a homemade hot tub. His partner, Kirsty is there as almost an afterthought in the text.

Way Home - Reading Australia

Besides, I would love to do a similar project if I were able. (If my health had allowed I would have gone on some kind of historical reconstruction project years ago: similar tech but less time and more costumes.) And I've given up various aspects of modern tech for a while at different times, so I've got an idea what it's like: (several of these are only really possible if spending most of your time at home, and probably living alone)

The above quotation is so true. And simple. The older we get the more it resonates. Our past comes up to catch us and we see the error of our ways. Mark Boyle has produced a fine and interesting textbook as well as a memoir of life worth living. I am sure there will be more.

On the way home - Books Alive! Read Aloud book for kids On the way home - Books Alive! Read Aloud book for kids

Have students complete a ‘missing persons’ poster on the main character, Shane. As detectives on this case, students should aim to be as detailed as possible considering all the details and clues presented via his appearance, his speech and characteristics. Posters could then be displayed around the class and a ‘Chief Detective’ could come visit the classroom to see which posters would be most helpful for this case. Boyle is a little vague on some matters such as health - whether that's because he's taken note of earlier criticism of this aspect of his writing and/or is soft-pedalling (in contrast with, for example, chapter 13 in his earlier book The Moneyless Man) or just being a hippie. Frankly, I can't say I'm in the least bothered because I and other adult readers of a book like this know where to find detailed information, and it's clear from the first that The Way Home is a memoir written with awareness of subjectivity and doesn't pretend to be a definitive guide to off-grid life. He seems like someone who's probably good with individual interactions, but isn't suited to formulating large-scale policies (an exhausting enterprise, anyway). Boyle was going to have to grow and catch his own food, collect his own firewood, build and repair anything that he needed around the home and collecting water from the stream. Washing is done by hand, he catches his own food and lives frugally off the land. It was a simple life, but tough as everything that you do means that you get to live another day. He had almost no money or and his only income was from his writing. Even that was problematic as all correspondence was going to be by letter so arranging anything could take several days and more often weeks. He had consciously made the decision to completely avoid all forms of technology and was a totally committed eco-warrior. A total of about 4 and a half years, on and off, living in flats or houses that had no [working] TV aerial, some of this before the existence of BBC iPlayer.Invite the individual responsible for overseeing social justice/fundraising/charity in your school to come into your classroom for a visit. Students could ask them questions about the work that they do, what support the school offers to those outside their community and why this is important to do. Alternatively, students could research on the internet what organisations are out there that support homeless people and present this in a table. Organisation name One has the sense in reading this work that the author does find many of these things, most essentially how his life is intimately connected with the world around him, whether it is the stand of spruce nearby, or the pike he holds in his hand after catching it, that gives up its life to sustain his. He eyes his growing woodpile and food put up for the winter and realizes that these things represent his ability to live into another growing season. He explores the complexities of simplicity, and the complexities we avoid in our technologically simplified lives. This book won't be for everyone, but I certainly found it fascinating. What he did was quite extreme and sounded like bloody hard work, but he successfully (for the most part) managed to keep himself fed, clothed and healthy with absolutely minimal involvement in the industrial capitalist economy. He communicated exclusively by mail, travelled to most places on foot or by bike, and didn't use any power tools as he grew his own food, or hunted or fished for it. He describes the changes he sees around him as rural Ireland is increasingly affected by the pressures of economic growth and technological change, and his efforts to return to a more integrated and simple life.

The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology

Also, I don’t know what the use is of cutting down trees (beech and birch) just to warm up your place (no word on how he controls wood from disease, termite) and reading paper-books, instead of ebooks because the tree loss is huge in both cases and makes his work against nature as opposed to pro-nature. Or whether he plants new trees each spring (he planted new trees in 2013 before moving in the farmhouse).The book is peppered with the history of an Irish island community decimated by globalization and industrialization, clearly a community Boyle views as some sort of lost Eden. The lessons are clear: We live in an inhuman age. We make money to buy the things that keep us lonely, dependent, and addicted. We have very few skills and we long for authentic, immediate closeness, but instead find hollow substitutes in online forums. I think he's right - I know he is.

KS2 - Way Home by Gregory Rogers - 4 Week Writing Unit - Tes

My wife and I have a Nature’s Head composting toilet in our Oliver travel trailer. And because we live in the trailer full-time the toilet requires at the very least bi-monthly maintenance. When that day comes I remove the two screws holding the toilet down to the floor and carry the entire contraption outside. I generally just dump the contents in varying parts of our forest floor to allow the coco coir to continue decomposing the accumulated mass. After wiping down the toilet I refill it with coco-coir, adding two one-gallon bags of expanded fresh coco coir to the toilet, mixing in some pine pellets and a bit of natural bug-deterrent. The exercise is not something I detest nor is it gross and disgusting. It makes me feel closer to the earth and more responsible for its stewardship. Flushing gallons of fresh water down the drain every day is something we no longer participate in. It's thought provoking tale about homelessness, preconceptions and society's priorities. I recommend this book for readers nine and older. A reader's world should involve more than sports stats, wizard schools and wimpy kids. Way home follows a young boy called Shane and a stray cat that Shane has decided to home. During their journey home, Shane and the cat experience many dangerous encounters such as a gang of lads and a dog. Throughout this book, Shane is always telling the cat that they are close to home so the reader is left guessing as to where Shane lives. This provides children with the opportunity to imagine where Shane lives and what it looks like. When we find out where Shane lives, it is on the streets covered with newspapers and Shane's drawings of cats. Although Shane has very little, he wants to give everything he can to make sure that the cat has everything that he needs.This book is told through blank verse and would be very useful in when looking at poetry in KS2. It contains a lot of repetitive language as well as the use of great metaphors for amazing imagery. Really loved the illustrations of this book as they really helped to tell the story and set the scene.