A Week Without Luxury

An experiment in pioneer living.

The August issue of Toronto Life magazine features an alarmingly bright, red cover. The bold title Keep Calm and Read On does little to soothe and reassure the reader. The main feature article is written by Jason McBride who chronicles his week-long experiment in living without modern luxuries like electricity, lattes and flush toilets. The lengthy article is a compelling read dotted with poetic insights and wit. Jason is the perfect candidate for such an experiment as a model representative of the average North American who can scarcely imagine life without the internet yet during his week of simplicity he spends the dark evenings playing Boggle with his girlfriend by candlelight.

The delicious irony appears on the page facing the end of Jason’s article with an ad for a luxury resort in Muskoka followed a few pages later with a feature on a posh finishing school for wannabe socialites. Sometimes I’m certain we are doomed.

You might be wondering why an MEC clad tree-hugger like me would bother reading a magazine like Toronto Life. I don’t normally read it, however Jason interviewed me for his article so I had a keen interest in checking it out. Especially since I wanted to ensure I didn’t come across as a complete idiot and say something really awkward and embarrassing. As far as I can tell, Jason did an exemplary job making sense of my endless rambling while we were sitting on a patio a few months ago.

If you get the chance, I highly recommend reading his article. It’s not often those of us with dirt under our nails get to rub elbows with the Prada purse-toting elite (or the wannabes). If you don't live in the Toronto area the magazine has a website that opens up it's articles on the web after the issue has been out for a while. A great way to save trees as well. http://www.torontolife.com/magazine/2009/9/