Cabin Fever: Forum Q&A UKC

I decided to post onto the UK Climbing website, as it is well known for long debates, casual conversations and popular threads. People are guaranteed to give at least some form of opinion, and everyone goes on this website to log climbs, and to talk about climbing.

This was my topic:

The Simple Life?


I would like to ask an open ended question that will help with some research I am collecting for my degree. I hope that it sparks some interesting answers, whether they are positive or negative, opinion is what I am looking for:

Firstly I want to gather opinions on simplistic living, getting back to basics and the idea of living in a self sufficient way. This could mean to a small extent such as keeping a greenhouse, or going the whole hog and having as little outgoings as possible. 

Is this way of life practiced by anyone and why? Is this an idea any of you have that is possibly romanticised? Is this an idea any of you have ever had and for what reasons?

Who likes cabins? Or rustic buildings that can be found in sparsely populated areas (national parks, wilderness) to either live in, or to use as a recreational getaway. Does anyone like the idea of going back to basics to stay in a cabin for a limited amount of time for a lifestyle change or for a of change perspective on life? Does anyone enjoy being in the outdoors (you all should I expect if you're on this forum!), and the idea of staying in a cosy cabin with a logfire (romanticising) and living in a rustic way? Who has ever stayed in a cabin/owns a cabin?! 

There is a small trend at the moment for the idea of getting away and into the outdoors, cooking being with friends staying cabins and living in a traditional way. This is by way of publication such as Kinfolk, Gather journal, Cereal, and websites such as Cabin Porn, and the Adventure Journal has a page dedicated to 'Weekend Getaway' with just loads of cabins displayed. 

Ta! Aplologies for the length of the post...

 Some replies from the UKC forum: