Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
This week, we hear from Jake DaSilva, Minimalist Outdoorsman. I’m happy he’s shared his story with us, as it’s so different than any we’ve had in the past—illustrating how minimalism can apply to a wide spectrum of lifestyles and interests.
Jake writes:
Even though I grew up rural and poor I never wanted for material items; rather I wanted time and experiences. This value has governed my life and fortified my minimalism. And while most people talk of their path to minimalism I want to describe my present in minimalism.
I am an avid outdoorsman. I like fishing, canoeing, foraging, shooting guns, and occasionally going hunting – for waterfowl mostly. These activities are generally considered equipment-intensive but I have found ways to minimize the equipment and still take thrill in the experience and – in the case of fishing and hunting – still take my harvests.
Let me clear up a few things. I don’t fish or hunt for trophies. I fish and hunt for delicious, wild, organic, free-flying or free-swimming foods.
As a minimalist angler I keep two fishing poles. One is rigged up for light action. The other is rigged up for medium action. I fish with worms only – panfish worms (wax worms, meal worms, butter worms) and night crawlers. Fishing with live bait means I don’t have a tackle box full of tackle. My tackle box has small hooks, some split-shot sinkers, a few bobbers, a stringer, hemostats, and not much else. I carry a small cooler with ice for dispatching my catch humanely.
The fish I pursue are sunfish and catfish. Panfish worms catch the sunnies and nightcrawlers catch the cats. These two fish have generous limits, if any, and are indigenous to most bodies of water here in Ohio, “The Heart of It All.”
I fish from the bank in boots or waders. I fish from my canoe too.
I also hunt from my canoe, which is a solo 12 footer. I have a tiny fleet of 6 mallard and 8 Canada goose decoys. I use natural cover or small pop-up blind. Waders, a camo coat, a PFD, and a 12 gauge shotgun round out my gear – along with a couple calls on lanyard around my neck.
When I go clay shooting, I use an inexpensive but sturdy pump shotgun – no tweed vests or expensive cigars in my mouth and certainly no $5,000 shotgun. That just wouldn’t be minimalist.
For foraging I simply use a step ladder. The feral mulberries and apples of Ohio awaken the senses and delight the tummy.
By having just the bare essentials of these outdoor hobbies allows me to more often enjoy them. Rather than working my days away to buy more gear or tinkering my nights away on gadgets I can be out on the water reeling in big bluegill for my butter masala or harvesting a goose for stew in the crock pot or simply enjoying a spring day shooting sporting clays with a friend.
As for my minimalist street cred: I own about 246 things at the time of this writing. While I don’t think that counting every possession is a system that works for everyone, it works for me. I can’t simply play jazz with my minimalism. I need the numbers. I share an 1100 square foot house with two housemates. 175 square feet are my personal space – bathroom and bedroom. Living room, garage, etc. are shared spaces, obviously. I have a rescue dog; his name is Harlan. He is allowed 10 possessions of his own.
I apply minimalism to virtually every aspect of my life. I do not own a computer. I do not own any books. I do not own, take, or appear in any photographs (except my driver’s license and my passport). I shave my head. I own only dark colored clothing to minimize laundry-related tasks. My car is small, I am transitioning to a car-lite lifestyle, and I have a five year plan to go car-free. I have two pieces of art on my wall, both by local artists I know personally. My diet is low on the food chain – mostly beans, rice, oats, fruits and veggies from my garden, nature’s garden, or from the nearest grocery store. I obviously supplement this with fish and game. I also practice mindfulness meditation – the ultimate in minimalist hobbies!
While vanquishing my vanity is something I strive to do each day, I wanted to take this opportunity to present myself as an example of an unconventional minimalist. My hope being that adding to the diversity of the ranks of known minimalists will eventually lead to an overall increase in the ranks of minimalists at large.
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
Fascinating, as always.
I’d like to pick up on the pet aspect.
For the 25 years I was a pony owner, I had a saddle and bridle, two saddle blankets (so I could wash one) and a halter with a rope. Since he was allowed to grow a winter coat, I really only used one brush to clean him. And a hoof pick. Rags that I washed regularly came in handy for wiping eyes. In the summer he wore ear/eye protection that I crocheted and sewed one time. When he got old, he had one rug for harsh winter weather.
Stables accumulate a LOT of dust from hay, straw and feed, yet around me my fellow riders kept buying new this and that in different styles and materials and had overflowing lockers stuffed with random equipment and all kinds of grubby rugs lying around in dusty corners…
I think I replaced the brush once. Of course, there was some stable equipment (broom, 2 pitchforks, water hose, bucket).
The same applies to having a dog – he needs a collar, a lead, and some identification. A water bowl and a couple of toys (or just sticks and stones!), maybe a dedicated towel and a blanket to sleep on. Lots of love and attention. Have you seen what the dog industry sells?!!
Inspiring, Jake. Thanks for your well detailed description of natural minimalist living.
Very inspiring! We have very little in common except for the pursuit of minimalism but your description of how you live is giving me fresh ideas in how to apply living with less. Thank you!
Amazing – I’m the first of the responders who likens you to Thoreau!!!
I’m still trying to read his “Walden”.
I didn’t have a computer for a long time too – but I live in a big city with lots of internet cafés – how do you manage? How do you even know about this site?
And what interests me is – you live a pretty healthy life, but what about health insurance? I’ve got MS and no amount of healthy living can prevent / cure this (well it does help of course to care for your body as much as you can) but my medication does keep me stable.
Fabulous story though. I especially liked you just having enough to fish and not going overboard with the latest gadgets, it’s very hard to resist boy/girl toys ;-)
Mrs Brady,
I believe a healthy lifestyle combined with spiritual practices is the key for most/all illness. Also energy healing can produce miracles (if you find someone who is very powerful or teach yourself).
In case you haven’t seen these:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9943/15-ways-to-help-treat-ms-naturally.html
http://msfreeforall.com
I am a big advocate of keeping your health insurance! I have insurance through my employer. I am sorry to hear about your MS. We need a more socially just form of healthcare in the US. I don’t think Obamacare is adequate.
a fascinating take on minimalism – thanks for sharing!
I loved this story. So refreshing to read a different perspective on living a minimalist life.
Impressive! I enjoyed reading your story, Jake!
Good for you, Jake. Sounds like a great outdoor life to me.
I’ve never hunted but did own a canoe and Jon boat in my teen years and fished a great deal – both priceless memories.
Even if you don’t catch a thing the time with nature you get is well worth the time invested.
Wow, what an interesting read! It is rare to find people who live this way, but it is inspiring to see some people still live in a natural and earthy way.
LOVE the inclusion of a non-traditional minimalist. We live in the woods, hunt/fish, and have a small garden. New to minimalism, we find that other rural-living folk are especially prone to the “just in case” mind-set. It’s nice to read of a fellow tribe member.
Very, very interesting piece. Really appreciate the point of view of an “unconventional minimalist.”
Most fascinating. Intrigued particularly by the no-photographs policy. Definitely one of the more unusual minimalist lifestyles featured on the blog.
Please forgive me if this thought has been already covered on this site in other places…Mrs Brady Old Lady,and Jake, I finally did get through ‘Walden’, and this young minimalist Jake DOES remind me of a modern Thoreau. My favorite quote from his book, and perhaps the most quoted reminds me of what Jake and a lot of the folks on here are trying to live by..(not the least our Miss Minimalist herself who also has mentioned Thoreau,in her book )
Here goes:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”
Very inspiring — I enjoyed your piece. So many hobbyists (of all types) seem more interested in buying new toys than in actually pursuing the hobby. You know . . . the gigantic fabric stash and no finished quilts, the latest state-of-the-art golf clubs with no time to golf (because of work to pay for all the stuff!). Your story actually reminds me of my grandfather, who fished and also hunted deer and waterfowl. He wasn’t interested in the fancy accouterments, but in getting the game to supplement his family’s diet. Good for you, Jake!
I like the idea of not needing stuff for hobbies. I was at the gym today and noticed how much stuff people bring. Yes, if you need to take a shower and change, then you need that stuff but my word, one woman had completely taken over the counter. Also, the amount of workout gear- earbuds, phones, arm bands, water bottles (one guy had 2- one for water, one for some drink), gloves, etc. It was insane. I had my water bottle and towel. I took in the sites and sounds as I went along on the treadmill. Simple.
Not needing stuff for a hobby! I fully support that when at all possible. Very cool!
Wow! that’s pretty extreme… and I like it. I’ve always had a flare for simplicity and minimalism. When I buy something I like to know that it’ll last forever or that I can fix it. Lately, being kind of fed up with the quality of modern items, I find myself purchasing more vintage things for way less and another nice thing is that buying vintage is extremely efficient form of recycling. For example I recently purchased a new rucksack after my “old” backpack started coming undone. I paid nearly $200 for the thing and it barely lasted 6 months… maybe I’m tough on gear but so far my “new” rucksack is phenomenal and it’s 70 years old and a fraction of the price… real leather and canvass construction with an external frame, they don’t make them like this anymore. It lends well to my minimalist lifestyle. It doesn’t have a million pockets all over the place and it looks like it belongs in an Indiana Jones movie. One less thing I have to worry about at the end of the day is what it’s all about. Here’s a link if you’re interested in my rucksack. http://www.swedishrucksack.com/m39-swedish-rucksack.html
We all have different styles. What we have in common is that we don’t need all the stuff to fill up our lives. My husband is a bird watcher. He has books and binoculars and a small telescope he sets up by a pond. Some people have fancy cameras and lots of other equipment.
I enjoyed this piece. I do jigsaw puzzles. I own 4. I buy used puzzles and do them twice then pass them on. In general, I get hobby equipment second hand or free. We live on small pensions and Social Security. We could live on less if we had to.
I get craft supplies free or second hand. A friend sets up displays of greeting cards and gives me colored cardboard. Another friend gave me a big package of brand new elastic. I take what I can use and pass on the rest. I make beads out of rolled up ad papers. I make a lot of collages and junk jewelry out of discards. If I find one article to save in a magazine,I copy the article and give the magazine away.