Recently I came to the realization that I have become an accidental regionalist. Interests, jobs, relationships, addresses, practices, I have frequently changed on a regular basis, but I have never wandered very far for very long from the latitude/longitude where I was born. As if the realm previously inhabited by the Native American tribes who spoke the Algonquin language has been analogous to the good-enough-marriage or the good-enough-career for me.My vicinity affords many good walks; and though for so many years
I have walked almost every day, and sometimes for several days
together, I have not yet exhausted them. An absolutely new
prospect is a great happiness, and I can still get this any
afternoon. Two or three hours' walking will carry me to as
strange a country as I expect ever to see. A single farmhouse
which I had not seen before is sometimes as good as the dominions
of the King of Dahomey. There is in fact a sort of harmony
discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a
circle of ten miles' radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk,
and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never
become quite familiar to you.
Henry David Thoreau-"Walking"
My current lifestyle finds me heading out to different locations almost every day for work/project, social-life, or recreational reasons. Generally, I start out on foot or bike, then bus, then sometimes train, Lyft or passenger in friend's car. My daily radius is usually only around 5 miles, but my monthly radius is more like 200 miles, or fairly close to the limits of half a day car ride. I was somewhat surprised to learn that the Native Americans and early French explorers and fur trappers of my region, regularly traveled a wider radius than this by foot and canoe. IOW, they spent much more time traveling than the average modern American, but within a radius naturally contracted by means.
A friend of mine told me he would build me a tiny boat I can live on for $8000, and I have been researching inflatable kayaks/lightweight paddles that can fit in a back-pack. I am now thinking that if I am more interested in exploring natural regions in my region, hike/kayak/camp would be a better option for extremely slow travel than bike/camp.
Unfortunately, one thing that will inhibit my ability to engage in extremely slow travel is the fact that the location of my permaculture project is surrounded by a high crime district. On two different occasions recently a woman bicyclist was kidnapped, robbed, and raped by thugs driving a van, along stretches of pavement I sometimes traveled. So, I am considering the notion of getting a concealed carry permit to deal with humans, even though I think spray is adequate protection from bears.
ETA: My question for the group being have you considered some variation on extremely slow travel as a way to reduce either expenses or energy consumption while enjoying post-retirement adventures?