Living Off-Grid in Wales


Book Description

Living Off-Grid in Wales addresses broad debates about the possibility of planning for a sustainable future, by an examination of rural development off the grid. Contrasting Wales’s policy on One Planet Development – a planning policy that encourages living off-grid – with a more DIY approach to living off-grid, the book presents case studies from eco-villages that imagine off-grid very differently. The text pivots on the problematic question that if planning is about the spatial reproduction of society, then why should it encourage autonomy from societal systems. The ethnographic case studies in the book comprise an ethnography of rural Wales, and the focus on eco-villages brings a fresh perspective to the anthropological literature on community by considering off-grid as a radical form of social assemblage.




Living Off-Grid in Wales


Book Description

It is the first detailed ethnography of living off grid in an ecovillage. It is a useful detailed case study and readers can draw comparisons with other things they know about. It examines a relatively new and still innovative Welsh planning policy OPD (the policy) has even had some attention from the World Economic Forum. The book is detailed on the policy so potentially useful for policy makers.




The Last American Man


Book Description

_____________ 'It is almost impossible not to fall under the spell of Eustace Conway ... his accomplishments, his joy and vigor, seem almost miraculous' - New York Times Review of Books 'Gilbert takes a bright-eyed bead on Eustace, hitting him square with a witty modernist appraisal of folkloric American masculinity' - The Times 'Conversational, enthusiastic, funny and sharp, the energy of The Last American Man never ebbs' - New Statesman _____________ A fascinating, intimate portrait of an endlessly complicated man: a visionary, a narcissist, a brilliant but flawed modern hero At the age of seventeen, Eustace Conway ditched the comforts of his suburban existence to escape to the wild. Away from the crushing disapproval of his father, he lived alone in a teepee in the mountains. Everything he needed he built, grew or killed. He made his clothes from deer he killed and skinned before using their sinew as sewing thread. But he didn't stop there. In the years that followed, he stopped at nothing in pursuit of bigger, bolder challenges. He travelled the Mississippi in a handmade wooden canoe; he walked the two-thousand-mile Appalachian Trail; he hiked across the German Alps in trainers; he scaled cliffs in New Zealand. One Christmas, he finished dinner with his family and promptly upped and left - to ride his horse across America. From South Carolina to the Pacific, with his little brother in tow, they dodged cars on the highways, ate road kill and slept on the hard ground. Now, more than twenty years on, Eustace is still in the mountains, residing in a thousand-acre forest where he teaches survival skills and attempts to instil in people a deeper appreciation of nature. But over time he has had to reconcile his ambitious dreams with the sobering realities of modernity. Told with Elizabeth Gilbert's trademark wit and spirit, The Last American Man is an unforgettable adventure story of an irrepressible life lived to the extreme. The Last American Man is a New York Times Notable Book and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist.




How to Live Off-Grid


Book Description

Off-grid: a place, building or person without mains water or power. Static or mobile - in a house or a hut, a boat or a camper van - to live off-grid is all about loosending the ties that bind us to teh fmailiar world of commuting, mortgages, no time and fast food, in order to rediscover our place in the natural world. Complete with camper van, Nick sets off around the UK to find off-grid heaven and meet people who are living the dream. Along the way he runs into backpackers and businessmen, radical hermits and right-wing survivalists - and plenty of ordinary working-parent families too. Sincere but irreverent, this is Nick's guide to avoiding pitfalls, to finding solutions (and some brilliant gadgets) as he strives to perfect the skills of this practical, freewheeling kind of self-sufficiency. 'Timely and highly readable' Sunday Telegraph ' Nick Rosen has caught the zeitgeist.' The Times




Off Grid Life


Book Description

Bestselling Van Life author Foster Huntington shares his experiences - as well as others - living by his own rules in this aspirational book filled with awe-inspiring photographs of unique homes in unexpected places. After spending three years on the road living in a camper van, Foster Huntington continued his unconventional lifestyle by building a two-story treehouse. Foster, like many others, are finding freedom, tranquility, and adventure in living off the grid in unconventional homes. Perfect for fans of Van Life and Cabin Porn and those who yearn for a simpler existence, Off Grid Life showcases unique dwellings from all around the world. Organized into sections like tree houses, tiny houses, shipping containers, yurts, boathouses, barns, vans, and more, the 250 aspirational photographs feature enviable settings like stunning beaches, dramatic mountains and picturesque forests. Also included are images of fully designed interiors with kitchens and sleeping quarters as well as interviews with solo dwellers, couples, and families who are living lives off the beaten path.




The Rough Guide to Wales: Travel Guide eBook


Book Description

This Wales guidebook is perfect for independent travellers planning a longer trip. It features all of the must-see sights and a wide range of off-the-beaten-track places. It also provides detailed practical information on preparing for a trip and what to do on the ground. And this Wales travel guidebook is printed on paper from responsible sources, and verified to meet the FSC’s strict environmental and social standards. This Wales guidebook covers: Cardiff and southeast Wales, Southwest Wales, The Brecon Beacons and Powys, The Cambrian coast, The Dee Valley and around, Snowdonia and the Llŷn, The north coast and Anglesey. Inside this Wales travel book, you’ll find: A wide range of sights – Rough Guides experts have hand-picked places for travellers with different needs and desires: off-the-beaten-track adventures, family activities or chilled-out breaks Itinerary examples – created for different time frames or types of trip Practical information – how to get to Wales, all about public transport, food and drink, shopping, travelling with children, sports and outdoor activities, tips for travellers with disabilities and more Author picks and things not to miss in Wales – Conwy, Cadair Idris, The Gower Peninsula, Adventure Parc Snowdonia, Wacky Llanwrtyd Wells, Ffestiniog Railway, St Davids Cathedral, Mawddach Trail, Carreg Cennen Castle, Pembrokeshire Coast Path, Snowdon, Tryfan, Edward I's Iron Ring, Cardiff, Brecon Beacons, Male Voice Choirs, Wye Valley, Industrial Heritage, Hay-on-Wye, Abergavenny's Food, Zip-wire Madness, Aberglasney Insider recommendations – tips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money, and find the best local spots When to go to Wales – high season, low season, climate information and festivals Where to go – a clear introduction to Wales with key places and a handy overview Extensive coverage of regions, places and experiences – regional highlights, sights and places for different types of travellers, with experiences matching different needs Places to eat, drink and stay – hand-picked restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels Practical info at each site – hours of operation, websites, transit tips, charges Colour-coded mapping – with keys and legends listing sites categorised as highlights, eating, accommodation, shopping, drinking and nightlife Background information for connoisseurs – history, culture, art, architecture, film, books, religion, diversity Essential Welsh dictionary and glossary of local terms Fully updated post-COVID-19 The guide provides a comprehensive and rich selection of places to see and things to do in Wales, as well as great planning tools. It’s the perfect companion, both ahead of your trip and on the ground.




How to Get Land for Free


Book Description

What if I told you there was a way you could acquire land, completely for free? This book is a detailed explanation of how to claim land through the process of adverse possession. It is designed to take you from a mild interest in the subject to being a fully fledged owner of your own piece of land, which you acquired free of charge. It will describe how to claim unregistered, unowned or abandoned land as your own, legally. Every morsel of information you may need for every little step of your journey has been compiled into a manual that will hold your hand through the entire process of finding a suitable piece of land for your needs, placing your claim, getting it in your name legally, obtaining planning permission if necessary, using it, living on it and includes solutions to all the obstacles along the way. The book details examples of my own experience of claiming land in the UK, but the information is relevant to the adverse possession laws in many other countries, including Ireland, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This book will change your life. Good luck to all in your search for freedom through the acquisition of free property and land!




Off the Grid


Book Description

Off-grid isn’t a state of mind. It isn’t about someone being out of touch, about a place that is hard to get to, or about a weekend spent offline. Off-grid is the property of a building (generally a home but sometimes even a whole town) that is disconnected from the electricity and the natural gas grid. To live off-grid, therefore, means having to radically re-invent domestic life as we know it, and this is what this book is about: individuals and families who have chosen to live in that dramatically innovative, but also quite old, way of life. This ethnography explores the day-to-day lives of people in each of Canada’s provinces and territories living off the grid. Vannini and Taggart demonstrate how a variety of people, all with different environmental constraints, live away from contemporary civilization. The authors also raise important questions about our social future and whether off-grid living creates an environmentally and culturally sustainable lifestyle practice. These homes are experimental labs for our collective future, an intimate look into unusual contemporary domestic lives, and a call to the rest of us leading ordinary lives to examine what we take for granted. This book is ideal for courses on the environment and sustainability as well as introduction to sociology and introduction to cultural anthropology courses.




The Palgrave Handbook of the Anthropology of Technology


Book Description

This Handbook offers an overview of the thriving and diverse field of anthropological studies of technology. It features 39 original chapters, each reviewing the state of the art of current research and enlivening the field of study through ethnographic analysis of human-technology interfaces, forms of social organisation, technological practices and/or systems of belief and meaning in different parts of the world. The Handbook is organised around some of the most important characteristics of anthropological studies of technology today: the diverse knowledge practices that technologies involve and on which they depend; the communities, collectives, and categories that emerge around technologies; anthropology’s contribution to proliferating debates on ethics, values, and morality in relation to technology; and infrastructures that highlight how all technologies are embedded in broader political economies and socio-historical processes that shape and often reinforce inequality and discrimination while also generating diversity. All chapters share a commitment to human experiences, embodiments, practices, and materialities in the daily lives of those people and institutions involved in the development, manufacturing, deployment, and/or use of particular technologies. Chapters 11 and 31 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.




English Unlimited Advanced B Combo with 2 DVD-ROMs


Book Description

English Unlimited is a six-level (A1 to C1) goals-based course for adults. Centred on purposeful, real-life objectives, it prepares learners to use English independently for global communication. Through universal topics and activities, and a focus on intercultural competence as a 'fifth skill', this international coursebook helps learners become more sensitive, more effective communicators. Teaching natural, dependable language, and with CEFR goals at its core, it brings real life into the classroom and gives learners the skills and strategies to communicate confidently outside it. The 'Explore' sections provide the extra ingredients for enhancing communicative ability, from further development of speaking skills to independent learning strategies. The English Unlimited Advanced B Combo with DVD-ROM includes Coursebook units 7 to 12 as well as the e-Portfolio and Self-Study DVD-ROM.