The Simple Life

OK. The economy is lousy. The big bosses at my company are thinking about selling us, breaking us up, or just plain closing. The whole industry is in the middle of a free fall off of a cliff and that's only part of the whole economy in a mess. In reality, everybody I know could be out of a job tomorrow.

Now, I'm not too worried for myself. I've been a good saver and will survive, but I can't help thinking about what's next. In order to make it more fun and not so much worry, I've decided to start playing with ideas of where I could move and retire to a "simple life". Sometimes, I won't be able to tell if its someplace where I could live cheaply, but anyplace that is quiet and simple, where one could live without the trappings of modern life qualifies. Of course, cheap is more true to the concept.

I also invite suggestions and pictures of interesting places from others. I haven't figured out how to have comments post pictures, but feel free to email me a small picture and words for a "simple place". I'll try to post it in your name. Please limit pictures to roughly 600 x 800 and jpeg format.


So for now, here is my first suggestion. On the west coast of Scotland, down miles and miles of one lane roads, I found this lovely little cottage with a view out to the Inner Hebrides. The cottage is near Loch Mudle on the way to Kilchoan. The little dirt road that passes in front of the cottage goes to the little village of Ockle, but if you can't find that, look for the penninsula north and east of the Isle of Mull. The islands in the distance are the Isle of Eigg in the foreground and Isle of Rum touching the clouds in the background.

A magical place, Scotland.