There are some things which will always remain foreign to our friends and family. Things which, no matter how many times explained, are alien and weird. Before leaving the States I had a conversation with a friend of mine. Much was discussed, including why, when and for how long we would be in Europe, one of the most important things was explained, but I don’t think it will ever be widely understood.

We wish to live in a world (or a part of the world) which understands us. Not ‘accepts us’, as if we were different, or wrong, and you tolerated us, but lived with us, truly understanding, and even sharing the same values as us.

Cars are not vital for survival. They are not essential for your well-being. They are not the key to success or the path to happiness. When you tell people that you don’t own a car, or you sold you car, and you now ride your bicycle everywhere, you are questioned as to how your life could possibly function. I’m not kidding. Some people only ask a couple questions, while others inquire for several minutes, inferring that we are so ‘lost’ and incorrect in our thinking.

I’m not going to preach the evils of automobiles, or even digress into the ‘alternative fuels’ which are being developed. It’s a mindset that every single person needs their own person vehicle, which will honestly do more, if changed, than any fuel being developed. The costs of vehicles, plus insurance, plus gas, plus repair and maintenance all add up. If you want to pay it, go ahead. The look, or reaction that I give you, is one of bewilderment, but you won’t notice it because you live in society where your decision is the norm.

Organic foods are a great way to have people give you that look like you’ve just told them you eat dirt. People do not care about the quality of their food. They just don’t. You can’t say that you do, when your purchasing and eating habits speak differently. Your beef is fed by potato chips and chocolate, how could that be remotely healthy? Your public water is full of drug particles which you can’t remove. But we’re the ‘weird’ ones for trying only to put natural substances into natural bodies.

You don’t have to get defensive though, because you’re part of the majority. No matter how different we are, you will never have to feel like an outsider. You won’t be referred to as hippie, or granola. There are those who do wish to make a statement, to go against the status quo, and they identify with that, but we are not. We want to live the way we want to, and it’s not a political statement, nor it is something irrational.

In Bellingham, we hung our clothes to dry on a line. We got funny looks. We even got asked to take down the line by our property management company because it ‘didn’t look pretty’. It saves energy. Plain and simple. You can look at it from an environmental point of view, as well as a practical point of view. Less energy means a smaller bill. I spend less money by just hanging up the clothes.

In Hamburg, you *must* hang up your clothes. Our apartment building does not have a dryer. It is the norm to hang up your clothes to dry. No strange looks, no nicknames, nothing. It’s practical. It’s not a political statement.

In Bellingham, bicycles were present, but they were a burden to the local populace on certain streets. It was also dangerous for the cyclists in the downtown area, with cars blindly pulling out of parking spaces. However, in Bellingham you couldn’t do what we did below.

In Hamburg, cyclists have their own portion of the sidewalk, so they need not compete with cars or pedestrians for space. Not to long ago we biked 16 kilometers to IKEA and back. We put all of our new houseware on our bicycles. Granted, it wasn’t a lot, but it was significant enough to require a good amount of twine. In Bellingham you would have received some interesting looks if you rode by with a bike like this. In Hamburg, it’s just how things are done.

I know this has been *quite* a long message, but I felt finally it was time. We left the States, expecting to find what we found. We are not granola, nor hippies, nor ‘green’ or whatever other nicknames you have for people who do not live the typical American lifestyle. What we did in Bellingham as ‘weird’ people, we do here, in Hamburg, as normal residents. Bicycles, organic food, fresh food (there are markets everywhere), and hanging your clothes to dry. This is why we moved, to live in a place which embraces, not just tolerates, our way of living.