I live in a very small house that I’m in the process of building. I don’t know what I’m doing, but somehow it’s standing up, there is hot water, and the lights turn on when I flip a switch. Thank god for Youtube and How-To books. Here is a picture of me writing the thing you’re reading right now. The time/space continuum has been breached!
Right now, you’re reading what I’m writing RIGHT NOW.
It’s about an hour and a half from the office, which sucks, but I only go in twice a week, so that doesn’t suck. It’s 15 minutes away from a whole bunch of good waves, which also doesn’t suck. And while it’s not off-the-grid (living off-the-grid is surprisingly difficult, unless you want to live in a tent and drink from puddles), it’s a bit further off the beaten path than living in an apartment building. There’s nothing around and coyotes make more noise than vehicles at night. It’s could be worse. It could be worse because LA proper is just down the PCH, and there are something like 4 million people living there that have to drive hours on congested freeways just to get off the cement.
Asher Pacey is a guy you’ve heard of. You’ve heard of him because of his surfing, though, not because of how he lives his life. But Asher’s got a pretty unique outlook on life–growing up without electricity and learning how to live off the land probably had a hand in that outlook. The little things we all take for granted (those magical things we call light switches, for one) aren’t so little when you’ve spent years without them. And although a lot of people live in areas where “going out” means hitting a bar instead of exploring nature, it’s still possible to find that magic–one just has to go a little farther. “The probability of finding a little bit of magic is still high, if you go out and continue searching,” says Pacey. He’s spent his life off the beaten path, and although there may be a few more weeds on it, it’s way more interesting.
Matt Kleiner, the filmmaker, decided to take a closer look at Asher Pacey’s life. And what he created is an insight into the mind of a person who lives life a little differently from the rest of us.
