Thirty minutes ago I was panicked. After a $400 doctor’s visit, a few days in a campground and some unexpected expenses (like a couple of tanks of gas after getting lost in the Virginia countryside - at $55 a tank) I was down, literally, to about $8 until Friday. Not as bad as it has been in the past, and yes, there are millions worse off, but it made me nervous. I felt scared, worried (the gas gauge on the van doesn’t work. I have to estimate my mileage and …

How much “house” do we need really? And what matters more - if it’s comfortable? Or if it is impressive? I have a “house” on wheels, about 72 square feet, less than that to move around in. I have friends who have 2,000 and 3,000 square foot homes, but who spend 90% of their time in the 300 square feet of their media room watching television. Physically we don’t need a lot of space. Psychologically, we do.
Space is how we define ourselves as a culture. The more of it …

Ever since the TED video came out I’ve had a lot of conversations with people about what they think homelessness really is. For those who have always lived in a house or apartment, living in a car or van DEFINITELY qualifies as homeless. But for those who have lived on the streets, sleeping under bushes or in shelters I wasn’t really homeless. I had a car.
Being intelligent, having resources, friends who are not homeless or being white makes one not homeless apparently. When I did start looking for help from …

Risk. People ask me about it all the time. I think back to this guy in the photo. He wore a pair of “toe shoes” to the first party at TED Global…odd shoes. Shoes that COULD have been laughed at…indeed were laughed at by some. But lots of people (including me) also thought they were pretty cool….odd, but cool. A couple of women later said, “I loved those shoes but I’d be afraid to wear them anywhere but the beach.” Their fear, it turned out, was looking silly. They were …