Uprooted (http://uprooted.jessicareeder.com) is a sustainable travel project, a two-year journey around the globe to promote the dual practices of sustainability and volunteerism. It’s an example of ecologically aware and environmentally viable travel on a very low budget.

About Jessica Reeder

I’ve been a freelance writer/blogger/editor since 2004. In and around that experience I’ve packed plenty of copy and technical writing. Raised in Nevada City, California where hugging trees was part of my classroom curriculum, I consider myself a post-hippie: dedicated to sustaining and improving the condition of our planetary systems, but not particularly excited about drum circles. I take environmental responsibility as my personal responsibility, and hope to show others that a lifestyle of ecological awareness can also be a grand adventure.

About The Path

I left from the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2008, and launched this blog in November. By the end of 2009 I plan to have reached the East Coast of the United States, at which point I hope to have received the funding to travel further— i.e. around the globe, which I will traverse in 2010. After that, I have no set plan.

I also have no car, which forces me to practice sustainable travel. Any vehicle I’m in is automatically a carpool; I spend lots of time on the bus and the train, and lots of time walking. I travel every two weeks or so, and in between travel days I mostly stay put and work in sustainable agriculture or green building.

It’s hard to be completely, 100% sustainable, and I don’t claim to be perfect. But I think I’m doing a pretty good job, and enjoying the journey more than I expected to. In fact, so far I’m having the time of my life.

You can follow this trip via my Route Map if you like.

About You

Yep, you.

Anyone can do this, and by “anyone” I mean “you”. I’ll show you some of the places around the world where you can travel and live on a shoestring while having a positive effect on the world and its people. But all I can do is show you. Next time you travel, it’s up to you to decide how you will do it.

If you find yourself young, unemployed, and kinda aimless, may I recommend that, instead of tackling a job search in an uncertain economy, you take a year to volunteer? It’s just a thought, but chew on it.

Original Post

(because it started like this)
In August 2008 I pulled up my roots, as it were: sold or gave away most of my stuff, put the rest into a cargo trailer and a backpack. The trailer is parked in my dad’s yard, and the backpack goes with me.

Where are we going, me and my backpack? Why, everywhere we can! Ideally, around the world. I haven’t really got any money, but I’ve got high ideals– and I know I’m not alone. People everywhere are getting into this whole “green” thing: the radical notion that we ought to respect our planet’s natural balance. It’s a belief I was raised with (thanks Mom & Dad), and something I want to be directly involved in promoting. So, I’m going to travel from organic farm to intentional community to permaculture development, working for my room and board. And I’ll chronicle my experiences here.

This isn’t just a flight of fancy: I’m in it for keeps. The travels may end someday, but hopefully not before I’ve found a place I can settle into. And certainly not before I pick up the skills I’ll need to create my own sustainable, off-the-grid homestead. The best way to learn how to build and run my own place, is to work for the people who are doing it now. So, among the picturesque photos and happy hippie hoopla, the blog will likely contain some useful how-to pieces: keys to independence and self-sufficiency, stuff we can all benefit from.

That’s the plan, anyway. Read the blog to see what actually happens.

November 2008