The best parts of America

Part of my job is networking.  So with some regularity someone sends me a request like “i am riding across the US (visiting each state in the lower 48) on a solar powered trike that i have constructed, what are all the cool communities i should stop at?”

Reasonable people would simply flee from such a broad question.  There are too many answers requiring too much explanation and detail.  Of course i am writing this to show off how unreasonable i am.

Dearest Alexander:

Were i doing what you are doing, the places i would stop include:

Ganas: Staten Island NY urban intentional community with very advanced personal process (and very public) and some green aspects, besides sharing.

Twin Oaks/Acorn/LEF communities in Louisa Virginia, the last of which is a post fossil fuel start up (i call these dark green ecovillages)

Possibility Alliance: NE Missouri is also a dark green eco-village, with a super radical internal gifting economy and all volunteer labor system.

the NEMO communities (North East Missouri)  Dancing Rabbit, Sandhill Farm, Red Earth Farm all within a few miles of each other. Three different flavors of very low ecological impact intentional communities.

East Wind in the Ozarks of Missouri. This anarcho-democratic community is income sharing and runs its own businesses. It is a bit like the wild wild west of the Egalitarian secular communities movement-  low work obligation, very high respect for personal freedom, high levels of personal drama.

Emma Goldman Finishing School in Seattle. Urban activist income sharing community.

All of these can be contacted thru some front door via the internet, except the Possibility Alliance, which is actually (for my money) the most important place on this list. They can be reached at 660-332-4094

There are a couple of other pieces of advice i would give you after a brief scan of your website.  The first is you should look at couchsurfing.com which will likely help with free housing en route. And the second is you should investigate attitudes and approaches to begging.  You will need to finance/support this trip from the people you meet, mostly having them open their places to you.  “I am going to save the world, let me stay on your couch” turns out to be a turn off.  “I have funny stories to tell and will clean your dishes” will likely get you far better results.

Good luck, be brilliant.

Paxus at Twin Oaks
6 Tripoli Fall 2KXI