Urban Camping: A Testament To Living Without A Vehicle

Peter and Andrea TombrowskiPlant Press

4 Stars

Don’t pass by this book because it doesn’t look stylized or glossy enough. In fact if you are seeking an alternative life experience to the one you now lead, leaving the hustle and bustle behind for thoughtful movement and thoughtful living, then I encourage you to seek this book out. Don’t take my word for it? Then perhaps you will take David Suzuki’s’ as he stated ‘Urban Camping sounds like a very important model for other people.’

Urban Camping is a great term created by husband and wife co-authors Andrea and Peter Tombrowski for their self-published book of the same name. What Urban Camping means is living the elements of a camping lifestyle amidst urban sprawl. We can’t live as campers amidst wooded areas of Banff, but most of us have the capability of walking within a city, living efficiently within a city and treating life within a city like camping – as an adventure! At least, so says the Tombrowskis’.

With the recent release of the Tombrowski’s ‘how to’ documentary Going To Costco and Ikea Without A Car their precursor to the subject matter in print form - Urban Camping is worth taking another look at. A plethora of books are on the market about environmental destruction, but few examine the rudimentary elements needed on a human level to achieve those changes. Urban Camping reminds me of the statement ‘one persons actions can change the world.’ Being socially conscious on an individual level and keeping ones carbon footprint small seemed to be on the Tombrowski’s mind a few years before it became a national crisis.

Since 1998 the Tombrowski’s have lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada without a car. They’ve saved themselves on car insurance, leasing, upkeep, maintenance, buying high, selling low and the nightmare of gas prices! From a practical level, the Tombrowski’s have saved themselves thousands of dollars and innumerable situations of stress by getting rid of what the masses would consider an imperative aspect of human survival. This one action alone changed the way they lived, how they planned their days and even their lives. It was perhaps a small act to sell a car, but it was a significant act to how they live.

Urban Camping is a practical ‘how to’ book, it is a straight forward and efficient explanation of how the Tombrowski’s lives have changed since the selling of their vehicle. It is an example of simple changes having significant ramifications and it is a non-preachy way of showing readers exactly what is required in making those changes. Surprisingly enough the task seems to have made the Tombrowski’s more thoughtful, better planners, haphazardly greater environmentalists and a great reference for others to make similar changes. Even David Suzuki would agree with that.

2005

159 Pages

ISBN: 0-9735649-1-1

$25.00