Meeting "Uprooted" Eco-Travel Writer Jessica Reeder
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 8:40AM 
Yesterday was an exciting day because Mark and I got to meet up with Jessica "The Hun" Reeder, who is traveling the world learning about sustainability, organic farming, green building, and ecological innovation. Jennifer Palmer, a contributing editor over at Reality Sandwich connected me to Jessica through the magic of the internets so I knew she's be stopping in Chicago on her way to the east coast. We met up for coffee (or in my case, iced-peppermint tea) at one of my favorite spots, Mercury Cafe on Chicago Avenue.
Jessica describes herself as "a post-hippie: dedicated to sustaining and improving the condition of our planetary systems, but not particularly excited about drum circles" (my kind of girl!) She left the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2008, and has been sharing her adventures on her blog Uprooted since November. Her goal is two-fold, she hopes to help educate her readers about traveling in a cheap and eco-friendly way while learning the skills she'll need to eventually create her own sustainable, off-the-grid homestead. That means she's couch surfing and using ride-shares, traveling from organic farm to intentional community to permaculture development and working for her room and board.
What I love about Jessica is that she didn't sit around waiting for the exact right moment to travel, or write, or make her dreams come true. Here's a note from her blog,
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.
Sounds like excellent advice to me! Follow Jessica's adventure on her blog Uprooted, check out her videos on Vimeo and follow her on Twitter @JessicaReeder.
-Dorothee
Reader Comments (2)
First of all thanks for sharing your trip with us. It always seems nice, meeting old friends after long time and share a wonderful time. Murree Hotels
Thank you for sharing your trip with us Jessica. I hope you will still continue with your mission being concern with our environment!