This site is dedicated to my husband and best friend, who taught me to go to the edge and not be afraid to step off.
You showed me what I am capable of and I am a better person for it. Thank you. I love you and miss you every day.

Introduction
From the harried city dweller, doing the 9 to 5, who is just plain fed up with the stress to parents concerned with the world their kids are going to inherit, we all have something in common if you found your way here. My name is Suzanne and I'll be your traveling companion while you are here at my website. Hopefully, the Guide will serve as a resource for you to use as you travel along your path.

I have resurrected this Guide, at least in spirit, from its original incarnation from the 1990's, and created this website. I started the original "Back to Basics: A Guide for the Urban Pioneer" while living in a very isolated place in the Pacific Northwest, as a way for me to reach out to others who shared my interest in living a simpler, more natural and organic lifestyle. It began with a small Internet chat group and eventually grew to include hundreds of participants. Part on-line discussion group, part published newsletter, the "Guide" was a way for me to help myself and others who were searching for a more satisfying, spiritual way of living. A diverse group of individuals from every corner of the world, we had members ranging from an elderly organic cabbage farmer in Japan to a young mother living on a sheep station in the Austrailian outback trying to learn to make her baby's food from vegetables she grew. It was an amazing group and I learned many things from these wonderful people.

Simple living and quality of life will be frequent topics here, since I feel eminently qualified to talk on both subjects. Almost 2 decades ago, I was hip deep in corporate America. Five days a week I made a 30 mile commute, ONE WAY, into the city. I then spent 10 hours a day in one of the most stressful jobs in America. (Recent study now puts it in the top 5.)

As an adult, my personal successes were always overshadowed by the feeling that something in my life just wasn't right. With every triumph, there seemed to be a trial, like my life was trying to constantly stay in balance. For everything I gained, I gave something up and many times it felt like part of my soul. It took me a long time to see that these lessons were trying to steer me toward the path I walk today.

What makes me so sure I can "guide" anyone?

For years, I didn't get enough sleep at night and suffered from stress related illnesses. I missed so many of my kids' milestone events that I lost count. My marriage crumbled and my family seemed to be dissolving right in front of me. Yet I participated in this chaos for almost 25 years, until one day some sort of cosmic light came on and I realized that everything negative in my life was directly related to the way that I was living. I had to let it go and move on.

And so, armed with that revelation, I quit my job, packed my kid (the one still at home at the time) into my car and drove 3500 miles to the left coast, basically leaving my old life behind. At that point I embarked on the journey that I have been on for the last 17 years, one that has led me to my present life.

Was that crazy? You betcha. Was it scary? You can't imagine. Was it the right thing to do? At the time, for me, absolutely. Not everybody has to take such extreme steps to find their way to a simpler, more meaningful life. For some, it might be as simple as organizing the kitchen cupboards, for others it will take a major life alteration. Finding the place you want to be and then having the courage to take that first step onto a new path is the hardest part of the journey.

So, consider this your "handbook". It is called "Guide for the Urban Pioneer" for a reason. Hopefully, if simpler and more natural ways of living are what you are seeking in your life, you will find info and resources here to help you on your quest.

Oh, and just for the record, my site was titled "Back to Basics" long before the plethora of sites with that name popped up in the nearly 20 years since its inception. It was one of the originals.