April 27th: Another Rest Day

Day 196

We didn’t do squat. We attempted to do our writing for the blog but ended up doing our own “research.”

Cher, intrigued by Captain Phillips, began researching the reality of Somali pirates and I began looking into options for building our own house. Cher discovered that piracy is not just a couple of bandits, but a business involving entire communities. With financiers, hostage release negotiators, home contact businesses, which allow you to let your families know you are alive, and khat dealers, the psychoactive plant chewed by the pirates which supply the drug on loan, are dependent upon the income produced by the ransom.

I discovered that cob houses are best made for warm climates because the thermal mass transmits the cold from outside, requiring a constant source of radiant heat from inside to stay warm, i.e. a fire. And that traditional timber frame building, despite not having changed in the last 100 years is the best option financially and even environmentally, in the long run. Environmentally because of the amount of energy they can save after they are built. Stick houses are simple to build, easy to insulate, and are easier to resell after they are built. Here are two small houses that got my attention:

Rest days and procrastination. Sounds more like a work week and less like a world cyclng tour.