The Value of Roughing It (Guest Blogged by Brian)

Our first two weeks in California have been fun and exciting, but they have not been easy. Yes, we have enjoyed fun day trips here and there, and we're very much appreciating the mild, sunny climate. But while waiting for the movers to bring our possessions over from snowy Boston, we've had to do without some of the basics for a while: basics like furniture, warm blankets, and television. Even our internet access has been intermittent. While these hardships have been trying, I think they have brought us closer together as a family and will make us stronger people individually.

I am not above "roughing it" or "camping out." I am a man's man, and I own flannel shirts. I think the fact that we have to drive two miles to Starbucks every morning for our lattes is exhibit A that we can harness our wild environment.

But this week we have been sleeping on airbeds; sitting on milk crates with plates in our laps for our meals; relaxing on a set of blankets spread out on the hardwood floor that we refer to as "the couch" (in times of destitution it is important to maintain one's aptitude for irony); cooking with rudimentary facilities and limited supplies (we have only two pots and one small frying pan); dining out at places that don't have tablecloths or stemware; and trying to watch movies on a laptop screen.

But what has buoyed us throughout all of this is the knowledge that there are people in the world who are far worse off than we have been. In some third-world countries whole families must live in a room the size of a hamper. They are forced to eat nothing but the tamarinds and coconuts they find on the beaches. Instead of bifocals, they all have monocles and can only see out of one eye at a time. And their drinking water comes directly from sewage pipes, where they must hold out their demitasse cups to be filled and sipped, filled and sipped, filled and sipped. It's a monotonous and dangerous life in such places (I know this firsthand, because I saw it on television once).

Our time in this desolation has left me pensive moments to reflect on my family, and I have concluded that if we focus on the misfortune of others, it helps us to better appreciate the things that we already have. But if we spend too much time focusing on them, we won't have time to think about all the cool stuff we could be buying.

And I think that is a lesson for all of us.