111
September 11, 1998

Adventures in the Simple Life

I thought this was supposed to be easy. Tales from the simple life.

A note for extremely hardcore This American Life fans: Eustace's story about crossing the country with his brother was originally supposed to be in the same show as Sarah Vowell's Trail of Tears story about crossing the country with her sister, retracing the route of the Cherokee genocide. The show would've had to have been nearly two hours long.

Prologue

When Eustace Conway was 17, he abandoned his normal life and decided to move to the woods. (6 minutes)
Act One

Act One

Two brothers set out with a friend to cross America on horseback. They take a tape recorder with them to make a kind of audio journal of their trip. What they find, who they meet, and what they learn in this experiment in 19th-century travel. (35 minutes)

Visit the Turtle Island Preserve website; Eustace Conway, one of the riders in this show, is the director of this educational/retreat center in the Appalachian Mountains.

Act Two

Act Two

When Larry leaves his old life behind and joins a monastery, Ethan struggles to understand his best friend's decision. (17 minutes)