Take a trip back to 1900 with adventure travel writer Logan Ward as he shares his family’s experiences of living a year without twentieth century conveniences. Desiring a simpler life and wanting to raise their two- year-old son in a rural setting, he and his wife, Heather, decided to move from New York City to Swoope in 2000.
     Living in 1900 meant no car, no electricity, no phone, no running water, no trash service--none of the amenities we take for granted today. It also meant no computer or typewriter. Logan used a pencil and a paper to write his memoirs.
     What was it like to live without hot running water or store bought toiletries like soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, or soft cotton towels? Logan describes his first “splash bath” in his memoir, See You in a Hundred Years. “One problem is the gummy residue the soap leaves in the hair, the same scum that rings bathtubs. From Heather’s first bath, it drives her crazy. She tries castile soap, but that’s like using toothpaste. The bar of Old Fashioned Pine Tar Soap is like, well, pine tar. Even glycerin soap leaves the hair sticky. She tries conditioning her hair with olive oil, but finds she needs soap to remove the oil. A white vinegar rinse improves the luster but leaves
her smelling like pickles.”
     Just what was available in 1900? A wood stove for cooking meant that Logan had to learn how to split wood to fuel it and Heather had to learn how to bake bread and pies in it. They learned how to milk goats and to write with a steel nib and ink. Logan writes, “It’s hard messy work dipping and scribbling with the steel nib holder--Heather and I each have callouses near the tips of our middle fingers and when you’re finished, you must blot the letter and leave it to dry. Same with the envelope. The whole process can take half the morning. But the writing is rewarding and the thrill of peering into the mailbox is worth the effort.”
     The Wards also had lots of company. It was six months before someone didn’t show up at least once a day and only about twelve days out of the entire year were without visitors. Logan Ward has written travel stories for National Geographic Adventure, the New York Times, and other publications. He also writes regularly about science and architecture and is a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics, Cottage Living, Coastal Living, New Old House and Southern Accents. Logan, Heather, their son Luther and daughter Eliot, now live in Staunton, Virginia.