Photo: lordsutch

I’m writing this article at a desk that’s in a state of barely controlled clutter. There’s a stack of books on my far left, piled nine high; a shorter but more rowdy collection of papers, magazines, and press releases to read on my immediate left; cords for two external hard drives snaking out of the laptop, and more books, notebooks, business cards, article clippings, two pairs of sunglasses, and an empty cup of coffee on my right.

This is no way to start a Monday.

It’s time to put some order to this mess. Streamline and simplify: it’s my project for this week.

If you’re in a similar situation, here are 5 ways you can simplify your life along with me:

1. Organize your finances once and for all.

In that pile of papers on my desk you’ll find bank statements, bills, notes to invoice clients, and brochures from the IRS telling me how I can be more responsible about taxes. I hate all the paper. And I have nowhere to file it all.

Let’s start organizing by getting our finances straight. I’m going electronic: paperless bank statements and bills and auto bill pay, for starters. I’m also going to move all my invoicing from paper to PayPal.

Photo: bandita

Finally, I’m going to take the online financial service Mint for a test drive. Mint is a free budgeting and money management site that lets you link all your accounts and track where and how you’re spending your money. Worried about privacy and safety? Mint is certified secure by VeriSign and TRUSTe.

Once a month, I’ll schedule a day to review all my finances online, making sure that bills paid automatically were correct and ensuring I’ve been paid by clients.

2. Get rid of clutter. No, really.

If there’s paper that’s been sitting on my desk for more than a week, I’ll be ruthless with it: Am I really going to read it? If not, it’s off to the recycle bin.

Once the desk is clear, I’ll tackle a few other trouble spots in my apartment: closets and drawers. If I haven’t worn a piece of clothing in a year, I’ll donate it to a local charity thrift shop. If I have lots of electronics I no longer use (and I do–chargers for defunct cell phones, spent batteries, a collection of USB cords), I’ll donate or recycle those, too.

3. Practice saying no, thanks.

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I ever received was from a taskmaster of a boss, who continually piled new projects on my plate (not surprisingly, these were never coupled with a pay raise). One day, after asking me to take on yet another new project, I hesitated. “You don’t have to say yes, you know,” she told me. “The only reason I keep asking you is because you’re organized, you’re professional, and you always say yes. But really, you should practice saying ‘No, thanks.’”

Maybe she was sorry she ever told me that, but it was a powerful lesson. And it’s just as useful in one’s social life as it is in one’s professional life. I’m going to practice saying “No, thanks” to requests of my time when the offer really doesn’t interest me.

4. Plan less.

Photo: Florian

Lots of simplify your life advice involves making lists about goals and priorities or designating blocks of time for scheduling activities that are important to you.

Personally, I think it’s a bunch of bunk.

When my schedule is packed tight with meetings, plans, and obligations, I feel pressured. I also feel guilty if I fail to uphold them. Do I have to go to the gym every day at 6 AM? Nope. I’ll get there when I get there, and I’ll feel a whole lot better about it.

5. Say good-bye to gimmicks.

My wallet and my organizer are thick with all types of “saver” cards, peddled to me by stores where I hardly, if ever, shop. It’s time to shred them and say good-bye. Even if I do shop at these stores, it’s not with enough frequency to accumulate their supposed benefits.

Community Connection:

What are your tips for simplifying life? Share your strategies in the comments below!
For more ideas about what do with all the clutter you’ve accumulated, be sure to check out “Random Things You Didn’t Know You Can Recycle,” one of the thousands of articles from Matador’s archives!

Photo: gregor_y

A lot of people believe parenthood is the end of the party. The needs of a tiny person can be overwhelming, and it often feels easier to just never leave the house. There’s all that stuff that babies need (or we’re told that babies need), and you hate the idea of traveling with more than just a backpack and a smile.

But there’s no need to let your new addition keep you home. Quite the contrary: babies are portable and often don’t need as much stuff as you’d think. We traveled with our 10-week old daughter Maggie, had a delightful time, and only took one additional piece of luggage–her car seat.

Here are five tips to get you ready for traveling again:

1. Leave the stroller and portable crib at home.

Photo: dougbelshaw

Strollers can be bulky, hard to navigate through crowds, they certainly don’t work on hikes, and some smaller attractions might have you check them at the door. And those pack-and-play cribs are a heavy, cumbersome joke.

Instead, wrap baby-wearing carriers–long cloth pieces that can be tied and configured however you need–let you pop your baby in and out whenever you happen upon a place you want to see. If you’re skilled at transitions, you can move them into the carrier without waking them from naps. And if you wear the baby in the correct position in a wrap or sling, you can discreetly sneak in a feeding.

As for sleeping, call ahead to see if your hotel/hostel/B&B might have a pop up crib you can borrow. We used an infant travel bed, which folded up and fit right into our main backpack. Co-sleeping is also a great way to save space, provided you can do so safely.

2. Plan to do a little laundry.

We use cloth diapers, which sound like a traveler’s nightmare until you realize how handy a clean cloth diaper can be. They take care of spit up, make great padding for fragile objects, and do double-duty in a first aid kit if you need to apply pressure.

That said, babies do leak an extraordinary amount of goo, and you should scope out the local laundry options. This is also a great way to meet and get to know locals–babies attract attention, and if you can use your baby’s friendly smiles to start a conversation, you can ask the local opinion on things that aren’t covered in the guide book.

3. Go slow and do your homework.

Photo: Kyle L.

We planned light daily itineraries with ample opportunities for hanging out in parks and feedings. We were pleasantly surprised when our daughter proved to be fairly hardy and we were able to pack more into the day. Respect your baby’s needs: if you have a rough baby day, you aren’t disappointed that you weren’t able to do all you wanted, and if you have a good baby day, you get to do more than you thought.

Check to see what your urgent care options are. And for nursing moms: read up on local delicacies and start to incorporate new foods into your diet before you leave. Vacation is a bad time to discover that a new dish bothers baby’s belly.

4. Use what you already have.

Got lightweight camping towels? Don’t bring extra spit up rags or blankets. A camp towel takes up little space and quickly washes up if it gets stained. And if your baby is overstimulated by the new locale and needs to be swaddled to calm down, they make an excellent large swaddling blanket–that camp towel brought us from five-alarm baby meltdown to seven blissful hours of sleep within five minutes.

Do you take a water bladder system in your backpack? Use it to store fresh water for bottles if you bottle-feed. You already take a day pack with you–repack it to serve as a diaper bag. Don’t buy into the idea that everything you use for baby has to be new, pastel, and sold by Babies ‘R Us–you’ll pack less and enjoy more.

5. Keep a journal.

Sharing the world beyond your hometown with your child is a major moment for new parents. Don’t let sleep deprivation keep you from remembering every moment.

Community Connection:

While the advice here is geared toward practical tips for traveling with an infant, Janice Stringer offers 10 considerations for traveling with toddlers and older kids. If you’re wondering why you should travel with your kids, Kate Sedgwick offers seven reasons.

I glare into red brake lights and sigh. Rubberneckers stare across the center divide at the solemn funeral procession.

Six days ago, in the middle of a spring afternoon in East Oakland, a wanted parolee resisting arrest opened fire on police, killing four cops. It’s being called the worst day in Oakland history, not an easily earned title in a city infamous for sideshows, motorcycle clubs and gangster rap.

The entire Oakland police force has been given the day off to attend the funeral, and the procession is shutting down the four eastbound lanes of 580.

Photo by anarchosyn

“Come on, people.” I inch along, annoyed as I stare at the rooftops and asthmatic-looking palm trees peeking over the freeway’s edge, determined not to gawk.

It’s easy to grow hardened in Oakland. Violence, crime and corruption seep into the everyday, a sort of infection that’s gotten into the blood of the place.

Every year you watch the number of homicides creep towards, and often above, 100; every year, you know a couple more people who’ve been robbed, assaulted, held at gunpoint.

I round a bend in the road. Now I slow, stop, stare. On one side, ceaselessly coming towards me, is a single-file stretch of motorcycles, cop cars and black-windowed vehicles. I realize I can’t see the end of it; it arches an overpass, keeps coming, a steady passing of grief.

On the other side of the divide, it looks something like that REM video. Cars have pulled over onto either shoulder, their drivers stepped out, standing either staring or with heads bowed. No one speaks. The rumbling sound of the passing procession is all I can hear.

Photo by madpai

Dust-covered day laborers have parked their pick-up truck next to a bluetoothed, Escalade-driving businessman. Tattooed arms hang out of a flat-black old Pontiac, while dread-locked hyphy kids stare from atop gleaming rims. They all wear similar looks, not of shock, but of sadness, a deep-down, well-buried pain.

It’s heartbreaking to love a city like Oakland, but looking at all these faces, I realize why I do. It’s the spirit of the place, diverse and alive and like home, that keeps me here, fiercely believing in the city’s goodness, its potential to be more.

While no one in city government has made any public statements about the incident (aside from stock comments from the mayor), and while marginalized segments of the community have been calling the gunman a revolutionary hero, the true Oakland is here, silent and grieving together on the interstate.

Photo: karindalziel

Groceries get around more than you might realize. From farm to fridge, odds are the pineapple in your fruit bowl or the milk in your cereal has racked up even more frequent flier miles than you have.

That’s a lot of fossil fuel burned on our food’s account.

The local food movement is out to change that. By only eating foods produced in their community, region or country, adherents, known as locavores, aim to reduce pollution and support ethical farming practices.

With more and more people defecting from supermarket to farmer’s market, a number of websites have appeared to help users find local food in their own communities.

Photo: acnatta

If you’re thinking of going local, these sites can help you make the switch:

1. LocalHarvest

The Google of local food sites, LocalHarvest seems to have everything. Want to find farmer’s markets or farm subscriptions near you? Just enter your ZIP code into the site’s search engine.

Looking for local food-inspired recipes? LocalHarvest has that too. The site even has its own online marketplace, where shoppers can buy locally-grown produce from the comfort of their own homes.

2. Sustainable Table

A collection of resources for conscientious eaters, Sustainable Table provides information on issues ranging from local food to genetically modified (GMO) crops. The site also provides links to a wide selection of U.S. and regional local food guides.

For a good laugh, check out the animated parody “The Meatrix,” in which a group of livestock don trench coats and sunglasses to do battle with Big Agribusiness.

3. FoodRoutes

Photo: Natalie Maynor

A local food website for the activist in you. FoodRoutes, a national non-profit with the goal of “reintroducing Americans to their food,” advocates sustainable farming practices and provides consumers with information on the local food movement.

The site is also home to Buy Fresh Buy Local, a locavore organization with chapters in 28 U.S. states.

4. Eat Well Guide

Eat Well Guide is a spiffy, simple search engine that allows residents of the U.S. and Canada to find organic and local food shops and restaurants in their area, and the site’s guide to organic butchers and locally-raised meats should be especially helpful to the carnivorous crowd. In addition, the site hosts The Green Fork, an award-winning local foods blog.

5. Foodzie

Foodzie is an online marketplace for small-batch and artisan foodstuffs that’s all about craft, offering such delicacies as pumpkin-spice granola from Maryland and smoked sea salt from Maine. Customers can search for products by either name or location produced. However, some vendors are more local food friendly than others, so die-hard locavores might want to double-check before making their final purchases.

Plus one for our European friends:

BigBarn

An interactive map of local food markets around Britain, BigBarn’s Google Maps-based interface is easy to use and packed with information. The site also includes a searchable recipe database, where visitors can learn to make dishes like apple pancakes and wine-braised beef.

Community Connection:

Matador’s archives are full of recommendations about how you can eat local while traveling. Check out Slow Food, Slow Travel: Italy and Munching Montana: A Road Trip Guide to Montana’s Most Unique Local Food just for starters.

Want to volunteer with an organization that places a strong emphasis on local food? Read our profile of the Culinary Corps.

Interested in a more philosophical take on locavorism? How Local Self-Reliance Will Overthrow the System and Do we need industrial fertilizers to weather the food crisis? might be right up your alley.

Photo: Marxchivist

Without concrete plans or much forethought, the two relied heavily on the kindness of strangers to help actualize their film. Since then, they have gathered over 300 hours of raw footage they aim to condense into a 50 minute length documentary film titled “The Recess Ends.”

“We went in with no plan, no goal, no vision,” documentary filmmaker Austin Chu said. “[Brian and I] thought, ‘Let’s just drive through every state. Let’s just observe. Let’s just listen. Let’s just be open to what people have to say.’ ”

As it turns out, having no plan was the best plan for them. From utilizing social networking sites and major media outlets (the brothers have been featured in CNN, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and many other local media stations), Austin and Brian followed the spontaneous trail of human connection and always found extremely giving hosts across the nation.

“In Bennington, Vermont, we didn’t know anyone,” Austin said. “We passed through our entire network [and found] a friend of a friend who knew someone who might be working there. Two hours later we got picked up and had a place to stay. People are really generous even when times are bad. Humans are good people.”

And ultimately, that’s the message the Chus hope to impart to audiences. Though family budgets are getting squeezed and employment is harder to retain and even harder to find, there is value in basic human kindness, generosity, understanding, and communication.

Photo: Kevin N. Murphy

“A lot of the stories we’ve come to see and capture [show our] values are so simple, and yet we’ve strayed so far away from it that it’s become enlightening,” Austin said. “This film will give people 50 minutes to reevaluate themselves and connect with others spiritually and emotionally. Instead of asking, ‘How can we fix the economy?’ let’s start asking , ‘How can we help each other?’ Let’s start communicating with one another.”

Open communication is the backbone of “The Recess Ends.” Through candid conversations and even open mic sessions in an elementary school, the footage showcases the resilience of the American people in the light of a down economy.

Deeply impressing is the creative spirit of the 5th and 6th graders in Queens, New York. When a local teacher who was using the brother’s travel across the nation to teach his students American geography gave his students the optional homework assignment of expressing in their own words how the recession was affecting their family, the kids came back to school the next day with poems, rap lyrics, and songs. Two are featured in the film’s trailer.

“We set a time to spend a full afternoon with the kids after school,” Austin said. “This next generation, they are growing up in something many of us didn’t grow up in. It’s not, ‘I don’t get my Xbox360,’ it’s ‘I don’t get to spend time with my mom anymore because she has to work two jobs.’ They use words like ‘foreclosure’, ‘mortgage’, ’stock market’, ‘recession’.”

Photo: hermmermferm

While it was sobering to witness 11 and 12 year olds speak on such topics, the two filmmakers nevertheless noticed an optimism pervasive throughout their footage. That optimism and the inherent kindness of the people they met along the way, fueled the brothers throughout their grueling five month shoot.

“We’re only hearing negative news, but in reality, we saw everything completely opposite,” Austin said. “The relationships we’ve made and the people we’ve met [are] priceless. You couldn’t pay us a million dollars not to do it. We feel rich.”

The film is set to premiere in San Francisco September of this year with final copies available to the public in October. Check out the website for more information, updates on the film, and weekly webisodes.

Official Trailer: The Recess Ends from B-Rilla on Vimeo.

Photo: srbyug

But what to do now? All you know is travel. Will you stay for a few weeks and fly out to your next adventure, or settle for months, even years, before making plans to backpack Kilimanjaro?

Photo: Daisy’s Little Cottage

You should be prepared for how such an extended stay at home will change you; all your experiences traveling up to the present have rewired your brain chemistry for the better, but it’s only a matter of time before you adapt to the comforts and trials of the domestic life.

How can you tell you’re really planning to stay home for a while?

1. You speak about your countrymen in the first person again.

No longer do you engage in conversations abroad with random foreign travelers and speak of the people with whom you share nationality in the third person, strangers detached from your days on the road.

You find yourself empathizing with their domestic struggles as you eat the same foods, enjoy the same entertainment, and live in the same country once more.

2. You actually try to get a regular job.

Photo: star5112

The horror, the horror.

You can’t make part-time hours at a hostel fulfill your needs for things like food, housing, clothes, and Internet.

Maybe you want some stability; maybe you feel this job will be the one to take, the one to make you realize that the 9-5 isn’t so bad… nahhhh.

3. You buy laundry detergent.

Gone are the days when you simply stop by friends or family for a visit and deposit your backpack next to the washing machine to ensure a speedy load. No, you’re planning to stay long enough to use all 60 loads’ worth of detergent. Feel grounded now?

4. Your Couchsurfing profile is confirmed at home.

Now a Couchsurfing host, a surfer no more.

5. Food from home is not considered a “treat.”

You don’t have wander into a McDonald’s in Agra to satisfy your hamburger craving. You indulge at first, then realize that this food is nothing special, available everywhere and in bulk.

6. Driving feels more like a chore than a release.

Granted, some of us drive even when we’re traveling abroad, but it’s often in a new environment in lighter circumstances; rarely would we be that concerned with getting into work by 9:00, fighting traffic, and stressing over “making good time.”

7. You don’t read as many travel stories.

Photo: theerin

It seemed like you had all the time in the world to read those books you let pile up. Now you’re once again surrounded by English bookstores, and all you want to do is get distracted by YouTube, Hulu, friends, parties, work, significant others. Reading takes a backseat when you stop stretching yourself.

8. You settle for less.

It’s the subtlest change of all to come to your attention. You start eating healthy; soon you’re consuming a few fast food lunches a week. You look for employment and settle for something that pays rather than a job you’d enjoy. You have friends, and don’t feel compelled to reach out of that circle to find new ones.

And, the worst of all… you understand why some people feel compelled not to travel. After all, everything you could possibly want is here: stability, good food, people who speak your language, familiarity. Why leave all that behind to see some distant corner of the world? Scary concept.

Community Connection:

How will you know when its time to finish up at home and go traveling? Turner Wright gives you 10 good reasons.

Why do we crave escape from the modern world? Steve Orchard explains.

Start planning your escape; Angie Teater offers her advice on ways to ditch the cubicle.

Photo: mynameisharsha

Why Cold-Brew?

Chilling hot coffee is a common way to make quick and easy iced coffee. Cold-brewing takes several hours. Why bother?

Cold-brewing extracts the flavor and caffeine of the coffee grounds, but less of the oils and acids. Without heat, you get great-tasting iced coffee without the bitterness. Try the two side-by-side sometime. You will be converted.

The Recipe

Fill a glass container with 6 tablespoons of ground coffee.

Add 2 cups filtered water.

Cover and let rest for 12 hours.

Strain the coffee through a filter.

Fill two glasses with ice and add coffee.

(Optional) Add cream and sugar to taste.

Develop Your Caffeine Habit

Photo: findfado

Twelve hours is a long time to wait for coffee. To make cold-brewed coffee regularly, you need to plan ahead.

First, get a French press. They are easy to use for brewing both hot and cold coffee. Each night, around dinnertime, fill the press with coffee grounds and filtered water.

It will be ready at breakfast.

After you try it a few times, experiment with the amount of coffee grounds and the timing. I like the portions in the recipe above, but you might want to adjust the strength. Also, some people prefer a 24 hour brewing. On the other hand, you can cut it down to as little as four hours – make it at breakfast and enjoy it with lunch.

Cold-brewing Tips

Photo: thebittenword.com

To get great coffee flavor, buy good whole-bean coffees. Look for fair trade. Make sure it was roasted recently.

Coarse grind your coffee. The mesh screen on the French press will do a better job of filtering.

Add a little cream and sugar if you want, but try it plain first. It is smooth and probably won’t need as much extra stuff added as you are used to with hot coffee.

For variety, add a bit of honey or cinnamon to the coffee grounds. Or try adding some peppermint loose leaf tea. Flavored syrups will work as well.

Use filtered water.

If you drink iced coffee all day, you won’t be able to make them fast enough with this recipe. Consider purchasing the largest French press you can find. Multiply the recipe to make large batches. You can store the extra coffee in your refrigerator. It will keep for days and it won’t get that nasty old coffee taste.

Community Connection:

Travelers looking to make coffee on the road should check out Matador’s Coffee Gear for Coffee Fanatics. Also, don’t forget how your purchases affect the lives of coffee producers. Read more at Fair Trade for Beginners.

Feature Photo: Matt Perreault;Photo: Sasha W.

Truer words couldn’t be spoken nor could they have more aptly applied to three unforgettable months living in Costa Rica.

It was December 15, 2008. I had just survived a one month excursion through South America, where I watched my diet regress from jugs of Chilean wine and slabs of Argentinian beef to train station sink water and sleeves of Ritz crackers.

Financially speaking, it was time to make a move.

My buddy and I set our sights on Costa Rica, which promised good surf and job availability. But the tourist-friendly bars, restaurants, and grocery stores we had assured ourselves would be waiting with open arms greeted us with a “No, gracias.” Bank accounts were dwindling. Running short of options, we mulled our future one evening over necessary beers and exotic fruit in hostel hammocks.

Together with my best friend and newly appointed business partner, I was able to create a business that was both profitable and delicious, sans any former sales training or MBA, in seven basic steps.

1. Assess your situation.

Understanding that jobs weren’t going to simply fall into our laps, a makeshift supply and demand economic session got underway as we battled evening mosquitoes. The beaches were still filled with free-spending American tourists; it was just a matter of finding a commodity that would actually turn a profit.

Shoveling another ripe four cent banana down, up came the hovering light bulb over my skull. Noting how the beaches were packed with foreigners constantly harassed by 8 year old children selling ceramic pots, local stoners pretending to offer surf lessons, and old women with cheap shell necklaces, I realized, “We could be those people!”

Brainstorming and high fives ensued throughout the night.

Photo: hiddenloop

2. Realize that timing is everything.

Deciding that our new company would manufacture, market, and sell frozen bananas in various flavors, the next step was opening a factory within our hostel’s walls. What we eventually developed was a finely tuned two-man banana assembly line that would make Chiquita salivate.

We conducted bi-weekly raids upon our local supermercado, collecting about 30 bananas, whatever meltable chocolate was in stock, skewers, and our choice for that week’s toppings. We soon learned the importance of daily visits to the store as a banana’s green-to-yellow-to-brown lifespan seems to accelerate under fluorescent lighting.

Photo courtesy of the author

Assessing that late morning and early evening were prime selling hours, our schedules shifted accordingly. Our well-stocked banana cooler didn’t exactly appeal to the drunken masses when we set up outside a popular bar later at night. Plus, we had to battle with cigarette, gum, and sausage vendors.

3. Name it right.

The catchiness and cheesiness of alliteration works wonders; thus, the Banana Brigade and Potassium Patrol were formed. Using Sharpie markers, we emblazoned our Styrofoam sales cooler with our company name along with fake banana websites and freshly created gmail accounts displaying how legitimate this operation truly was. Our ever evolving menu kept consumer interest high as “chocolate” developed to “Mounds bar,” which later developed to the mysterious “experimental” selection.

4. Play the part.

Knowing that even a cool product with a catchy name would not simply sell itself, we realized that an amicable, crafty nature would be a useful asset. Fellow gringos always welcomed a familiar face and simply striking up a chat about the recession, the weather, or the Red Sox promised future sales.

When my feet were swollen from stingray attacks or mosquito infection I found the silver lining and bandaged and limped as pitifully into the hearts of lounging retired women as one could. Vacationing South Americans responded to our heavily accented cries of “CHOCOBANANOS” after we exuded our bilingual charm. What we lacked in sales experience, we made up with in friendly conversation.

5. Emphasize quality over quantity.

As founder of your own business, pride in your product is essential. After initially trying to cut a few corners and market our aged brown bananas as “double chocolate,” we soon agreed we were jeopardizing the integrity of Banana Brigade.

As our entire livable income depended on customer satisfaction and our advertising was not much more than word of mouth, we harnessed our culinary skills to create the optimal look and taste. Once satisfied, customers returned to our frozen cooler to purchase treats they could make themselves at a fraction of the cost.

6. Remember: Sex sells.

Photo: nyki m

The female creature should never be underestimated. Especially if you have two beautiful, free-spirited Spaniards willing to forego their bikini tops and stroll the sand as temporary saleswomen. This also helped to alleviate the awkwardness of offering grown men our long, sweet, frozen delights.

7. Enjoy your work.

Running my own business turned out to be the best job I’ve ever held. I worked my own hours, accepted a hangover as an excuse for a sick day, never struggled my way through a sales meeting, and literally ate our losses.

While self-employed, you find joy and satisfaction in what you do, which is the best and possibly only reason to hold a job. The recession seems to be nothing more than an excuse by many to stifle their creative selves and play it safe and dull. I’d even suggest that starting a business in a beautiful get-away locale like Costa Rica is more promising than any. Besides the sheer beauty you experience daily, a profit can always be turned in a location where people are showing up fully prepared to spend recklessly and be as lazy as entirely possible.

Step away from that cubicle, fellow dreamer; the world awaits your genius. The risk is worth the reward and the reward has never tasted so sweet.

Community Connection:

Read other inspiring stories from people who have escaped the cubicle! Want some advice about ditching the cubicle. Matador editor Julie Schwietert tells you how to get rid of your 9-to-5 job, and Dana Ranill offers advice for convincing your boss to let you telecommute.

Feature photo by CrowdedGarage. Photo above by joey.parsons.

Erase

Purchase a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (or your store’s knockoff). These sponges are the greatest invention since the stripper pole.

Cut the sponge into 2-inch strips (you’ll get more use out of them, since using a whole sponge dirties it fast), apply a little bit of water and rub like crazy on anything vinyl. You’ll be shocked at how much dirt you can remove, especially from the sneaker’s lower sides.

Wash

It’s time to dunk these Chucks in the washing machine. Always take the laces off first, as they’re prone to turning machinery into mayhem. Remember to pack the machine with a whole load of clothes, because otherwise the noise from the machine will wake every baby within a two mile radius.

Photo by Tom Gates.

Add detergent and if you’ve got some, fabric softener. If you’re cleaning white Cons, I’ve also had success adding them to the “whites” wash load using some bleach.

Dry

When washed, you’ll want to dry them in the sun. I never put them in the dryer, mostly because heat doesn’t seem like a good thing to do with cheaply glued sneakers. Also, the noise is just ungodly.

Open the tongues and imagine the fragrance from all of the smelly bar-nights disappearing into the atmosphere. If you’ve worn the to a concert or festival recently, it also helps to pray. When half-dry, I often stick a Bounce inside for good measure.

Surgery

Arm yourself with some Crazy Glue. The first thing to go with Chuck Taylors is a piece of molding in near the toes. Nobody knows why – it’s one of the great mysteries of the world.

Five Months And Still Kicking. Photo by Tom Gates.

Get in there and do a little bit of surgery, if necessary. I take the cotton off a q-tip to apply it and use as little glue as possible, so that it won’t splatter onto the outside of the shoe and look unsightly. There’s also a product called “Shoe Gum Repair” that can help out if things have gone horribly wrong.

Sole

Chuck Taylors are VW Bug’s of sneakers, efficient but not meant to last. After a couple of polishes, you’ll might have to add a new insole. Heel pads can play an important role, as the area at the back of the sneaker seems to rot quickly, as if it’s been attacked by a sneaker-eating virus.

Lace

The last step is to add new laces. Remember to buy a size appropriate for 14 eyelets, usually 114cm or so.

Photo by Tom Gates.

The cool thing is that with a little expense and lots of love, a pair of Chucks can easily last a year. We’d love to hear your tips for shoe/clothes resurrection in the replies!