Geek Ranch I

I have decided to turn the development of Geek Ranch I into a book here. All that means is that I can organize it into a structure so there is one place to start reading. I elected to put in in the Appropriate Technology book for lack of a better place.

The concept is to build a place where people who want to temporarily escape can live. Both temporary and escape need to be defined. This is not a public project. That is, it is being done with private money and we may elect to keep some aspects of the project private for any of a number of reasons. That said, there should be a lot of generic information that comes out along the way.

Defining Some Terms

Geek is not used in any particular sense here. The original idea was to serve computer people (geeks) but the concept can be generalized to anyone looking for that temporary excape.

Escape is really divided into two pieces. The primary is to get away from the day-to-day stuff people are typically stuck with. Maybe simplify your life is a better choice of words here. Basically, this means not having to clean the kitchen, do the laundry, mow the lawn, fix the car, go to the barber shop or any other distracting task.

The secondary part is the costs. For someone paying US$2000/mo for an apartment in a major U.S. city, there will be significant financial appeal. While rural U.S. locations offer an alternative, the costs of heating and/or cooling could significantly effect what is really desirable.

Temporary is subjective. We expect a minimum stay to be one month. We can easily see someone wanting to stay for a year or longer. It all depends on what they are doing. For example, someone writing a book might want to escape for a year to do their research and get the book completed.

Why Here?

An obvious question is why would someone want to escape to Estelí Nicaragua. The basic lanudry list looks like this:

• Desirable weather -- While some will find it a bit warm, others may find it a bit cool. But, with little Summer to Winter variation and no need to isolate yourself from "outside" you will likely find yourself more productive.
• Low costs -- With a low cost of living in this area, you are much more likely to be able to afford to have your escape. While there are no firm numbers yet, we are expecting the cost of a private cabana with maid service and all meals to be around US$500/month. That will include electricity, water and, hopefully, Internet connectivity. I say hopefully because while it is available we are looking for a better option that what is currently available. I am confident we will have it by the time the Geek Ranch is open for business.
• Friendly environment -- While the location is out of the way, it is very close to Estelí, a town that has proved to be very open and accepting to foreigners.

At this point I want to stop writing what looks like a commercial for a business that doesn't exist and get on to writing some generally useful information. This information page will get developed as the project itself developes.