Simple Life "Friluftsliv"

About the Book

Simple Life describes a rich outdoor life with simple means, a life experiment where we explore what has value in life, during our free time. Simple Life portrays an outdoor life with strong historical roots, one that holds promise for everyone. The inspiration for Simple Life by Roger Isberg, came from twenty-five years of experience working with traditional outdoor life ("friluftsliv") at Sjoviks Folk College in Sweden, where Roger was founder and mentor of the Simple Life - Leadership - Handcraft course, a two-year college program.

Simple Life is a translation and revised edition of Isberg's book, Fard, which was published in Sweden in 1991 and reprinted three times. Simple Life shows us a way to bring about a meeting with nature and between people. Such a meeting can demonstrate how a modern culture may rediscover harmony with itself and with nature.

Roger Isberg explains how experiences in nature can change our daily life. Meeting nature on it's own terms, we gain experiential knowledge of nature and people that can lead us toward a deep ecological view and lifestyle. The book is divided into three sections, which cover the concept of experiential knowledge, characteristics of nature and people, and people meeting nature. It also includes a history of the friluftsliv tradition in Scandinavia as well as of outdoor life in North America.

Further information about courses in simple life can be obtained by contacting Roger Isberg at Brookside School of Simple Life, PO Box 128, Jackson, NH, 03846, or r.isberg@verizon.net.

About the Author

In 1981, Roger and a fellow outdoor leader started a college program for adults in outdoor leadership at Sjoviks Folk College. This leadership training course soon became a two-year program, where Roger continued to teach until moving to the United States in 2004.

During his years at Sjovik, Roger co-authored three books with fellow teacher, Bjorn Tordsson: FriluftsLIV (Nature LIFE), Ute (Outdoors), and Mera Ute (More Outdoors). All three were popular handbooks on outdoor life, selling more than 30,000 copies each.

As he continued to develop his ideas at Sjovik, Roger wrote two more books, Fard (Journey), and Enkelt Friluftsliv (Simple Outdoor Life), the first dealing with the philosophy of friluftsliv, and the second being a book about traditional backcountry skills, focusing on simple alternatives to expensive, high-tech gear and recreation. Simple Life is the first of Isberg's books to be translated to English.

Roger has extensive experience guiding in many forms of simple life, including hiking, climbing, skiing, yearround camping, long-distance ice skating, canoeing and kayaking, traditional crafts and folk music. He initiated the practice of hand-crafting the clothing and equipment needed for simple life at Sjoviks Folk College, including building wood and canvas canoes, and living spaces such as yurts, tipis, and canvas tents.

Roger has also performed throughout Sweden as a clown and magician. He is a member of the Gothenburg Magic Club, Stockholm's Magical Brothers, Argaladai (a Swedish outdoor life organization), and Nordic Forum for Friluftsliv.

Sarah Isberg, the translator, graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Environmental Education. She pursued graduate studies in friluftsliv and guiding for two years at the Norwegian Mountain School (Norges Hogfjellskolen). She founded Brookside School for Nature Life, in Jackson, New Hampshire in 1983, guiding backcountry journeys with kids. She is an accomplished skier and musician, mother of four children, and is fluent in Norwegian and Swedish. She is the author of The Norwegian Nature Life Approach, published in the Journal of Experiential Education in 1983