I'm a recent PDC graduate who has the burning desire to practicing permaculture anywhere and everywhere, starting off with home. Currently, my main focus is on building soil and growing biomass on the residential property my family and I rent here in Okinawa, Japan.
I'm transitioning from an environmentally neutral/destructive job (helping sell mass produced furniture) to doing permaculture work. I am keen to get a system set up that is providing for the needs of my family. From there, I hope to spread permaculture to others through design consultation and perhaps education as well.
My family and I are in Okinawa indefinitely and may move somewhere else in a year or so, hopefully to settle down in order to establish a solid, functioning, PERMANENT home and permaculture system (my hopes, not necessarily my wife's hopes at the moment). Places we are considering are Hawaii, Australia, and perhaps back to the high desert of the American Southwest, where my heart still seems to be. Staying in Okinawa is also a possibility, as permaculture is certainly needed here and I'm sure that Okinawans would be quick to adopt more sustainable practices once aware of them.
I am very interested in doing aid work and am working hard to increase my skills via extensive reading as well as through hands-on work, so that I can have something of value to offer.
It would be great to network with permaculture people here!
I have studied natural building, reading many books and visiting buildings themselves (Cob, earthships, adobe houses, timber frame with clay/straw fill) and have taken a workshop on timber framing. I also have woodworking skills and am a graduate of a prefectural woodworking program here in Okinawa. I was really getting into building wooden surfboards, both hollow boards and alaias, but then the surf mat made itself known to me and I haven't made a wooden board since.
I've lived in several different parts of the world, including temperate, arid, tropical, and now sub-tropical climates. Too bad it took me 28 years to discover permaculture- I could have been studying all those different climates in depth all that time! Better late than never, I guess.
Thoughts on starting where you are, with what you have, despite doubts and apparent obstacles. Moving on from a steady "job".