Mark Boyle

The Way Home: Tales From A Life Without Technology is Mark Boyle’s tale of his life with no running water, no car, no electricity or any of the things it powers: the internet, phone, washing machine, radio or light bulb. Just a wooden cabin, on a smallholding, by the edge of a stand of spruce.

It was 11pm when I checked my email for the last time and turned off my phone for what I hoped would be forever.

In this honest and lyrical account of a remarkable life without modern technology, Mark explores the hard won joys of building a home with his bare hands, learning to make fire, collecting water from the spring, foraging and fishing.

What he finds is an elemental life, one governed by the rhythms of the sun and seasons, where life and death dance in a primal landscape of blood, wood, muck, water, and fire – much the same life we have lived for most of our time on earth. Revisiting it brings a deep insight into what it means to be human at a time when the boundaries between man and machine are blurring.

“In a world more connected than ever before we have never been so disconnected. By shaking off technologies of modern man and stepping back in time, Boyle shows the hardships and beauty of living with the seasons. A thought-provoking read which encourages the reader to appreciate many of the things we take for granted and question the way we live in the modern world.” Megan Hine