Permanent Weekend: Nature, Leisure, And Rural Gentrification, By John Michels

Many people recognize the benefits of simple living and are switching from urban living to rural environments. In the book Permanent Weekend: Nature, Leisure, and Rural Gentrification, John Michels focuses on how that shift from urban to rural is transforming the landscape of the rural area, the Almaguin Highlands in Ontario, Canada. He dives in-depth into how the shift affects the area through an ethnographic method: He gets to know the people of the Almaguin Highlands and shares their stories. By familiarizing himself with the surrounding environment and people with the help of Bob and Anne (who he is staying with), Michels can gain the fullest understanding of the area that he can. The book focuses on individual narratives in the

While Michels focuses on people’s real perspectives, the book does not factor in the effect of media and consumerism on the romanticization of rural living. This would be a worthwhile read for those interested in local politics, land management, and new perspectives.
Community members often have differing opinions on how things should be done, but there are always two sides. There are the cottagers of the Almaguin Highlands who own second homes in the area but do not live there year-round, and the locals who live there year-round. While Michels notes their existence, their role in the community is seen as mostly a nuisance by the locals as they have exclusive preferences. “Those who come to the area for relaxation and recreation have a

He fails to recognize how social media has made it easier than ever to compare yourself to others, and how this pushes people to overconsume (Pellegrino et al. 2022). As people move to rural areas, they bring their overconsumption habits with them, leading to chain stores to be built in an otherwise desolate area. In other cases, people are increasingly feeling inadequate about their material possessions, because on social media they increasingly look at unattainable and unrealistic goals. This has led people to make their cottagers grander and grander in the Almaguin Highlands and further develop the land, to Michels' no end. Even though people with big houses seem happy, if they compare themselves to the person with the next more spacious house, they will never be happy. It has become a competition of sorts, yet the same people engaged in this overextraction of resources claim to champion environmental conservation. An approach to curbing overconsumption could have been implemented if Michels had considered how psychological factors pushed by social media consumption influence building patterns in the Almaguin Highlands. By promoting different public amenities, the government can appeal to people who might otherwise