All of these things are part of the — get your buzzword notebook out — 'voluntary simplicity' movement. Catered dinner parties are out. Potluck is in. Lobbying for a pay raise is out. Trading increased salary for extra vacation time is in. People are exchanging dry-cleaning lifestyles for wash and wear ones, and they don't feel deprived.

Participants in the so-called voluntary simplicity movement — an environmentally friendly, economically saner lifestyle choice that is the subject of numerous books — could take lessons from people like the Kulmalas and several others in the Sudbury region who have made the choice to become non-combatants in the rat race. The region's camp culture has a head start in the race for simplicity.

Eliminating the clutter from your life and focusing on what really matters is the basic tenet of voluntary simplicity.

Thousands of younger middle-class couples have already taken up a life of voluntary simplicity. In Santa Calara, Calif., Katherine and Robert Hostetter (who together earn more than $20,000 annually) are buying fewer clothes, eating simpler foods, collecting fewer possessions. "We have permanently abandoned the notion of vying for the title of 'ultimate consumer'," says Roert.