This secluded house on the fringe of the jungle is home to a white-collar worker who commutes each day to his job in the nearby city.

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Life in the slow lane 

I stayed for a week on the coast of Borneo, at a little resort just a 10-minute walk from the quiet village of Santubong.  

One afternoon, while I was exploring the village, a bright red car came rolling down this road. A man pulled up in the late-model car and parked it under this house – right beside another late-model car. As he got out of his car, we greeted each other and started chatting.  

Grow up, move on, come home 

He had grown up in Santubong, but had gone to university and was now employed in the nearby city of Kuching.  

He told me that life in the town of Santubong was bliss. From this home, it's only a 20-minute ride into the city, so they have most of the conveniences of urban life, without the stress. And it’s the perfect place for he and his wife to raise their children. 

(Another view of his home)   _{[Right-Click Here to Enlarge Photo]}

And as @christinaa stated in her wise comment below, "that road is like a lifeline, not an annoyance."

While most of the residents of Santubong are clearly a bit lower on the socio-economic spectrum than he was, he asserted that they were not poor, and assured me that most of them did not feel poor. They have decent homes, sufficient food, a school and a mosque nearby, and a vibrant community of family and friends.  

Sounds quite civilized to me. Location – Santubong, Borneo, on Google Maps

This is my entry in @juliank’s Landscape Photography contest.