Would you?

[crashdive123]

I was just going to ask the same question that AP did. For those that answered yes, are you sure? As AP said, other than those that mentioned family, what is stopping you. What does it take to get rid of all of your stuff and do it. A few of you already are, and I think that's great. Some are working toward that end. For those that romanticize about it....if it truely is what you want to do, then do it. Look at some of WildWomans posts. She had the desire and went and did it. Now she is living the life she dreamed of. It doesn't take a lot of money, just the desire and determination.

[Sourdough]

O'My'God the King has no clothes on. Look ! look ! the King has no clothes. Everyone in the kingdom agreed to not disclose the obvious. And just like in the tale, the Innocent young man blurts out, look everyone,"The king has no clothes". I think I am inclined to agree with you Mr. Pilot.........

[chiye tanka]

I think for many it's the comfort factor. I hate big cities and where I live, it's not too bad yet. The only nice thing is when you run out of something, you hop in the truck and go to Wally World. There is also the fact that in an emergency, you're not far from help.
I love the thought of living of the grid in the middle of nowhere, but at this point in my life, I'm just not ready.
I think it's the same for most people that have the "dream". Just my 2c's.

[Sourdough]

They say be for one retires and moves lock-stock & barrel to a wonderful perfect location; the smart thing is to rent a place there for a year, see if you really like it.

Anybody want to rent squatting rights......off grid on the back of my property....?Note: it is 11* above and snowing hard, and this is about the warmest it has been in 17 days.

[crashdive123]

Hmmm. While I do enjoy cooler temps.....supposed to be around 80 here the rest of the week with night time temps in the 50's. Let me think on that.

[klkak]

Hope I'd take you up on that but I've heard that the sun never shines there because the mountains are in the way.

[wareagle69]

If you're really going to go primitive, find a cave & wear a loin cloth. If you're going to the jungle swing from a vine and give the Tarzan yell. I vote no; why? We've all worked so hard to have the things that we have today. Doing it because you have no other choice is one thing, but doing it because you want to is something else. Even Les Stroud didn't stay "off the grid".

care to elaborate on les not staying off the grid?

[Sourdough]

Hope I'd take you up on that but I've heard that the sun never shines there because the mountains are in the way.

Old wives tale, the sun shines every day of the year. even on December 21'st

The reason this town is called Sunrise, Alaska is because there are three sunrise's at sometimes of the year. And I love being in the mountains.

[pgvoutdoors]

My vote would be "YES" and more than likely will happen soon enough.

[wildWoman]

I'd phrase the question differently...would you want to gain physical fitness, freedom of bills that add up to x thousands of dollars a year, the peace of mind that you can entertain yourself and live by simple means, quiet and depending on where you'd be the kind of surroundings that people pay a lot of money for just to visit on a two-week holiday.
People tend to think so negatively about living simply; I really can't see it that way. I do have satellite internet here, but before we moved out here I lived for 7 years without water, any form of electricity, telephone etc and I did not miss any of the "conveniences". I kind of miss that time now. I liked our first year in the bush here the best, without the internet and phone. It gives you a totally different perception and perspective on the land and animals you're living with as that's all you depend on and have as entertainment. But a means of communication can enable you to make what money you need from home, so that's the good thing about it.
I'd highly, fervently, very much recommend the kind of simple life outlined in the poll to anyone even slightly interested. You can do it in rural areas, with road access. Even if you just end up doing it for a short time, I think it teaches us a lot about how gullible we are about what makes for a good lifestyle.

[Hemingway]

I answered yes but it's not simply a matter of having the desire to do it. I am in the process of acquiring the capital in order to buy a large piece of land. I don't want to have to ask for permission or jump through government regulations to achieve the lifestyle I want to live.

[owl_girl]

I am working on it right now. Thats one of the reasons why Im learning this stuff. Im not there yet cuz I dont have a way to get where I want and I dont know where I want and I dont have enough knowledge yet but Im preparing to. I cant just go if I want to be successful.

[Sarge47]

I'm 61 years old; & the people that lived the way your talking about usually died way before that. Medical science has given us a longer life span. Either acess to supplies, which requires a regular income, or a way to accumulate them is required. While I believe many of you could accomplish that I enjoy my few creature comforts & don't wish to spend 16 hours a day, 7 days a week labor intensive. Sounds too much like work to me. I'd settle for a "happy medium" however. Perhaps solar, wind, & water power to generate electricity somehow, & from there you're not only off the grid, but really protected from the elements as well.

[huntermj]

I just finished reading One Mans Wilderness and even Dick Proenneke had supplies flown in every three weeks or so. In the lower forty eight a person can not just set up a homestead anywhere they choose. I live in Colorado where there is a lot of National forest and BLM land and trust me the DOW and national forest rangers patrol even the most remote areas, so building a cabin and clearing land for a garden would not be feasible. So what i have so far is i would need to buy land that cost up to 80,000 per acre and have enough money in the bank to buy supplies for the rest of my life. Yes i could find land cheaper but mostly it would be high dessert, not really suitable for much. This is something i have given some thought to and would do right now if it was doable. So if it is as easy as "just doing it" tell me how and i will. I will load up the truck tomorrow and go do it. Also i am not moving to Canada or Alaska, way too cold. Its easy to say if thats what you really want you would just go do it but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, its not that easy. If i remember right it took Wild women about three years to get it all set up. Proenneke built a cabin on free land, cut down trees without permits and had someone bring supplies every three weeks. A person just cant do that anymore. Even if a person was totally off the grid they would still need to buy some products like nails, screws, yeast, seeds and such things that they just cant make themselves. How would a person just walk out the door and into the woods and start a homestead? Really i want to know because i am in the best situation in my life ever to do this. Not that i have big money to do it i just don't have anything keeping me here anymore.

[owl_girl]

I'm 61 years old; & the people that lived the way your talking about usually died way before that. Medical science has given us a longer life span. Either acess to supplies, which requires a regular income, or a way to accumulate them is required. While I believe many of you could accomplish that I enjoy my few creature comforts & don't wish to spend 16 hours a day, 7 days a week labor intensive. Sounds too much like work to me. I'd settle for a "happy medium" however. Perhaps solar, wind, & water power to generate electricity somehow, & from there you're not only off the grid, but really protected from the elements as well.

Yae but people were a bit more stupid back then. They did things like wear corsets and wonder why successful birth rates were so low, theyd eat out of led cans and so on. Plus the whites had horrible diseases. In some plases people that lived naturaly had longer life spans. I really dont think this way of life will shorten your life span from what it would be from this fast food obsessed, polluted society if its done right. Come to think of it people werent mor stuped back then just less knowlagable.

[Sourdough]

I just finished reading One Mans Wilderness and even Dick Proenneke had supplies flown in every three weeks or so. In the lower forty eight a person can not just set up a homestead anywhere they choose. I live in Colorado where there is a lot of National forest and BLM land and trust me the DOW and national forest rangers patrol even the most remote areas, so building a cabin and clearing land for a garden would not be feasible. So what i have so far is i would need to buy land that cost up to 80,000 per acre and have enough money in the bank to buy supplies for the rest of my life. Yes i could find land cheaper but mostly it would be high dessert, not really suitable for much. This is something i have given some thought to and would do right now if it was doable. So if it is as easy as "just doing it" tell me how and i will. I will load up the truck tomorrow and go do it. Also i am not moving to Canada or Alaska, way too cold. Its easy to say if thats what you really want you would just go do it but when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of it, its not that easy. If i remember right it took Wild women about three years to get it all set up. Proenneke built a cabin on free land, cut down trees without permits and had someone bring supplies every three weeks. A person just cant do that anymore. Even if a person was totally off the grid they would still need to buy some products like nails, screws, yeast, seeds and such things that they just cant make themselves. How would a person just walk out the door and into the woods and start a homestead? Really i want to know because i am in the best situation in my life ever to do this. Not that i have big money to do it i just don't have anything keeping me here anymore.

I have built three homesteads. It was not easy any of those times. And the older one is the harder. One trick you could consider is acquire land that adjoins government land. The other factor is, we are most likely about to soon enter a period of high inflation. Which means two things. One if the cost of the land is out of reach now, it will be more so in the future. The other is if you have a secure employment you can use the inflation to pay for you land in cheaper dollars. Back in the 70's the last period of high inflation, we would buy 160 acre homesteads, for $32,000.- and three years later sell 80 acres for $32,000.- and have 80 acres free. Then two years later sell 40 acres for $32,000.- and use that money to build buildings and buy tractors, etc.

A man should never abandon his dreams.......

[RBB]

Well, I wouldn't mind. In fact I think I would enjoy the challenge, but I voted "no," because I'd have to get a new wife - and I like the one I've got.

For many, I believe this is a pipe dream. I've had a number of dealings, through the years, with people who've moved up in the woods with the idea of "living off the grid," or even worse, "living off the land." None have stayed with it and some have come to a bad end. Most just end up on the local welfare roles.

[Ole WV Coot]

Nope, No Way, Not Me. I remember the coal oil lamps, outhouse when I was a kid. I spent my younger years like that, no road except the creekbed and walking around the hillside when the creek was up to get to school. During the winter my eyeballs would float before I would get out of bed and head for the one hole outhouse(we couldn't afford an extra hole).

[huntermj]

You know your poor when you cant afford a hole
Im so poor i cant afford to pay attention

[Riverrat]

I am close to doing just that, what Sarge said that is, we live on a dead end road, not to many people around, and try to grow most of our own food, what we can anyway. We are looking at going off grid in the next couple of years, start slow and finally unhook completely. We heat with wood and this is our only heat.

My wife works using the Internet for work, and both off us use it for taking courses, but that is not a problem as we are using a satellite now. We do buy some food stuff from the stores, and probably always will, but we grow and gather allot of what we need. I fish, hunt, and love to pick wild berries, but it would really be hard to give up some of the things we have. I really like my electric lights, and not having to go outdoors to use the toilet, well that is something I would really like to be able to keep on doing.