Living Off the Grid
Out of context: Reply #36
- Started
- Last post
- 225 Responses
- GeorgesIV0
Just posting to provide some encouragment to people starting/scheming on off-grid style.
I started out living in a tent with tarps, propane stove, and oil lamps. I had to weed whack my kitchen weekly! Then I built a 16x16 cabin, and got a tiny solar system that would power lights and a little boom box. Since expanded the cabin to almost 600 sq ft, building slowly over time with recycled materials. Still got tarps hanging off the cabin for additional dry space - it rains A LOT here. 200+ inches per year.
The best thing about off-grid in my mind is learning how to do things for myself. I can now build a house, wire electricity, design and install solar PV, plumbing, grow a bunch of food, and live cheaply, working (for money) only a day or two per week. Still plenty of work on the homestead though!
The worst thing about off grid living, in my case at least, is that I have to be around. I can't take off on a voyage without stressing about finding someone who is capable of managing my homestead. And not many are...luckily I have good friends who are into it. My house is almost like a living being - it requires knowledgable care to stay functional. And animals are a blessing and a curse.
A very valuable lesson I've learned is that infrastructure is expensive, and very nessecary. I spent 4 years slogging through mud to reach my house from the road before I wised up and spent the money to bring in gravel for a driveway. I got a propane fridge two years back, and have since saved much more than the value of the fridge on spoiled food and ice blocks for the cooler...my whole neighborhood is off-grid and we all agree, cooler-patrol is lame.
Next on the list is plumbing an indoor toilet. That'll entail buying a keg of beer, making a bunch of pizzas, and invitiing all my friends over to dig a cesspool...which leads me to another point. Friends with skills have absolutely crucial to my off-grid experience. I'll trade work with my friends who live off-grid, and we all benefit, in money saved, skills learned, and good times had by all.
Any Hawaii Island off-grid folks can contact me, and maybe we can work together to make it easier.
- so you chop yourself off from the world to come back to the world - fantasizing that it's on your terms...pr2