Anybody ever live"off the grid"

[seamus]

Im kinda gettin sick of some shit,my job,the area I live in etc...& am considering moving,somewhere seriously rural,farther north,or maybe west.

[AuntieEm2]

Hi, seamus.

We don't know each other, so just take what you want and leave the rest.

It's not clear if you truly want isolate yourself, or just make some major changes around job and location. I hope you'll choose to stay connected to the world and not disappear someplace seriously rural. The job is usually the sticking point, so I have a book to recommend: "Jumping the Job Track" by Peter Brown. He details a plan for being independently employed. He interviews various consultants about how and why they decided to go out on their own (including some who moved to a new city), plus he has practical information like sample budgets and what form of business incorporation to choose.

No idea if that's helpful but there you are. Best of luck.

Auntie Em

[seamus]

I geuss I should elaborate,I always been a misfit,technology is kinda cool but not so,vital with me,just a complication for me,I grew up rural,when I was little we had running h20 but only 'lectric in 1 room.I MISS THAT. A simple life mostly un reliant on things IS what I want,IM really sick of working for 1 lying jackass or another.I love running dogs,hunting,fishing, dont mind wood heat,an out house ,and not having to answer to a goddamn soul,I feel like some kinda slave and am not able to accept it.Im ok when left alone,too much of people just  brings me  PROBLEMS,brings me down.

[Che Gookin]

Well there is absolutely nothing wrong with how you feel. Somedays I want to pay my 20 bucks to WWOOF and spend about 6 months hitchhiking from organic farm to organic farm and working 4 to 5 hours a day for my room and board.

Others I want to saddle up and haul ass to the deep timber with my .303 and a few tins of chow to tide me over for awhile. What I suggest is the following:

Alot of people try to buy land, but in the end find the cost to prohibitive. Friend of mine is looking at some land that is 2200 bucks an acre that is second growth timber that is in horrible condition and that is considered a good deal.

However, what you can do is lease land from the BLM for pretty damn cheap from what I remember. Most folks get a 30 to 40 year lease for an outrageously cheap rate. Then you only need the supplies you plan to bring into the place..

Now alot of people think that dropping out means leaving society altogether... I'm like.. LOLS.. are you nuts? You'll end up divorced and homeless inside of 3 months. Best thing to do is keep a well beaten path to your door and encourage visitors on your own terms.

Now these aren't things I've done myself, but someday I really do want to do them. A buddy of mine is actually doing it and he loves it. I'm gonna have to go visit his reclusive ass near Spokane one of these days. He hunts, fishes, and does some gardening for his food. He pays his land taxes by doing agricultural work for 8 to 12 weeks every year and that gives him enough money for food in the winter if he comes up
 short.

Other than those 2 to 3 months of work, which he doesn't mind as he mainly drives wheat combines or other heavy agricultural machinery, he is his own man. Has a few sweet rifles he keeps in mint condition and can shoot the tits off a blonde at about 500 yards. Owns a beater of a truck that barely wheezes its way into town and I don't think he has paid insurance on it since he bought it about 10 years ago. Considering he only drives it to town now and then and mostly stays with the people he works for it isn't really a problem.

His water comes from a well that came with the property.. he goes easy on it as he doesn't want to suck it dry.. his power comes from a gas generator on rainy days, and the rest of the time he uses solar.. and even then he only runs his power like 2 or 3 hours a day. His idea of passing his time is reading books.. and since he is within walking distance of a local stopping point for the county libraries book mobile he never lacks for reading material... though.. let it be noted... the walk he takes to top up on books is like a 10 mile one... I tried it with him about 8 years ago and gave up about half way through...

He finally did break down and agreed to buy a prepaid cell phone so his sister can call him as she worries about him. Which is cool cause it gives me something to buy for him as a christmas present now.. prepaid cell cards..

[Che Gookin]

Oh yeah... during my ponderings about dropping off the face of the earth I found this website..

www.digihitch.com they have a decent forum about hitchhiking. Most of the folks their have some experience with living off the grid.

[seamus]

nothing as socialistic, im just sick of working 4 other peoples goals,i got the property, just cant pull the trigger as other people rely on me