Living "off the grid".....
rmst09
Posts: 57
Has anyone one out there done it?
What about just dropping everything and moving? Completely starting over? Simplifying....
I'm 40 years old and living in the midwest. I have a virtually meaningless job that pays moderately well. I spend close to an hour in the car driving to and from work every day. The closest body of water is a man-made lake that is too polluted to swim in. My wife is a Special Education teacher. The Special Education System is an extremely broken sub-section of our extremely broken public school system. We have 14 year old twins. Both are great students but we are all somewhat disenchanted with the school system and we are exploring the possibilities of private school.
I won't bore everyone with a dissertation on our dissatisfaction with life in suburbia. Some of the simple facts are that we are tired of spending time in cars, tired of the unpredictable climate, tired of row after row of identical houses, tired of monotony..... My wife and I often discuss picking up, moving and starting over.
My question to everyone is.....
Where did you or would you go?
We are all partial to somewhere near a major body of water, preferably an ocean. We also loved the short amount of time we spent in Colorado. Another spot we've talked about but have yet to visit is the Pacific Northwest.....
Let's hear it.....anyone else out there knocking this kind of idea around?
What about just dropping everything and moving? Completely starting over? Simplifying....
I'm 40 years old and living in the midwest. I have a virtually meaningless job that pays moderately well. I spend close to an hour in the car driving to and from work every day. The closest body of water is a man-made lake that is too polluted to swim in. My wife is a Special Education teacher. The Special Education System is an extremely broken sub-section of our extremely broken public school system. We have 14 year old twins. Both are great students but we are all somewhat disenchanted with the school system and we are exploring the possibilities of private school.
I won't bore everyone with a dissertation on our dissatisfaction with life in suburbia. Some of the simple facts are that we are tired of spending time in cars, tired of the unpredictable climate, tired of row after row of identical houses, tired of monotony..... My wife and I often discuss picking up, moving and starting over.
My question to everyone is.....
Where did you or would you go?
We are all partial to somewhere near a major body of water, preferably an ocean. We also loved the short amount of time we spent in Colorado. Another spot we've talked about but have yet to visit is the Pacific Northwest.....
Let's hear it.....anyone else out there knocking this kind of idea around?
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* Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
* Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
* East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
* Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
I like our life... my job is ok, not great, but better than a lot of people's it seems. We have a comfortable house in suburbia, that we like. But, my wife and I have talked about moving somewhere else that is "different".
We like the idea of the Carolinas or Tennessee. More open space, a little milder climate, and a little more of a laid back life than the northeast. We want a chunk of land, where we can enjoy the outdoors instead of our little fenced in yard. We have two little boys (4 & 1), and want them to have a childhood that isn't in suburbia.
Will it ever happen? I'm not sure... with finding something to pay the bills, and house to sell, it seems daunting.
Maybe it's a bit of a midlife crisis, or just tired of the rut we are in, but as the great Andy Dufresne once said, you can "get busy living, or get busy dying", and I'd like to spend more time getting busy living.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
If you are looking to move, what is it you want? If you can handpick a piece of the world, im sure you can find a balance of what you are looking for: climate, water, hilly, flat, farmland, isolated, etcc.
Maybe you just need an exciting hobby, and perhaps drop a few things. Maybe pick something up, but drop the cable, internet, cell phone, etc.
For me, I plan on doing this type of deal, but when I am 60. Putting away as much $ as humanly possible now.
For sure,
I'd like to move to some farm land in South Africa and live. Grow my organic fruit, my herb. See yeah Society!
Is that too much off the grid?
If you have the ability to move and start over, go for it. But keep in mind, wherever you are, whatever city, town, country or continent...To a large degree, it's what we make of where we are that matters. Well I mean, it's true for me.
Like the saying goes, 'The grass is always greener on the other side'
Wherever I am, I tend to long for where I was before or where I could be.
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Would you consider leaving the US? I was about the age of your twins when my parents decided to try something else. We moved out of Canada for a few years. Then when I was 17 I started to travel myself and literally was off the grid. It was great.
A few years ago, the grid landed on my face. Now I live in the middle of the grid.
It is a daunting undertaking. The job and housing market make it especially so. I guess a major part of the undertaking is establishing what is really important to everyone involved. How much do we really need? Are the things we think we need really just distracting us from things that can make us really happy?
Thanks for the response and best of luck with whatever direction you choose. There will be much joy found in those kids of yours. I'm sure that the prospect of mine moving off to college in four years has given me added motivation to try and find these answers.
I would definitely consider leaving the US. I love your plan!
I have no doubt that I suffer a bit from the grass is always greener syndrome. Will definitely be spending some serious time thinking that particular point through before any major decisions are reached.
Thanks for the great response!
Great points. I hadn't considered beginning the scale back by cutting back on things here. Great idea for establishing what is important to us.
Thanks for the feedback and good luck with that saving!
I love living in VT
I tried it when I was thinking about moving...it listed some place I never would have thought of.
Always find myself 'round here
Abrn Hlls '98 - Clarkston 2 '03 - Grd Rpds '06 - Abrn Hlls '06 - Clvd '10 - PJ20 - Berlin 1+2 '12 - Wrigley '13 - Pitt '13- buff '13- Philly 1+2 '13 - Seattle '13
Like probably everyone does every once in a while, I have been "wondering about wandering" from time to time. But the urge was never really strong enough. But actually, with 34 years on my back now, I am going to do it. I will go through all the stuff I amassed in my life, dissolve my place, quit my job, and start a new life in a different country. I will move to Detroit, MI, because I want to be together with the one I love. I am already amazed about all the stuff that I have and don't need :shock: It is about time to re-evaluate and get rid of the material baggage that I have been carrying around with me all those years. Probably all I will take with me will be my records, books, and clothes. I am not exactly beginning to live off the grid in the general sense, but I think culturally you can apply this term to my situation as well. I didn't start with the move yet, but I am getting glimpses of a feeling of freedom every day now already
Of course, I am also a little nervous, I will be mising my friends and family, and German bread, I hope everything works out and I hope I can get adjusted to the life in the States. But I am open and I will be with my love, and meet and get to new new friends and a second family, so the outlook is good and very exciting
Try it before it is too late if you have the urge, luck and opportunity to do so! Don't be afraid, in the best case you will be rewarded with a happy life, in the worst case you can go back
I have a meaningless jib that I despise...I would like to move west...Alberta close to the BC border to a nice small town if one exist.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
in all seriousness - i hope you do something about this ... so many people are disgruntled but ultimately never do anything about it ... there are two options i say:
1. do you both have jobs that are transferable? can you create a situation where you both do not have to spend hours commuting to work? even better being able to walk or ride a bike to work? that is a big downer right now from my perspective ... i would suggest moving to a city into a community that really is a community of diverse people ... i live in toronto and although everyone outside of toronto hates us - i have a pretty decent work/life balance ... i bike 9-10 months of the year to get to work and everywhere else i go ... independently owned stores and shops and restaurants are all within a short walk and my car basically stays parked unless i go on a camping trip ... most people in my neighbourhood are the same way ... lots of families ... most don't drive ... plant a garden ... grow some food ...
2. you can try and disappear ... try and find work which would allow you to work remotely ... buy some cheap land/house in a small town ... try and form a community there ...
as for living off the grid ... it's both a lot easier and harder than it appears ... the ease is in how little electricity one really needs when they simplify their lives and prioritize the value of energy ... the hard part is maintaining a lifestyle that some would say lacks the creature comforts that is part of the american dream ... you can't be buying a bunch of useless shit if you want to live off the grid ... your initial capital costs will be fairly high but your long term costs should be good especially if you learn to grow a lot of your food and raise some chickens and goats ...
anyhoo - i see suburbia as a diseased society ...
"With our thoughts we make the world"
I did it...years ago, got fed up and picked up and moved to the middle of (what was then) nowhere land in NE PA. A mile back from any paved public road (and even calling that paved and public is a stretch). Dirt cheap acres and acres of woodland with no perc. GORGEOUS!!! Serene, back to nature, living off the land. Towed a trailer out there....lived in that while building a cabin in the woods from downed cedar..by hand. Heated with wood, plenty of that around. Farmed our own veggies, and raised chickens for protein, goats for milk. Eventually built a 3 BR house in the woods. It was GOOD!
No longer there..and I MISS IT with every fiber of my being.
jo
http://www.Etsy.com/Shop/SimpleEarthCreations
"How I choose to feel is how I am." ~ EV/MMc
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends." ~ One Stab ~
I don't mind the 'getaway' for a few days, but I'm a 'city girl' at heart, I like the social interaction.
Have you seen this on PBS?
http://www.aloneinthewilderness.com/
it's pretty cool what he did, and I could appreciate living a few months like that, I don't think I could it for 30 years.
- Christopher McCandless
Sadly the relationship never lasted and I came back to Scotland but not to Edinburgh,after living so wonderfully rural I could not go back to living in a city.I moved back to the east coast of Scotland where I originally grew up.I now have a wee house at the beach which has become my garden.It's not rural as such but there is certainly air to breathe and an expanse of sky rather than concrete.
It was the most joyous and the most heartbreaking experience of my life but I wouldn't change one day of that entire experience.Living so rural grounded me to myself and the earth more than any experience in my life.
I'd say if you really want and feel you can do this go for it,the worst thing would be to look back on it as an opportunity that you didn't take than to do it and it never worked out,well damn at least you tried.Providence works things out.
Just breathe ... these moments won't last forever.
Thank you! Lots of work to do in order to make it happen. Exciting stuff though.
Just spent 45 minutes sitting in traffic due to a 5 car pile up on my way to work. I hope to find a place where I don't even need a car.
You have good points....
1. Ideally, as stated above I wouldn't need to rely on automotive transportation on a regular basis. I have grown to hate spending any amount of time in a car. Nowhere are peoples rudeness and self importance more on display than when they are driving. I can be guilty of it too.
2. One of the things that most excites me about this endeavor is the idea of streamlining our possessions, power usage and general consumption. I mean I had a pretty damn happy childhood and half the stuff we use now didn't even exist back then.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Absolutely would be a no brainer if not for the kids. Our plan has always been to take off when the kids graduate high school but I feel like we might be doing them a disservice by waiting.
What led you guys back into the mainstream after building the house? It sounds amazing.
Your story is an inspiration. Thank you!