Going off the Grid

I’ve been wanting to go off of the grid to explore and experience something different for a change. Any thoughts?

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What do you mean off the grid?

I can think of a few options, do you have any experience with outdoor survival? I definitely wouldn’t suggest it without the knowledge.

In Alaska, there’s many here that live off the grid in the aspect of no electric, internet or running water. Of course there’s some extreme weather you deal with.

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I want to join a camp to live off the grid for 90 days. As a child up until my early 20s, my father was in the Marines and he would take me hiking and camping in the mountains. He taught me what plants to eat, how to fish and hunt, shoot, and create fire… it’s been a long time since I’ve done that and to be honest, it was the best… very peaceful and it made me grateful… I talked to my friends about it and they think that I’m nuts.

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https://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/explore-the-trail

Here’s a small taste of what your looking for, perhaps something like this?

Just join the military! I camped in a lot of places in my 20 years. :slightly_smiling_face:

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One of my best girlfriends, her husband and friend lived off the grid in Vermont for 20 years. It was always fun visiting them…they had a 1/4 mile driveway only walkable in winter (4wd the rest of the year…good for sledding down in winter, like ours was). It was pretty rustic up there…peaceful tho. She would come and stay at my house every Wednesday night for many years to relax, take a hot bath sometimes and just enjoy flipping a switch and getting heat.

Go for it if you can…you are only young once.

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More power to you! One of my life goals is living off-grid! Where is this camp you mentioned?

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I did this for a bit in my twenties. It was a three hour drive on a dirt road to get to the cabin I was living in. I really loved it. It was North of the border in Canada, kinda parallel to Alaska.

There are logging communities outside those areas, you could try to look into those kinds of jobs first and see what other opportunities they might offer.

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I fully support your dream! I want to walk from the West coast to the East coast. We only get one spin on this rock, so why not?

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To me it sounds amazing, if you have the opportunity take it, it’s great for getting back to what is really important and builds character, if I had the chance I’d do it

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In a year and half, I may move into a yurt on my families land. It’s not out of my realm of possibilities at all, I would use my generator for some power until I get solar panels in and I would keep my phone but otherwise I would be off grid. It’s a pretty cool way to live in my opinion!

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I think it’s a great idea, and if it’s a goal of yours, then you should strive to achieve it. You can research what you don’t know and take the necessary steps to be prepared, then do it! You only have one life to live, and doing what fulfills you shouldn’t depend on the validation of others. Plus, you dont want to regret not doing it one day when you’re too old to try.

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My husband and I have also been thinking about this! We leave NYC and spend a lot of time in Lancaster county PA. The Amish of course live off grid, quite a few have generators and cell phones…A great deal of hard work, but the quality of life is SO much better…My 9 year old repeatedly asks to move there. I’m not so sure PA is the place for us, but I will be looking into some of the suggestions in this thread. Thank you for opening up this topic!!!

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I’ve been wanting this for a long time. Im always trying to learn more about living off the grid, being more self sustainable and living the simple life. I need to stay on the coast. I really like Long Island because theres no coyote, bear, big jumbo bugs, big ass spiders, or crocks. I wish I was a bit warmer though.

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Sounds amazing but be warned if you’re running away from something you’re still with yourself. I’ve wanted to go off the grid, but I’m so loco in early sobriety idk if itd be good 4me or not … I can somehow get miserable anywhere I go. Ugh

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I feel like im off the grid anyway as soon as im home

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Just thought of something: last year I was all hyped up about the Workaway website. I was so proud of myself because I got a passport (yeah, I’m easily excited) but drinking unfortunately derailed my plans for Belize. But anyway.
I remembered just now that might be a good intro to off-grid living. Go to http://www.workaway.info
Click on North America, and put “off-grid” in the search box… there’s about 165 hits last I checked. Which was a few minutes ago.:smirk:
Let me know if you find anything that fits!

There are schools you can go to to really sharpen your skills in this area. I’ve attended several of the civilian courses, and many schools while in the military. I’ve trained under Tim McWelch and Dave Canterbury.

If this is something you’d like to do, it’s not something you just “do”, because there can be danger involved. Just look at that kid from “Into the Wild”. Maybe look at a hike and an overnight and then gradually build up to it as your skills and knowledge grow. Give yourself time to learn what works and what doesn’t, and what you can tolerate.

The pursuit of the goal is just as fulfilling as the achievement.

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