Young and searching for a positive life

I’m 16 and I want this off grid living lifestyle so bad. I have a deep hatred toward this modern society we live in with all these chemically produced foods, homes built by others, controlled from government. Living in this modern word is pointless and I would only live to work for big businesses, get money that is useless and the die, I hate that. I want to live in nature, the wild, like we did in our primal times. I’m depressed and angry I wish every person on the planet strived in the wild. The population would be smaller which is good. The world wouldn’t be so polluted and full of trash that harms other animals. I want to know how I could live in the wild either isolated or a community of people who have a similar mindset but I’m only 16. Someone help

Hi Kavonn, welcome to Permies!

You might benefit from researching human rewilding. When you do, you'll find a bunch of different topics, most of them at least related, but I mean that term the way these folks do: https://rewildu.com/what-is-rewilding/

As you find websites and videos on the topic, you'll see there are an awful lot of people wearing synthetic high-performance outdoor gear telling you to be angry at civilization. That always strikes me as obviously silly, but I try to just filter out their agenda and not be manipulated as I read or watch. Take the wisdom you can glean from each source and try to do better than they are.







Also, if you have a spot where you can grow a garden, do that. Start growing your own food and learning the constellation of skills around that. Even on a small scale, it's an affirmative act that is transgressive to the forces that want to tell you you're just an economic cog.

Welcome to Permies!

I recommend to everyone that has a desire to live more with nature than alongside it to start learning how to transition towards more sustainable practices. A convenient way that a person can gain skills without having someone one on one with you is through Permie's Skills to Inherit Property program where a person submits evidence that they have completed a series of BBs (badge bits) and gain associated badges. This could be a helpful stepping stone to get you the skills to eventually go out on your own while giving you an opportunity to see if this is something that is for you.



Please consider researching things that interest you on these forums and chatting with the folks on here. There is a ton of information and hands-on experiences that can help you with your future planning.

Life is too short to be angry at things we have no control over.

You are 16 and have many more years ahead of you.  Live life to the fullest Have fun like a teenager.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi Kavonn! Guess I risk sounding like a walking cliché, but I've been where you are. For quite a while I felt like I was stuck, going nowhere, getting no closer to that forest life I was dreaming of. Then... I somehow ended up finding a path that worked for me, meeting people going the same direction, finding a life partner with similar ideas. And four years ago we bought a piece of forest next to a lake on the Norwegian coast, where we are now spending our summers fishing, gardening and building ourselves a small cabin. We don't live there permanently yet, but we hope to be able to stay over winter soon. It's awesome.

Of course it's not the exact life I kept dreaming about before. It's better. It's real. I think I was held back for a long time by the idea that my dream life should materialize all at once, and obviously it didn't. I just kept living, and learning small things that pointed the way towards what I wanted.

One thing that has helped me a lot is trying to not get stuck in everything that's wrong with the world. Sometimes it's hard. There's a lot of nasty things going on, for sure. But the world also contains a lot of beautiful things. I think it always will. Find the beautiful things and bring them into your life. The nasty things will still be there, but so what? You have a life to live, a wonderful, living, breathing world to be part of. Never mind the rest.

Just know that you're not alone in dreaming that dream. I'm one. There are others. You just need to find them.

There are some great suggestions here already and hanging here on permies to learn about plant identification, growing food, harvesting, cooking, wood-working and everything else, is a great way to get from feeling trapped to feeling like you can genuinely contribute to the planet in ways you want to.

Simple things like learning to mend your own clothing can be done with a needle and thread from a thrift/charity shop, and yet will make you less dependent on "the system". ( https://permies.com/t/54406/sewing/mending-clothes )

You could even use this thread as a bit of a "goals and responsibility" document - decide today what one thing you could do that would help you reach your goal.  I would encourage you to start with small goals that aren't a big stretch so you build confidence. A positive attitude is an important tool.