Sometimes I want to live off grid, far away without responsibilities!

Like the title says, there are times when I want to live off grid, far away, have no neighbors and be so remote that I can't possibly have any responsibilities to anyone but myself.  But really I get this way when all of life's other demands pour in on me.  My school year has started--very well I might add--but my time of course is more limited than during the summer and I have to do some tedious chores like planning lessons (administrators like to see these things posted online--it makes them look better).  Naturally I have to grade, which is not so bad, but it is something that I have to do on a timely basis or someone gets tied in knots.  I am not complaining, not one bit.  But the sum total of all the little tedious chores is what grinds on my nerves.  Actually teaching is in fact very rewarding and entertaining.  Disruptions, when they happen, are kind of exciting!  Its the day-to-day that makes me want to disappear into the wilderness and never come back.

But of course, that is a false hope--a daydream that lacks context and ignores the real fact that no matter where one goes, there will be tedium there no matter what.  Chores must be done.  And the reality is that I thoroughly community, especially my wonderful neighbors.  And many of those irksome bills--like power--are cheaper that going through all the hoops to make my house solar--but if you can make yours affordably go solar and want to do so, then by all means don't let me stop you!!  Also, I don't really want to drill a well (though there are times when I want to back up my houses water supply).  And while I still have the rugged dreams of trudging off across wild land, my wife doesn't share these dreams and I am more attached to her than these dreams.  

So in the end, I am very happy with the life I have.  I love my house in the country with 9 acres.  I love being able to use the tractor to care for the land, and I love that I have an absolutely wonderful neighbor who eagerly helps with me in so many projects, especially mechanical ones (we really had an adventure adding in hydraulics to the tractor this summer!).  And while my wife does not want to do the deep forest off-grid homesteading of which I sometimes dream, she is a small town/country girl at heart and we love our home together.

To all those who want to truly go off-grid and make a life of it, go for it!  There will always be a part of me that envies you.  But I accept that while that spirit is a part of me, so is the part of me that needs community, neighbors and appreciates all of the little things that these people bring.  So while I dream of emptiness when I get overwhelmed with minutiae, when the day is done I am really happy with all of the decisions and compromises that I have had to make.  Many of Permies values can be interpreted as a sort of extreme that rejects most social norms that we may forget that these same values can merge, interlace, interact, and indeed, compromise with the values, resources capabilities and opportunities that we all have.  No individual can possibly do everything, but we all can take little steps, be happy and enjoy life's opportunities--and indeed, promote Permies, just by doing what we can with what we have when we have it.

These are just a few thoughts that I had as I was sitting and watching students work on an assignment today and I had a moment to myself.  If these words give you and hope, bring any calm, promote any positive activity for you, then great.  If not, then please disregard.



Eric

I have learned to take a more limited approach.  In my 40’s to 60’s I used to be able to grab a backpack and take off for a day or three in the Grand Canyon or the Canyon Lands of Utah.   That used to do a good reset of my moods.   I used to love to sit up on a bright night and watch all the eyes in the desert.  Though lately, I have been wondering about a solo bicycle trip.   With an e-bike, I should be less likely to get  myself in trouble, but the profound isolation wouldn’t be there like it is in a wilderness area.

My fantasy is hiking the Appalachian Trail with just my dog for a week or two or a month or just until I want to rejoin the world.  It will likely never happen, but I still think about it often.

Hi Trace,

I attempted the AT 2x.  The first time was a flop.   I began in Maine and made down to Mass.   Mistake was my tendency to go against the grain.  Beginning in April in Maine was not a good idea.   The second time I began in Georgia like I was supposed to. While there was some alone time,  I did meet a surprising number of people on the trail.

I can really appreciate the spirit of this post. I was not raised in one place. We moved about 1x a year from as long as I remember. I was in the USMC after high school and in boot camp when 9/11 happened. I was somewhere different every 3-6 months for the next 5 years. After that, my job had me working all over the place and then we traveled in an RV for a few years.

I have the itchy feet.

Anytime I get stressed or feel like I have mastered our situation, I want to change our situation. To ground and counteract that urge, I have a few pages of a notebook filled up with notes. My pattern is that fondness makes the heart grow fonder, with people and situations. The notes are about people and situations and attempt to remind me about the pros and cons in a more honest way.

I reference those notes often and they have been very helpful to keep my grasp on reality. For this particular post title, being in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors sounds fun. The reality is that I am very thankful for my neighbors and do enjoy our interaction and the help we give to each other. Something that needs to go into my notebook....

I live off grid on 25 beautiful acres in NW California witht my wife who I met while we were both thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. While I love it most of the time and am very fortunate, off-grid life is not as care free as one might think! Hiring any help has an extra cost to get them here and up to speed on our systems, so I am our gardener, landscaper, plumber and electrician (for most aspects), garbage man, propane and diesel delivery guy, diesel mechanic (a bad one who hates it), emergency medical responder, wildfire preparedness guy…and I am only really good at a couple of these things. Doing them all makes me not great at any of them. Again, we have a great life, but living off-grid is not exactly easier or less expensive!

Eric Hanson wrote:I am not complaining, not one bit.  But the sum total of all the little tedious chores is what grinds on my nerves.

Same here. Most of the city people I talk to, think that I would be terribly lonely in such place, but I think that social interactions are actually better when people aren't as crowded together, and their responsibilities make more sense...

I like this post because its full of perspective, weighing dreams and realities and observing both and the benefits of both.  My MIL currently lives in the country in a clump of slightly "oversized" lots, about an hour and 10 min. from us.  But she seems to pine for something else.  She fantisizes about "the promised land" which in her mind is in western Tennessee, where she thinks it rains less and is sunnier.  I've showed her rain amounts for the area and that they're comparable to here, but I don't think she believes me because she has it in her head that everything will be perfect there for her and she can live in the middle of no where with acres of land and woods.  In reality I'm not so sure its what she thinks it will be.  I've encouraged her to join permies, hopefully she will someday.  And read this post.  My husband and I have both told her she should do whatever she needs to do for herself, that we would miss her if she moved so far away.  But that we know she struggles with the weather here in winter.  But it would make so much sense for her to move somewhere like Nevada to the desert or something, and that is less of a flight away.  And I don't think there is such a thing as the perfect place to live the way she thinks she will find in TN.  In her fantasy we move with her, and that is flat out not happening.  I've encouraged her to sell and move into our county so she's closer to us, there are country areas around here, but she doesn't like it here, too close to "the big city".