Seeking vice-free off-grid community.

Hi, my dream has been to create an off-grid community, but since I don't know where to begin, I am curious to find out if I can find one that comes really close to what I'm seeking. (IC.org searches didn't work out.)

I'm seeking a place where I can stay for free and offer the skills that I can in exchange. I'm great with cooking certain dishes, but my dream is to host circles where people connect with each other without electronics and vices involved. This is needed now more than ever!

I'd like to be in a community that encourages members to listen to their intuition and do what is best for their body, whether that means staying out of the sun after sunrise and before sunset hours or going to bed early.

I want to make sure it's a place that prioritizes happiness and well-being.

The goal is living with a loving group of people and no longer relying on technology (phone/laptop/tv)

If you know of such a place, please let me know.

I have visited communities like that. Unfortunately, I can't give you contact information, cause they live beyond-internet...

Best of everything in your search.

I wonder if you might broaden your search by going to the library and browsing any magazines there that might have ads or classified pages aimed at this lifestyle?
Mother Earth News maybe? I know there are others.

It might be difficult to find those living  without electronic devices here in an online community?

It might be that a compromise in your wants/needs will get you closer to where you'd like to be and a step closer to your ideal....It sounds as though you are looking for the sort of place that might require networking with actual people face to face to locate?

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:I have visited communities like that. Unfortunately, I can't give you contact information, cause they live beyond-internet...

Best of everything in your search.

Ah where were they located approximately?

Judith Browning wrote:I wonder if you might broaden your search by going to the library and browsing any magazines there that might have ads or classified pages aimed at this lifestyle?
Mother Earth News maybe? I know there are others.

It might be difficult to find those living  without electronic devices here in an online community?

It might be that a compromise in your wants/needs will get you closer to where you'd like to be and a step closer to your ideal....It sounds as though you are looking for the sort of place that might require networking with actual people face to face to locate?

Well they might use a house phone of some sort but I'd really appreciate a tech free lifestyle myself, with no power lines or power towers near me. No pressure for others!

Have a look at this site below seems to have quite a few
https://www.agartha.one/map

Mariya Bee wrote:Ah where were they located approximately?

Everywhere.

In my personal travels—California, Missouri, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Croatia, France, England, Scotland. And I meet off-internet people from lots of other places when I attend seed conferences.

Maybe something like this for a brief period of quiet and a network of similar minded folks?
https://www.sfzc.org/locations/tassajara

Tassajara is nestled in a mountain valley located in a remote part of California’s Ventana Wilderness, inland from the Big Sur coast.

During the summer season (from the end of April to the beginning of September) Tassajara opens to the general public by reservation only. Guests are welcome to share the relaxed, informal, monastic environment of Tassajara summers, and may come for various group retreats anchored in the Dharma and led by experienced retreat leaders. Reservations for summer 2026 guest retreats will become available at the beginning of 2026.

Big Sur is wonderful and worth a visit on it's own.

If there is any place that is a place where folks are concerned about there health I would suspect that Green Belt, West Virginia would be that place.

34F, seeking a place where I can live in a cabin without electricity for free, where I can explore nature, hike, and write about my experiments with minimizing.

What and how much is truly needed for happiness?
I invite you to join me in uncovering the answer.

Mariya Bee wrote:I'm seeking a place where I can stay for free and offer the skills that I can in exchange.

It could be helpful for you to inventory what skills you have and how much time you could provide in laboring in those skills. All arrangements we know about are either paid or bartered. For example, we have someone staying with us that contributes X amount of hours, using the skills she has, in exchange for a place to stay and utilities.

Their are opportunities at Wheaton Labs and some other places that take cash or work in exchange as well that I have read about on this forum.

Our experience has been that our culture prefers convenience. That has to be purchased with money. You get the money by trading your time for it.

It is possible to remove money from the equation but you typically cannot remove the labor/time. If we want to heat our home without using electricity/propane/heating oil, we will save money by not buying those things. The tradeoff is that we have to process firewood using our labor/time. In the end, I suppose we just shift the focus of the time from employment/money to the property/food/water/heat.

Homesteading, living off grid, off the land, self sufficient, self reliant, or whatever category you want to be in typically involves a great deal of labor getting set up and a decent amount of labor to keep things going.

In a community situation, you can specialize and share the labor burden better. As an individual, you can minimize to food/water/heat to minimize the labor burden.

When you do encounter an opportunity, you will have already take your own inventory and may be more prepared for a discussion on the particulars.

Hi Mariya,

   I would recommend visiting the Lama Foundation north of Taos. I went there for a few days and ended up staying for a week and would've stayed longer but for a prior engagement. You can reach out to them and see if they might be what you're looking for via their website, but they are closed for the season (only residents now) and open up again in late spring. there are opportunities for stewardship and eventual residency.
I had such a wonderful and spiritual experience there a few months ago, that I am planning on going back again this coming spring.

PS) You could purple moosage me for more info as well.

Thank you for the suggestion! I suppose I'll include: in my new post, in the title, I wrote that I also need help getting to the place of choice. I'm very low on money at the moment and don't travel alone...., don't drive either.

College campuses used to have bulletin boards where folks looking for rides and those offering them could connect....back in the day when connections were made offline😊

I think, it sounds like what you are looking for is some kind person with some money to pay your way for a week long retreat and someone to travel with you?

Are you interested in a work trade situation?

So many folks are wanting to 'get out of town' it might be helpful to list things you would be willing to do as trade?

I understand your need...I picked up and left an urban environment in my early twenties and hitchhiked to the west coast a couple times then settled in a walk in wooded area with a partially built cabin and like minded folks...it was the right choice for me.

Judith Browning wrote:College campuses used to have bulletin boards where folks looking for rides and those offering them could connect....back in the day when connections were made offline😊

I think, it sounds like what you are looking for is some kind person with some money to pay your way for a week long retreat and someone to travel with you?

Are you interested in a work trade situation?

So many folks are wanting to 'get out of town' it might be helpful to list things you would be willing to do as trade?

I understand your need...I picked up and left an urban environment in my early twenties and hitchhiked cross country a couple times then settled in a walk in wooded area with a partially built cabin and like minded folks...it was the right choice for me.

That's so awesome!

Yes, very interested in work trade. I can teach Russian or English to Russians. I can cook. I make great crepes! I am interested in learning more things that I can do in the country even if it means waking up at 5 am, I already wake up early. Just don't lift heavy weights and stay out of the sun between 8 am and sunset hours. But open to working in the shade.
I can teach meditation techniques and relaxation/somatic therapy techniques. I had a certificate as a meditation and relaxation coach. I'd love to help folks get offline and reconnect with nature.

I'm very sensitive to my environments and it feels like I need to move ASAP from the city. I moved once before this year from an abusive household and loud neighborhood, and now the city itself feels abusive.