Future Homesteaders Needing Help

https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/alaskan-adventure-for-two/x/10118162

We are a young, creative, energetic couple who have been searching for some time for both an advantageous piece of vacant Alaskan property, and the resources to construct our dream of living minimally in an efficient tiny house. We’re all too familiar with living in crammed quarters, as it’s pretty much what we’ve amounted to for the majority of our relationship, and we’ve come to prefer it.

Our decision of making a return to nature was born out of our desire to escape the cityscape and live deliberately as part of building a much greater relationship with the world around us. We’ve come to understand how we’d like to raise a family in the future with self-sufficiency and eco-friendly sustainability being the foundation for the lifestyle change that we are desperate for. With few strings attached to our current place of residence in Portland, Oregon, we are finally reaching a place of financial independence where this homesteading Alaskan dream might soon become a reality. We’ve really only ever considered Alaska as the place where we’d like to put down roots and, at some point, begin raising a family.

The irony of asking others for help, while trying to become self-sufficient, is something we both recognize. But unlike some of our heroes, Henry David Thoreau, Dick Proenneke, and others, we have the opportunity to share our journey with like-minded people through social media capturing step by step our successes and failures. We will be setting up a private YouTube channel with weekly updates that will show our process moving from the busy city life of Portland, Oregon to a small farmstead in remote Alaska. Once there, we will be illustrating each challenge we face and new skills we obtain. This is what we have to offer to anyone willing to help us achieve our modern day adventure (click the link at the top to contribute). Eventually, we plan to congregate our footage to produce a documentary.

Energy efficiency, respect for the land and animals around us, as well as care and concern for the people around us, all falls under a moral concern that we share in having social accountability for how we are choosing to live. We are attempting to reduce our waste and manage our resources more thoughtfully and responsibly in our daily lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hear us out!

I am concerned that if you cannot come up with 7 grand that you are in for a whole lot of heart ache when you get out there. Everything always costs more and takes longer than you expected. Not only will you need money for your home and property but extra money for the rain (or in this case snow) that absolutely WILL fall on your heads. A financial umbrella, so to speak.

So, while I enjoy your enthusiasm I would suggest that you put off your dream until you can afford it yourselves.

As Dave Ramsey (who you should look into) says, "Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and follow it."

So, get yourselves a plan that includes paying for your dreams.

I've watched a number of people around me attempt to "live off the land", homestead, small farm, or whatever you wish to call it. The common denominator of those who failed was lack of previous knowledge and experience. Those who survived either had a cash cushion to fall back on while they gained experience, or it wasn't their first time trying to do it. They brought knowledge and skill with them.

I started my own homesteading adventure (having come from crowded New Jersey) I brought what I thought was enough knowledge and skill, which woefully proved to be inadequate. Luckily I had a financial cushion to survive on until I acquired experience. Luckily I am in Hawaii where I wouldn't freeze to death, die of thirst, die from hunger, or roast while I struggled to live. Looking back, I should have practiced my future lifestyle and learned as much as I could for a year before making the plunge. What a shock going from grid electric to zero, piped in water to rain catchment, sewage to cesspool, heat and air conditioning to zero, comfortable housing to 2x4s and a roof, local shopping malls to nothing, friends to nobody, medical hospitals and doctors everywhere to a rural clinic (I was lucky to have even just that), 5 minutes to town for supplies to 2 hours and a poor selection, Internet to none, telephone to none, TV to none, income to none, buying food to .........gee I thought I was really going to be able to live off the land? I lost 50 lbs the first year and almost lost my marriage. Restless but reasonably content to worried, stressed, bouts of depression and despair. It took a good year to make the switch emotionally, psychologically, physically, mentally in general.

I wish you the best adventure, but I would suggest that as a pioneer you should hope to be better prepared than we were. Perhaps a year being one of a Paul's ants would give you the skills to survive Alaska. Or some other practice session somewhere else, ya know, a stepping stone so to speak. May your future be interesting!

Su Ba wrote:I've watched a number of people around me attempt to "live off the land", homestead, small farm, or whatever you wish to call it. The common denominator of those who failed was lack of previous knowledge and experience. Those who survived either had a cash cushion to fall back on while they gained experience, or it wasn't their first time trying to do it. They brought knowledge and skill with them.

I started my own homesteading adventure (having come from crowded New Jersey) I brought what I thought was enough knowledge and skill, which woefully proved to be inadequate. Luckily I had a financial cushion to survive on until I acquired experience. Luckily I am in Hawaii where I wouldn't freeze to death, die of thirst, die from hunger, or roast while I struggled to live. Looking back, I should have practiced my future lifestyle and learned as much as I could for a year before making the plunge. What a shock going from grid electric to zero, piped in water to rain catchment, sewage to cesspool, heat and air conditioning to zero, comfortable housing to 2x4s and a roof, local shopping malls to nothing, friends to nobody, medical hospitals and doctors everywhere to a rural clinic (I was lucky to have even just that), 5 minutes to town for supplies to 2 hours and a poor selection, Internet to none, telephone to none, TV to none, income to none, buying food to .........gee I thought I was really going to be able to live off the land? I lost 50 lbs the first year and almost lost my marriage. Restless but reasonably content to worried, stressed, bouts of depression and despair. It took a good year to make the switch emotionally, psychologically, physically, mentally in general.

I wish you the best adventure, but I would suggest that as a pioneer you should hope to be better prepared than we were. Perhaps a year being one of a Paul's ants would give you the skills to survive Alaska. Or some other practice session somewhere else, ya know, a stepping stone so to speak. May your future be interesting!

So well said Su Ba....

I really want to help people in this situation. All the enthusiasm in the world is not the only skill you need....but boy it helps!

My mantra to all new homesteaders is:

Start small
Start slow
Start low tech and
Remember you are a newbie - ask , ask and ask for help, advice and assistance.