While this is written by someone who loves spending time in wilderness locations and off-grid, this is not exactly a sales pitch. From our promotional video that details the challenging road conditions and clearly states “not turn-key, not for everyone,” to our sober descriptions that we have zero municipal services in our ideal communities, living off-grid is not for everyone. We are not trying to blast our marketing message out to the masses, because we are not trying to convince you (or anyone) that living off-grid represents your slice of paradise. Our marketing efforts are more focused on seeking kindred spirits; we want to find people who want to live off-grid.
You know, weirdos. Like us.
So what kind of weirdo wants to live off-grid?
It’s often someone (like me) who loves spending time in nature. It’s often someone who enjoys thinking about and engaging in some or all of the following activities and pursuits:
- Homesteading
- Hunting
- Fishing
- Camping
- Using permaculture principles to design their home and yard
And it is often someone with a low tolerance for mindless urban conformity.
What do I mean by mindless urban conformity?
Consider for a moment the white picket fence and front lawn we are all supposed to aspire to. There are municipalities where the planning presumes what we all want in front of our homes, is a green space that demands work and effort while producing neither food for humans nor habitat for any wild creatures. The front lawn is supposed to be a non-edible expanse of single-species, mono-culture (yes, I’m aware I just stated the same thing twice – it was for emphasis). That’s how homes and developments are built, right? A construction company comes along, tears out everything and anything nature grew on the site and puts down carpets of well-groomed sod in front of the newly-built structure.
For some of us, the stupidity of wasting our time and/or resources on keeping sod tidy, when we could be growing food, (or better yet) we could have left some native and possibly edible species right where mother nature put them, is an unnecessary negative life experience. Our idea of the good life, spares us this stupidity.
Consider the case of Moncton Urbanite Sylvain Ward, who built some garden boxes and planted vegetables on his front lawn with his kid. He likely did not consider his actions to be an act of horticultural disobedience, but someone complained to the city and the city in turn asked him to remove his vegetable garden. Mr. Ward talked to the city further and convinced the planners to look into this (apparently) radical act of using one’s own property to grow food, and reconsider. The planners eventually looked up various city practices and bylaws across Canada and decided that a vegetable garden on one’s front lawn should be acceptable in Moncton.
An urbanite with no interest in wandering off-grid might point out that this story had a happy ending, right? Sylvain Ward and his kid got a permission slip to keep their veggies. People who wish to live off-grid may instead prefer to forgo paying a municipal bureaucrat a salary to research best practices across the country, before coming to the conclusion that a home owner growing vegetables on his own property does not pose a collective problem and therefore does not require collective resources allocated to it for a collective solution. (Please forgive me if my writing sounds like policy-speak. I was trained as an economist in my twenties and have been in recovery every since).
An interesting misconception about people who want to live off-grid is that we are doing it in order to pay less in taxes. I suppose if by paying less tax, one means, not paying for services we are not getting, that would be true. I believe I have already mentioned, the areas we look at for communities do not receive any services at all, meaning, no city water, no electrical hook-up, no natural gas, no sewers, no garbage pick-up. So do we want to pay for services we don’t get?
Of course not. Do you?
So if the white, picket fence and grassy lawn leave people like me indifferent at best and condescending at worst, what do people who want to live off-grid aspire to instead?
Well, to begin with, the land I’m working with already has a number of native and edible species growing right on it, without any human work involved at all. So here’s a thought: what if we let mother nature continue to grow wild blueberries, raspberries, wild rose bushes and hazelnuts on my dream property? How can I put a tiny home in place that preserves the native species and food that are already here? This is the kind of contemplation and consideration that keeps me living the good life.
My ideal “picket fence” is actually bushes like wild rose, raspberries and junipers, while my ideal lawn includes expanses of wild blueberry bushes. I also may set up some areas for growing squash, beans, potatoes and herbs. This is for an ideal off-grid home in Northern Ontario, Canada. If my ideal home were in El Salvador, I’d look to the plants and trees mother nature has growing down there first and then make my plans accordingly.
Generally, we find our best match in clients among people who are interested in learning more about any or all of the topics listed above (homesteading, permaculture, hunting, trapping and fishing). We also know we are on the right track when we find people interested in learning how to set up and properly operate off-grid equipment like solar and/or wind technology, how to use waterless toilets and what to look for when purchasing this equipment. And because we aim to work in community, we get a whole range of knowledge and skill sets to draw from. The experienced homesteaders among us teach the newbies. The engineers among us teach us how to think about off-grid energy production.
As always, this is not turn-key and it is not for everyone.
But…
Are you up for the challenge?
Are you the kind of weirdo I’m looking for?
Off the Grid Communities
Opportunities to join off-grid communities, on wilderness land with people who value freedom and living in harmony with nature.
Updated August 23, 2023