Just finished a new shower-sauna and trying to get a new woodshed built before winter sets in. Nights are already into the 30’s and it has snowed in a few places nearby. Summers go by quickly, never enough time to get everything done before the snow arrives. I’m 12 years into living in remote Alaska, solo. Feel free to ask me questions and I’ll try to answer them all. Love this lifestyle more and more as the time passes.

Hello wonderful peoples!!! Talk to me about your experience moving kids off the grid. I grew up outside, farming, climbing trees, being in the creek. Outhouse, outdoor shower, no tv, no internet. I am very comfortable being off grid and prefer it, so we are moving to an off grid community! I have a 10 year old son who homeschools and spends a lot of his time on screens. We have visited the community for a few days and even a week long visit so he knows where we are going and what to expect already. I know there will be an adjustment period where he hates everything and everyone and that we will get through it eventually and be better for it. Just wanting to hear from those that are on the other side already!

So I have just about had it with society

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I currently am paying my mortage on a home that I purchased in 2014 in St. Paul, Minnesota and like clockwork my taxes just keep going up and everything else is just getting more and more expensive. I have always sorta had a pretty self sufficient mindset and despite having a pretty small space I have numerous vegetable gardens and a greenhouse. I have previously built two tiny cabins on my parents land in northern MN and being a homeowner and being just consistently low-income I feel generally pretty confident that I can fix most things when they break if I can figure out the parts or tools I need.

I am seriously considering selling my home and just getting out to something simpler (and cheaper). I work 100% remotely in customer service and I am pretty secure having worked for the same company for more 12 years at this point. I have two daughter 50% custody and we have been homeschooling since the pandemic.

My question to the community is has anyone here been where I am?

I am not wealthy, I make like 40k a year and feel just completely broke all the time, I am working a lot to make ends meet and even then I am always seeming to fall behind when things don't go right for a variety of reasons. I have like 126k left on my mortgage and the current taxable value is like 255k, I refinanced before interest rates when crazy and I was put on leave due to the pandemic so while my payments are lower than most people the city just raised my taxes and I am paying like 1200 a month .... on top of everything else it's just becoming too much.

I have no idea how to sell my house or how much I might get for it or if I should take my savings (it's not much) and try to buy a property first and then sell my house or what ... I have been watching youtube videos of people that seem to be just scamming for clicks and not providing the info I really need.

Can anyone here just give me some solid advice on how you've managed to do what you've done and what steps to take here?

any info is appreciated.

Hiiii guys!!! For those already living off‑grid, what was the single most practical step that made the transition easier? Was it learning to grow food, setting up solar, water collection, or something else? I’m curious what you’d recommend as the first focus for someone just starting out.

I don’t mean finding some horrible problem after you bought it. I mean something you genuinely loved when you first saw the property. The creek. Huge trees. A long private driveway. Being way back in the woods. A pond. A steep hillside. Miles from the nearest neighbor. Something that made you think “this is exactly why I want this place” and then after actually living there you realized it created way more work, expense, or headaches than you ever expected. What was yours? And knowing what you know now, would it actually stop you from buying the property again?

A lot of people were saying that I would have a lingering death, I would be dead in a week, or I wouldn’t survive.. I just wanted to say that I, (like I said, 16f), have been hospitalized 31 times for suicide attempts. I have been clean for a few months now, but it’s still at the back of my mind. I wouldn’t say this is a suicide mission, but I say this because if I don’t escape the life I’m living now, I WILL die. I would rather die knowing I took a chance and lived my dream, than dying from my anorexia or other mental health issues.

Also, if you’re wondering why I didn’t edit the post, all of the people who responded wouldn’t see. And I didn’t want to respond to 100+ people about this.

Thank you to the people who gave tips and supported! I’m not hating on any of you, I’m just giving context.
<3 :)

I just want somewhere to exist in my van where its legal to camp for the usual BLM time period but both easily accessible by van and unpopular.

Obviously a unicorn spot but I don't care about scenery. The only requirement is it not be in a state with worse outdoor roach activity than say Ohio.

I think the ideal spot would be remote and boring to look at so that its overlooked by most vanlifers due to not being scenic and far enough from social services it doesn't attract tweakers as being a convenient spot.

I’m 16f and I am TIRED of how humans (myself included) live..

Most of us are glued to our phones, sit around a lot (regular resting is okay.. I mean bed rotting and being a couch potato), play video games that don’t have any real meaning to real life, etc.

Then there’s the fact that you’re spending your whole life in school, and then getting a job where you work 12+ hour shifts almost everyday to make someone else profit. (I’m not including healthcare and having your own business).

We live in a messed up world, and I’m so done with it.

I want to spend the rest of my teenaged years learning and preparing for living off grid.

When I say off grid, I don’t mean making a gas stove, getting electricity, having a working plumbing system, etc. I want it to be ALL NATURAL. Hunt for my food, cook my food on a fire, build my own shelter, build my own tools, (I already have experience making working stone tools, like axes), use fire/the sun for light, etc.

The idea of becoming someone who works 9-5 jobs, lives in a giant white-walled house with marble countertops and no personality grosses me out..

I just want to live off the land.

Does anyone have any tips or feedback about this? It’s okay if not.

I imagine that communes or work-exchange programs are the most similar to this? I don't know anybody in real-life who would go live off-grid with me. What sites online are good for this?

I’m currently 26 stuck living in my hometown with virtually no job opportunities. I have no money, no car, no assets, etc. to move to a city where there’s jobs

For now, I’ve been reading about agriculture and farming from a few books I have. But I have no prior farming or agriculture experience.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

For the people here who have actually been living off grid for a few years, has it gotten easier or do you just get better at dealing with the problems?

I feel like from the outside you assume once you get the solar, water, heat, shelter, etc figured out, life probably settles down.

But I also imagine there’s always something. Battery issues, weather, animals, equipment breaking, running out of something you forgot to stock up on.

Does there ever come a point where your setup feels pretty much dialed in and you can just enjoy it?

Or is constantly fixing and improving things basically part of the lifestyle forever?

I’m genuinely curious what year 1 vs year 5 looks like for people doing this long term.

I think I'll just go with solar ...but I don't need this idea ...but your welcome to it , of course , it's probably been done ...instead of a wood burning pellets that require electricity maybe a "wind up " like a clock or dynamo or slightly bigger ...spring loaded ...

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Solar is expensive, but at least you can usually price it out. Septic can completely change whether a piece of land works.

I've been looking at rural parcels where the acreage and price looked great, but once you look at the soil and the actual site layout, the places you'd want to put the house aren't necessarily the places where you can put the septic system.

Then you have setbacks from wells, property lines, creeks, flood areas, reserve drainfield requirements, etc.

That's why I like looking at the soil maps and county requirements before getting too attached to a property.

A cheap 5 acres isn't much of a deal if you can't find a workable spot for the house and septic.

It's one of the first things I'd check before buying land for an off grid build.

For us, it’s the absolute freedom of dropping anchor on the Lake wherever the horizon looks best, without sacrificing a single comfort of a modern home.

Running a full solar setup means true energy independence: no noisy generator interrupting the sound of the nature, no burning fuel just to keep the AC on, and no rushing back to a marina every few days. Paired with a solid fresh watermaker, we’ve got unlimited fresh water, a cold fridge, hot showers, and high-speed internet wherever we end up. It’s the ultimate mix of OFF-GRID self-reliance and total comfort surrounded by nature and 360 panoramic lake view.

For those of you living off grid (or dreaming about it): what’s the single best part for you?

Is it zero electricity bills, or just the freedom and independence?

My totally off grid ever evolving spot in the woods. It's up in stilts because the water gets that high after a good rain and during the spring thaw. Was wide open when I got it but I've since added Bluetti batteries for my 120v needs (charged by solar). And a bank of car batteries that also charge by solar. Those batteries run all of the lighting, the hot water heater, water pump... anything 12vdc.

Added some stairs to the loft after 5 years of climbing a ladder and then all the ideas starting coming. Not there's a toilet under the stairs, a 3x4 shower in the corner all connected to a water tank and waste tank i just put in last week.