Off Grid

Perhaps it’s because we’re related to the famous woodsman Jeremiah Johnson (played by Robert Redford in the image above) but we can’t resist the call of the wild. When a soft snow falls, we get itchy for the woods, and long to hear nothing but the soft crunch of boots on snow. In winter, especially, nature beckons us off grid, and we comply.

Not everyone can go off grid, but there are various levels of Abandoning the Grid, depending on your aversion to risk and sense of adventure. Starting with the lowest levels and rising to the extreme, read on for how you can go off grid, step by step until you find your happy place.

De-clutter:

Stuff gets in the way of living. If you have too much stuff, you become a slave to it. It rules you. You spend all your time taking care of it, instead of taking care of you.

Downsize:

Once you’ve de-cluttered you’ll have room to breathe. If you’re ready to go further consider getting rid of even more. If you haven’t used it in the last year you probably don’t need it. When you have cleared out all the stuff you don’t use and don’t need, you’ll realize you have more space than you need, too. That’s just more to clean, more to care for, more to worry over. Time to move into a smaller place. The upswing is that with a smaller place, you’ll spend less on rent or mortgage payments and you can save for travel, retirement or an early cube abandonment. Bigger isn’t better. With a small place, you’ll find you spend more time with the people you love, doing activities you love.

Cabin in the Woods:

Going off grid conjures up images of bearded hippies in the deep woods with solar paneled cabins and hand-pumped water, but it isn’t that black and white. Lots of people want to be self sufficient for their energy needs, and that is possible with solar power. Outhouses work great, and there isn’t much reason to crap into perfectly filtered, clean water anyways. Going off grid means getting closer to nature, and it’s the next logical step after downsizing.

Little House/ Mobile House:

If cabin in the woods isn’t your thing, try the new little house movement, or ditch most of your possessions and get mobile in a trailer or mobile home. The benefits here are vast. For one, you don’t need to own property, so you can cut the property taxes and property upkeep costs of the off grid lifestyle. Second, you’re mobile so you can go wherever you want. You’re unchained. You’re free.

Nomad:

If you can do it, ditch it all and live on the road, then this gypsy-nomad lifestyle is liberating, rewarding and bold. You’ll be in good company if you go nomad, too. There have been whole nomadic populations who were happy, content, and free. True, there are a lot of things to coordinate and organize to be a nomad, but if you can do it and do it well, then more power to you.