Living off the Grid, While Keeping Your Sanity

While living off the grid might sound easy, it really isn't as easy as you would think. As I look outside and see the 5 foot of snow we have and the ½ mile I have to walk to get to my vehicle, I shudder at the word easy. In this case, easy and simple have two completely different meanings to me. Why would we want to expose ourselves to this way of life? Well, because it is a simpler way of life even if it's not an easier way.

We left behind the fast-paced big city life several years ago, and have been surviving this way since then. No electricity (except for what our generator gives us), and no running water. Where we live, doesn't even have an address for mail, not yet at least. We do have an outhouse and believe me when I say it's cold out there in the winter time, we are in the Northern United States, after all. But, we love it, and wouldn't change anything right now. Our bellies are full, and our pets are happy, and so are we most of the time.

Does not having running water become a disadvantage at times? Yes, it does indeed, I wouldn't lie about that. Having to fill water bottles, in our case 2-liter pop bottles and some milk jugs, is a bit of a pain, but then again, the water is free. At the moment because of the walk to the truck, we limit filling our bottles to haul up to our place on a sled, because they do get heavy. In their place, we use what Mother Nature has given us—snow. Yes, we collect the snow in our tote, melt it, and bam! we have natural water better than anything you'll ever get at the store or out of a spigot. We have all the water we'll need right out the front door, no need to go into town. On that note, we also have the biggest fridge/freezer just by using the outdoors. No, we don't have a fridge, remember, no power.

So now you're asking how we keep out food fresh and cold so we can fill our bellies? By using the great outdoors and coolers. Considering the arctic blast we've had recently, every bit of food we have stored is either frozen or cold, thus, fresh. When it's time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we just go in our cooler like we would a fridge and pick out what we feel like eating at the time. We cook on our little butane one burner stove that we have. The little thing works like a charm. In the summer months, we cook over the fire outside, or on the grill.

Along with no water, the long walk to the truck because of our snowy two track, no electricity, we also have no television or wi-fi. Don't faint, it's not as bad as it sounds. I thought I'd miss the television and cable, but apparently that's is not the case. We spend time listening to the radio, 24 hours a day, and actually interacting with each other on all different levels. How am I writing this article without Wi-Fi? I have data on my cell phone that comes with a hotspot to hook up to my computer, which is a laptop, by the way, not a desktop. I keep it charged with the generator as well our phones and radio.

What it boils down to is this: we have a small two-bedroom cabin, and few fur babies, and we've been married for over 20 years so close quarters and working together is not a new aspect of our lives. With each other, we help keep things simple and both work at keeping our off the grid living situation tolerable and by working together as a team we can keep our sanity and our marriage out of the woods, so to speak!