Why are you off the grid? What is the point?
We wanted to live in Vermont, and fell in love with a piece of land without a house on it. We were completely new to building (we had only built a chicken coop prior to our house), and had a limited budget. We knew we didn’t want to take a mortgage to build, so we went with the most basic cabin we could reasonably build in a short time. We figured we would add features and utilities as money would allow. 5 years in, and we still are fine with not having running water, a constant supply of electricity.
This is a less stressful life for us: being in control, having awesome projects, doing whatever we want with what we have.
How did you educate yourself on these matters?
We learned everything from youtube videos, talking to neighbors and friends who have built their own home too.
Why Vermont in particular?
We were looking for a place that was not too religious (having moved from the most religious state in the US), that was closer to Europe so family can visit (we are both from Europe originally), not too hot (we like long winters), that was rural but with a university we could work at. We applied for jobs in several states that met those criteria, and moved to Vermont soon after. We have been here for close to 9 years.
Was it Utah?
Yes.
What’s your toilet arrangement like?
We have one of those RV toilets we empty once a week in our septic. It’s not perfect, but it works (and doesn’t smell bad surprisingly)
Whats the water situation like?
We have a well. We carry water in for baths in the winter, carry water for drinking once or twice a day. In the summer, we take baths/shower outside (it’s the best). For laundry, I go to the laundromat in the winter, I wash cloth by hand in the summer. Hoping to do it in the winter once we have a bathroom and more space
What’s your typical day to day life? Like do you spend a large amount of time getting the basic utilities for the day?
Our typical day involves a lot of moving water. We start the day moving wood in for the day, getting water for showers and dishes and consumption on the stove in the morning so we have hot water throughout the day. Feeding the fire is a big task, as wood is our only heat source. It gets cold in the winter in Vermont. In January/February, we have to wake up every hour and a half to feed it. There’s a lot of baking and cooking, things are a bit different on a woodstove. On a weekly basis: We spend time weeding the gardens, weeding the orchard, splitting wood, getting wood from our woodlot. There’s always a project that disrupts the flow of daily life.
You have to feed your stove that often?
Our woodstove is not very efficient, it’s a cookstove first, but it heats the home. We built an addition on our tiny house last year, and now have a second real woodstove. We are hoping that it will burn wood slower.
Given that it gets pretty cold in Vermont during the winter, how much wood do you chop for that? (do you buy some, or gather it all yourselves?)
We gather it on our land. We use about 3 cords I think, but it’s pretty hard to say because we usually run out way before winter ends, and we just cut down Ash tree (you can burn it green) as we go. This year though, we are starting the season with oak, and plenty of maples. We hope one day to have a few years of surplus. One day
What’s the toughest day you’ve had off the grid? Ever consider grabbing a hotel room for the night?
We went to a hotel for two nights once, because it was too hot and even though we tried to cool the house down, we just couldn’t (don’t try the cooler with ice and a fan trick, it doesn’t work folks). I was breastfeeding at the time, and was so dehydrated from the heat I wasn’t producing milk. So to the hotel we went for two nights.
It wasn’t really a tough day. The hardest day was probably when I came home from the hospital with a newborn and a csection, barely able to move. Our living arrangements include a lot of physical labor (carrying wood in, feeding the fire, heck, just taking a shower means carrying water around). It wasn’t hard physically because my husband and son were super helpful and I didn’t really have to do anything, but it was hard mentally. I questioned a LOT why we were doing this, instead of living in suburbia somewhere closer to family.
Do you go to the store to get food/supplies ever? If so, how often? For what? And what changes in the retail industry could be made to make more people less reliant on them?
I go to the store all the time. Even though the goal is to one day have at least 90% of our food supply covered by our gardens/animals, we are at least 5 years away from that goal. We still buy clothes too at thrift shops, and we buy feed for our chickens. We rely heavily on Amazon for weird stuff we would never be able to find, special tools to build. It has saved us a ton of trips to stores. I don’t know about changes in the retail industry, I think society needs to work on overconsumption though.
What do you and your husband do for work?
My husband is a sys admin. I was a librarian, but quit my job after 8 months of living off grid. I was enjoying being on the land more than my job.
I have kept a few side jobs for my sanity and to bring a bit of money in. I am a freelance reporter for a local newspaper, do communication for the school in town, am a recording secretary for school boards.
How do you handle sharing the responsibilities of raising your children?
As for sharing responsibilities with raising children… Well, we have fallen in our gender roles. I do the cooking, tending the gardens, doing laundry, taking care of the children, and he does the building houses, doing the heavy lifting. It happened slowly, and part of me hates the fact that I am happy in this situation (I was raised by a stay at home mom, and vowed to never be ‘just’ a mom).
Are your kid homeschooled?
We have a great public elementary school right down the road. We also speak French at home, and I don’t think I have it in me to homeschool. If he is ever discontent with the school, maybe, but at this point, we are very happy.
Our town doesn’t have a high school, so we are a “sending town”, which means that you can send your kid to any middle/high school you want, and they will pay the tuition.
Will you discourage your kids from playing video games/watching movies at friends houses when they get older?
My oldest is 8, he plays Minecraft on the ipad sometimes. All our friends and a lot of his friends in his classroom have the same values as we do. He spends a lot of time outside, and we do too. We do Friday movies on a laptop, and watch a movie as a family that day. In the winter, he gets to watch shows on Saturday morning if he wants to. He gets to watch tv and stuff if he is super bored, but it rarely happens.
Do you feel you are setting your children up to live a more challenging life given their friends and schoolmates will have different experiences and have “more” in terms of electronics, clothes, normalized food, etc.?
Kids all have a different experience, no matter what their background. We do the majority of the work, his classmates also have woodstoves, etc. His friends also don’t have unlimited access to video games, and spend time outside. He has a pretty normal childhood compared to his peers. He has two parents at home, one who is there all the time. Has no financial issues, no food insecurities. They live in one of the safest states in the US. He will do just fine.
What do you do in a medical emergency?
We go to the hospital
Did you recieve any negative feedback for this choice?
Not really where we live. Vermont and our town in particular has seen waves of back-to-the-landers in the 60s/70s. Our town also doesn’t have any zoning or permit needed to build a dwelling, so this is not completely unusual. People are usually curious about our living arrangements.
What would you say is the biggest misconception on “back-to-the-landers” have?
I just finished reading Educated and The Great Alone, which are two popular books about people moving off-grid/being off-grid for the wrong reasons. Popular culture likes to depict people chosing an alternative lifestyle because they are mentally ill, violent, paranoid about the government’s intentions.
We send our kids to public schools, are vaccinated, didn’t have homebirths, and are non-religious.
What do you enjoy the most about your life style? Would you want to change anything about your way of living?
It’s gonna sound super cheesy, but the freedom it gives us. To be living very comfortably on one income, and with the hope to not have that income in 15 years (hoping to retire early). We also don’t have a mortgage, and knowing that no matter what, we have a house, food we can grow, it feels good. I am super anxious about the future, ecoanxiety I think is the new term. But it feels reassuring to know I am doing my best, and I will be able to tell my kids that.
Is there anything you would have differently if you could start the project over again and live off the grid?
Mmmmm… Do it earlier. Also, go to trade school instead (or in combination with) of college (I have a French Literature degree…), learn something useful like electrician or mechanic.
Would you say it’s cheaper or more expensive to live off-grid?
Depends what kind of off-grid setting you want. Some people have regular houses, and all the modern amenities. We were able to build our house from scratch for less than $10,000
Do you think that it would be realistic for a majority of the population to go off-grid?
Realistic, no. And I don’t think people should anyway. It’s a lot of hard work, it’s not for everyone. But I think some aspect of it would be beneficial to society. Like growing your food, at least knowing how your food is made. Spending more time in nature. Being reconnected to some basic skills.
Theodore Lee is the editor of Caveman Circus. He strives for self-improvement in all areas of his life, except his candy consumption, where he remains a champion gummy worm enthusiast. When not writing about mindfulness or living in integrity, you can find him hiding giant bags of sour patch kids under the bed.