About "Our Life in the Wild"

Not that long ago everyone on the planet lived off grid. Our cattle ranching neighbors have lived this way for generations. They don't call it off-grid. It's just ranching. For millions of people around the world rural living is normal life.

Last week I stumbled upon a Facebook page about living off the grid. It has more than half a million likes! I was sort of surprised that there were that many people who dream of getting out of the city into the woods. I then did a Google search on off grid living. I found dozens of sites with focuses running the gamut from environmental sustainability to doomsday prepping. People want to live closer to nature, spend more time with their families, work from home, get away from what they feel is an intrusive government, or get set up to survive a major societal infrastructure collapse. All of them believe that living off grid is the answer.

For the purposes of this website, I am going to define the phrase, “off-grid,” as living without any physical connection to a public utility. That means no connection to public electricity, water or natural gas pipelines, and no telephone or cable television wires, either. If you are using propane, cell-phones or satellite internet, but aren’t connected to the rest of the world by wires or pipes, you are still off-grid in my book.

We don’t know everything about off-grid living but I figured that I could share how we do things here and maybe help people get a realistic understanding of what it’s like. It’s a lot of work! If you are thinking of going off-grid to have an easier life, you might be in for a surprise.

The creation of the electrical grid was a great boon to society and people ate it up. Natural gas delivered right into your home was a wonderful thing. Modern conveniences promised to save people so much work and make their lives more comfortable. And they did, for the most part. As for us, we don’t mind the work. It’s good clean work, absent of politics and deception. The air is clean, nature is beautiful, and we like the quiet. But easy, it is not.

I feel that I have some qualifications to be able to write this blog. First, I wasn’t born or raised on a farm or ranch. I was born in Chicago and raised in Southern California by parents who were also raised in the city. I discovered the wonders of the woods when I was a teen and would spend every weekend out exploring the mountains and the deserts. I didn’t like living in the city so I moved to a small mountain town and then ended up further out. That was in 1991.

I have lived off-grid for about 5 years in two different locations. Because of my having lived in the city and off-grid, I have an understanding of the differences and similarities. I have made the journey that many of you hope to make. Because of my work experience, I think I have good technical information to share. See this article, “How We Got Here,” if you want to read our particular story.

So, there you have it. Our Life in the Wild will contain stories of how we live off-grid in the mountain west and practical information that you might find helpful if you are going to live off-grid or even if you already live off-grid. Some of the articles may seem discouraging to a few of you. But my intention is not to discourage but to empower. If you are going to give off-grid living a try, I’d like to help you have the best chances of success by providing useful information.

It’s not easy, but it is do-able and there are many rewards for this kind of life. Get out there and DO IT!