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Off the Grid, but Still Online

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Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#121

Post by grecy »

ecobiker wrote: post #17

(Disclaimer: Slightly off-topic. Also, it's not my intention to belittle their lifestyle. I hope I don't come across that way.) Some of the things they need even in this disconnected lifestyle - like the mobile home, laptops, books, solar panels, batteries and even the slippers have to be made by someone doing a 9-5 job somewhere. The idea of civilization to me is to take advantage of these specialists who are really…

You're absolutely right, but the point means nothing.

Capitalism says that if a person wants to work 100+ hours a week and drive a Porsche, they can.

If another person only wants to work 10 hours a week and walk everywhere, they can.

Simply because Porsche sell $200K+ cars, does not mean I'm obligated to work enough to pay for that.

>have to be made by someone doing a 9-5 job somewhere

Actually, the person making those things could also have chosen to live a simpler life and only be working part time. It's their choice.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#122

Post by grecy »

talsraviv wrote: post #120

The comments here are really thought provoking. I feel like I'm missing something - is there some kind of unmentioned catch, like don't get sick, or you have to have really good workers/health/disability insurance - to make this work safely long term? I love the contrarian thinking but want to make sure I'm accounting for legitimate cases my young mind might not conceive of. Or am I overthinking it?

> is there some kind of unmentioned catch

Speaking from experience, the catch is you won't get to live the life of convenience and luxury that marketing has been pushing down your throat for the last 20+ years.

When you work less, you have less money, which means you spend less money, which means you often do things for yourself. Oil changes can be dirty, chopping wood can be hard work, and canning vegetables is a loooong process.

If you are afraid of hard work and want life to be "easy", by all means keep going to work and simply pay for everything. On the other hand, hard work is extremely rewarding, especially when it's for your own survival.

It's a choice, you're free to make it either way you want. I wish more people knew it was a choice they can make.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#123

Post by otto »

dmm wrote: post #112
rboyd wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My fiance and I left Chicago (and $1700/mo) in July for this kind of middle ground. I cross-referenced national fiber optic rollout with low population/rural areas and we found a few acres with 1gbps FTTH in the Lake of the Ozarks area. Our place came with an existing 2 bedroom home with existing private well and electric, all-in we bought for under 2 years worth of Chicago rent. Our home is/was a bit of a fixer-uppe…

Lake of the Ozarks? That's so cool! I'm in California MO a little north of there. We should be friends! You said you had a few acres. Are you planning a garden for the spring?

I hear there is fiber in California MO too!

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#124

Post by christiangenco »

Oh hey, my wife and I just started doing this kind of thing.

We bought a 2002 23-foot RV for $15k and renovated it to nicer furnishings than our $1.2k/month apartment near Dallas where she was working.

Now we live in it full time! We're only a month in, but it's been a blast, and something I can see doing for the foreseeable future. Every new city we visit we can explore at our own pace, while spending less than we would be living back home, and living in much more beautiful areas (I'm writing from an RV park near Lake Placid a five minute walk from the coolest waterfall I've ever seen).

When you can work remotely, there's not a lot of reasons to stay in one place.

My wife blogs about it at http://gogo.gen.co

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#125

Post by bch »

grecy wrote: post #116
bch wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in Yukon are you living ? I presume not in Whitehorse.

I have actually been living and working in Whitehorse for the last 4 years, as I wanted to save enough money to do something big again (going for 2+ years around Africa in my Jeep). While Whitehorse is a city, I have world-class mountain biking from my backyard, and 20 minutes from town in any direction I have no cell reception and rarely see other people on the weekends. 3 hours from town we can be hundreds of kilom…

I'm pretty familiar with Whitehorse.

Whitehorse can be a pretty magical place -- my old friends up there got me into paragliding (Sean Kitchen still up there ?), and I got to practice my fly fishing up there for lake trout, or head to Haines for the salmon run (I was always skunked, nearly always had a good time anyway), and good hiking and beautiful terrain around Haines or pass to Skagway...

I just assumed by your description you would be somewhere else, and it piqued my curiousity. Enjoy Whitehorse, good luck with your African trip!

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#126

Post by marincounty »

dionidium wrote: post #84
cpursley wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Ozarks are beautiful; they took me by surprise. There's many places like this throughout the USA. I don't understand the appeal of living in an expense shoebox in a concrete metropolis. Another place that's got a high quality of life for low cost of living is St. Augustine, Florida. It's an architecturally significant city with several colleges, great art scene, wide beaches.

" I don't understand the appeal of living in an expense shoebox in a concrete metropolis " You don't need to look any further than the warnings in the post you're replying to for a response. If you're dating, prefer lots of social interaction, or attend a lot of big-city events, then you're going to have a bad time living in southern Missouri.

I think the dating ritual depends on the city. I probally shouldn't say this, but I see many single women move to San Francisco, and while if they get housing, they enjoy big-city events, but dating is not one of them here.

San Francisco is not a good place for straight women to date. No one talks about it, because it's not politically correct, but in my observations they come here, and are lonely.

There's just too many single women, and not enough men. I have a very attractive ex-girlfriend, and we had so many conversations about social life, or lack there of. It got to the point, where I took her out and watched what took place. Guys--way below her league wouldn't talk to her unless she aggressively talked to them first.

I know I get hammered because I'm not being politically correct, and yes--there's always the exceptions, but at least in San Francisco it's difficult for sigle women looking for a steady relationship.

I'll point out the politically incorrect thoughts, and save you time:

I shouldn't have stereotyped. I shouldn't have assumed some females are looking for a steady relationship. I shouldn't have mentioned looks/personality when I said "way below her league". I probally left out something that hurt someone deeply--sorry.

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#127

Post by talsraviv »

grecy wrote: post #122
talsraviv wrote: post #120

The comments here are really thought provoking. I feel like I'm missing something - is there some kind of unmentioned catch, like don't get sick, or you have to have really good workers/health/disability insurance - to make this work safely long term? I love the contrarian thinking but want to make sure I'm accounting for legitimate cases my young mind might not conceive of. Or am I overthinking it?

> is there some kind of unmentioned catch Speaking from experience, the catch is you won't get to live the life of convenience and luxury that marketing has been pushing down your throat for the last 20+ years. When you work less, you have less money, which means you spend less money, which means you often do things for yourself. Oil changes can be dirty, chopping wood can be hard work, and canning vegetables is a lo…

That part I'm sold on. I'm wondering about, as another comment mentioned, what happens if you discover one day you're not self sufficient, even temporarily (significant illness, chronic illness, major injury - or something I'm not considering). If I don't want to be a burden on anyone on the grid, but don't want to depend on social services, how do I factor that in?

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#128

Post by bithush »

joeyh wrote: post #99
bithush wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Joey I hate fans in my machines. I am a long term ThinkPad user. My main machine is still a T420s (the s model is a bit lighter than the regular T420) however I would love something like the Yoga 3 Pro but with a ThinkPad design. The Core-M is fine for my local computing needs the only thing lacking from the Yoga 3 Pro is a TrackPoint as I can't stand touchpads. My ideal machine would be something along the line…

Unplugging the fan and keeping an eye on CPU temp seems to do ok with my Yoga 11gs. Tends to run under 60 C except for the odd compile or 3d game. I've noticed the CPU throttle back when it accidentially got critically hot a few times. (I'd rather disable the fan in software so I could turn it on as needed but have not gotten that to work.)

Yeah this is what I do with my T420s using tpfancontrol. Set it to zero rpm and keep an eye on the cpu temp with an alert at 65C but only gets that hot on the odd occasion. Now I don't have Flash installed all is good when browsing :)

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#129

Post by _delirium »

Luc wrote: post #35
grecy wrote: post #28

If anyone is interested in this way of life, I suggest moving North. It's extremely beautiful and there are way less people. I moved to the Yukon 4 years ago, and a massive number of people live in this way. I.e. work less, own less, have way more time and live how you want. Hunt, fish, grow your own food, chop your own wood, and you can live a great life only working 20-50% time. Also there are hardly any rules up h…

Aw, I'm so jealous of the amount of grand nature in North America. It seems out of the question for me on a EU passport to live long term in Canada. You're lucky!

The northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula has some similarities to northern Canada, if you're looking for that but with an EU passport. Not as gigantic as the continent-sized Canadian north (only Russian Siberia competes there), but still pretty large and mostly empty. The "everyman's right" also makes it legal to travel/camp/forage essentially anywhere in the countryside, including on private land [1], as long as you avoid active farms and the immediate vicinity of people's houses.

[1] http://www.ym.fi/en-US/Latest_news/Publications/Brochures/Ev...

Re: Off the Grid, but Still Online

#130

Post by middleclick »

grecy wrote: post #116
bch wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in Yukon are you living ? I presume not in Whitehorse.

I have actually been living and working in Whitehorse for the last 4 years, as I wanted to save enough money to do something big again (going for 2+ years around Africa in my Jeep). While Whitehorse is a city, I have world-class mountain biking from my backyard, and 20 minutes from town in any direction I have no cell reception and rarely see other people on the weekends. 3 hours from town we can be hundreds of kilom…

How do you manage the winters?
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