Our Off-Grid Life

Per Wikipedia, that all knowing resource revered by students all over as the gospel of truth, the definition of off-grid is: 

Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. Wikipedia

Our off-grid life started far back in our childhoods with family camping trips. Almost military-size tents full of cousins and other relatives pitched in state parks for my husband, and travel trailers morphing into mobile homes set up in private campgrounds for me. 

Each of the following has its own story, but a brief recap starts with when we first met, and started camping in state parks with a not-that-easy tent complete with a hole in the floor that we had to cover with a suitcase to keep raccoons out. When our daughter was born, we transitioned to a pop-up camper. After a rainy weekend with a very leaky roof, second child and large dog, we fixed and sold that camper, subsequently upgrading to a large travel trailer. Being too large to tow, we settled it in a private campground until another very rainy weekend had us looking at cottages. 

For various reasons, the cottage on the lake lasted four year. Faced with a strong desire to still be outdoors, but more off-grid, and tent with hole in the floor long gone, we upgraded to a little larger, two room tent and canopy. Back to the state parks we went for our children to make memories that will last them a lifetime. We still own the tent and all the gear, but as my post on The Land explains, we are now more often found there than camping. 

As the years have progressed, we have found more and more ways to be truly off-grid. We have an outdoor well pump, indoor wood stove, propane shower and cook stove, compost toilet, generator and now solar power. Yes, we still have satellite TV, internet through our phones, and a refrigerator, but we feel we have tried our best to be outdoors as much as possible, and self sufficient without public utilities. 

Many more stories surround each of those topics as well, and our aim is to share them with you as inspiration, information, and possibilities.