We all sometimes wish or at least wonder what it would be like to move away from the fast pace of modern life and live out in the woods. But how long would we last without the internet, hot clean water and all the other conveniences we’re used to?
The topic of living a more sustainable and ethical life has been on my mind for a while now. It’s something I really enjoy learning about, especially from reading and hearing the stories of people who have taken on the challenge to live off-grid and self-sustain. I’ve been meaning to approach this topic for a while now. Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing my views, interesting blogs and vlogs I watch and also letting you know the steps I’m taking to live a more sustainable life.
To kick this topic off Flogas asked me to think about the home comforts I would miss if I were to live off-grid and how long I’d last without the essentials. I have no shame in admitting that I would really miss having good access to wifi. I love the internet. It keeps me connected to all my friends and family and my whole business exists because of it. I wouldn’t need a laptop, I could probably manage it all from my phone. However, without regular access to wifi I would struggle. Actually, the beauty of being self-employed is that as long as I can pick up good internet access every few days I could essentially pick up my laptop or phone and work from whenever I fancy.
A few other things I’d miss would be a clean, warm shower and central heating during the winter months. Having a warm home to work from makes a big difference in my productivity levels. I realise that this in itself is a privilege and I’m very grateful to have a roof over my head and a warm home. Come to think of it, this would probably be the biggest challenge for me. If I could pick up wifi at a local coffee shop or pub then that wouldn’t be such an issue. But having to keep warm and wash easily would be a real challenge.
I love the idea of learning to make my own electricity, make clean water and forage for food. At Glastonbury there was a tent which was focused on pedal power – if someone wasn’t cycling then the music wouldn’t play. All these skills which lead to becoming self-sufficient take time. I still believe you’d need to be a part of a community to learn and develop such skills. It’s something we should probably all be learning even if we don’t want to live off-grid. Having the basic knowledge to grow your own food or simply how to repair and maintain what we already have are both very important towards living a more sustainable life.
In an ideal world I’d like to give off-grid living a try but I think I’d be more about the tiny home life than total off-grid living. To me, that would be the best of both worlds. I could set up my tiny house in a calm and relaxing area and then visit a local coffee shop to work on emails and my little blog.
Could you live off the grid? If not, what home comforts would you miss?
Thanks to Flogas for collaborating with me on this post.