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living off the grid is great in an affluence society. there is so much abundance you can make ends meet off the grid pretty easy. the bad part is if hard times hit.
no way to supplement the isolated existance, been there done that.
When speaking of people who "live off the grid" it often implies someone living what used to be referred to as a "hippy" lifestyle. Both septic and wells are expensive propositions for those living largely on welfare and building shacks on public lands using found materials.
I lived in my truck... mostly on BLM land... for 13 years. It was great. I could roam around to various places at different times of the year when the weather was good. Spent winters in S. AZ or Baja, looped around through NM and CO when it warmed up, then headed west before the monsoons hit and camped in the Cascades and Sierras during the summer.
There are huge advantages to not staying in one place. Frankly I can't imagine that someone would be able to plant themselves on public land very long before they'd get kicked off. It is far from legal. What I was doing wasn't really legal either, but I avoided popular spots, built no structures and left no trash, and basically stayed out of the way. I never had any trouble.
I went to town every week or two to get supplies... I carried 10 gal for washing and bathing and 5 gal for drinking.
If I *was* to live in a semi-permanent dwelling in the boonies, first I'd need to buy the land (land in the boonies tends to be cheap), then I'd probably catch and haul water when necessary and forgo the septic too. Of course, a lack of septic is probably illegal, but if you are far enough from prying eyes and in a rural county you can probably get away with it. A few solar panels, batteries, and satellite internet and I'd be set.
What do you mean by that? If you mean "can people still acquire land through the now defunct "Homestead Act?"" then you aren't aware that Homesteading was discontinued after 1976, except in Alaska. Individuals may no longer homestead on public land as a way to acquire title.
There may well be a way to obtain long-term leases on Federal lands. For example: land adjacent to a ranch that can be used for cattle grazing. The long-term leases on some National Forest land might still be effective too - at least one case I know of where cabins belonging to individuals still exist in my area on Nat. Forest land.
no no not that - i mean like families who go off grid so to speak- grow their own food, raise animals, etc-
"Homesteading" is such a nebulous term. Jaxart covered the legal terminology well. If by "homesteading" you mean "squatting," that's another matter entirely. If by "homesteading" you mean living a "back-to-the-earth" fairly self-sufficient lifestyle, that's still another angle.
Our home in NM is off-the-grid. We own the 8 acres up against national forest & have a straw bale cottage that we built. It's off-the-grid simply because it is off the electric grid, plus no phone, no community water. We have a solar well. No welfare here or shacks on public land LOL. And yes we are concerned about the cost of things. We are getting ready to retire & it's pretty nice. We have a place in Alaska too, but NM wins out due to the fact it is our home state & 360 days of SUN!
I lived in my truck... mostly on BLM land... for 13 years. It was great.
Care to elaborate? Like what did you do for MONEY? Regardless of how romantic the vagabond idea is, there is still the reality of needing the means for purchasing basic needs - like gasoline! And living only briefly here and there doesn't lend itself to raising one's own food.
In reality, camping on public lands - BLM, Nat. Forest, State lands - is generally not banned UNLESS the land is fenced or otherwise restricted. Camping implies very limited time frames and no erection of structures or otherwise despoiling the land being camped upon.
During my life I've met, or known about, various individuals who lived the true vagabond (as in gypsy) life style, but in each case they were self-supporting by virtue of having something to barter. Art work, native wood furniture makers, prospecting, selling their labor skills, etc.
And then of course there is that shadowy nation of the truly homeless who own nothing more than what they're wearing.
I worked as an Aerospace Engineer for 10 years prior and saved some money. Even then I only spent ~$4k/yr... gas was cheap and interest rates were high then, and I had a Toyota 2wd truck. I did work a little here and there, but not regularly... since I wasn't in need of money.
It always amazed me how *few* people do this... there are really not many at all.
It always amazed me how *few* people do this... there are really not many at all.
I don't know what your reference is? For example, there is a single location in the AZ desert on BLM land at Quartzsite. The town is mostly house trailers and such and the 1.5 million people who swell the numbers each winter come in RVs to spend the winter months "camped out" on BLM land.
Quote:
Quartzsite is a popular RV camping area for winter visitors, and tourism is the major contributor to Quartzsite's economy. Nine major gem, mineral, and 15 general swap meet shows are very popular tourist attractions, attracting about 1.5 million people annually,[5] mostly in January and February.
But it's probably true that most people who live in RVs for part of the year much prefer to be in commercial RV parks where they have full hookups.
Towards the end I spent winters in Yuma, so I know about the "snowbirds" who head to that area in the winter. I'd put them in a totally different class though, since most of them are retired and travel in land yachts and only in the winter... and I didn't camp anywhere near them.
My campsites were usually quite an adventure to get to... as in tipping over, or getting stuck, or breaking something being a high possibility. One of my favorites is the one below. A couple of times I saw people at the base of Picacho, but never otherwise. Usually I was the only person around for many miles.
My campsites were usually quite an adventure to get to... as in tipping over, or getting stuck, or breaking something being a high possibility.
Now that's a really interesting rig! I gather you "engineered" it yourself?
When I had kids around, there was NO WAY I'd consider tent camping with them. But I did have a pickup and 30' travel trailer - the old Prowler brand - and drug that thing off road a few times in places that had it rained hard would have been nearly impossible to get out of. Later I bought a brand new International Travelall - which was probably the forerunner to the Chevy Suburban of today. I did not opt for four wheel drive for fear of being tempted to try going into places where I'd get in trouble.
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