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I don't have a cell phone or any phone. My body is not a phone booth.
Then, there is this VPN tunnel. How to Use the Internet in
There is no cell phone or internet at my place. Its out of range (fortunately) When I finish the 4 mile trail over the back I will be able to ride my horse to the library. As far as best place- I bet a lot of people are not talking. Why give it away? More people will move there.
As far as best place- I bet a lot of people are not talking. Why give it away? More people will move there.
Exactly!!
My state is a wonderful place to live, If you know what you are doing and what you are getting into, it isn't for everybody.
Many places could be perfect for off gridding, but not perfect for the people that would be living there.
I can't take heat for instance, others can't take cold. Some folks are super depressed by lots of rain, others can't take the flatlands of the praries.
Asking which place is best is kind of like asking which pie is best, it depends on the views and tastes of the individual person.
As long as the local laws don't conflict with off-gridding, you could do it anywhere and live in a place you actually want to live.
People sometimes have a dream of living in a remote area, completely self sufficent, doing their own thing, and so there are threads like this one, but they don't always realize the realities of the country or the work involved.
It's great to dream, but if you plan on actually putting that dream into action, you should look at it realistically before you jump in with both feet.
I don't have a cell phone or any phone. My body is not a phone booth.
Then, there is this VPN tunnel. How to Use the Internet in
There is no cell phone or internet at my place. Its out of range (fortunately) When I finish the 4 mile trail over the back I will be able to ride my horse to the library. As far as best place- I bet a lot of people are not talking. Why give it away? More people will move there.
Again with the VPN stuff . Let's just agree that using the VPN makes absolutely no difference in your quest for anonymity.
I don't think it is going to matter ultimately. The govt has drones that can scan particular areas for hours using thousands of high definition cell phone cameras to track any type of movement.
If the government has these plans to round up civilian populations into Fema Concentration Camps, then they are going to do it.
Anyone hanging out in the woods or whatever with their Zombie Apocalypse survival gear attempting to live off the grid will be easily spotted..
This is something I never could have prepped for. If its too long for you, skip to the last paragraph.
In September, 2011 there was a terrible drought in Texas. The trees of the piney woods were so dry they were like gasoline. Then came a hurricane off the coast. 40mph winds were blowing. Miles away in the forest, power lines touched because they sagged so much in the heat. Sparks fell, and a 35 square mile forest fire resulted, blowing on that 40mph wind. I was not evacuated, I did not even know. 1700 houses burned down in that 35 square miles. I fought this fire and lost, wearing flip flops and a sundress.
This is my story of it if you have a minute. It is published in the Library of Congress.
It all started as an afternoon of beautiful rosy orange light. I thought ah, it is the golden Autumn light. It was not. An hour later I smelled smoke. I went out on the Park Road and up Bike Wreck Hill. It looked like stars were falling in the woods. Everywhere, little fires were landing on the pine needles. I went back to my house and called my friend Jared and asked" Wheres the fire?" He said "What fire?" A few minutes later he called back and said "You better get out. It looks like its coming down the Alum Creek watershed".
Jared came with his stock trailer but the horses were too nervous to get in. As we tried to load the frantic horses, off about a quarter mile away we heard a strange hissing roar. We heard it go by like a freight train, from the north to the south. Later we learned that was a crown fire running on a 40 mile an hour wind. A crown fire storm that rolls through the woods like a sideways tornado. The heat from it explodes all the trees in front of it, and it travels through the forest fast as the wind. This was one of many crown fires, and it blew all the way to the river and jumped it. If it had been 1/4 mile further east, this tale would never have been told.
I told Jarad please, just go on back to the ranch, I will bring the animals. I loaded the milk goats into the goat carrier on my truck, and loaded the chicken cage on top of the goat carrier. I went to the lizard house and caught my 6 foot carnivorous Water Monitor, BigAssLizard, and stuffed the hissing, thrashing creature into a kingsize pillow case. I took the two stallions and led them holding their leadropes out the window of the truck at a gallop. I led them several miles to the safty of Jared's ranch, where I have known the family living there for 32 years. Then I went back for the remaining 4 birds. And the emus. But how could I load the emus? Papa, Mama, Kicking Bird and Diniwan? I could not. The poor emus!
I gathered 2 more hens from their coup, caught the raven and the songbird and loaded them in pillowcases. My brave little Whippet bit-ch was at my side. When I drove back up to the park road it was smokey and strangely dark. At the end of the driveway I drove right into Hell. The fire had come over the hill and raged on both sides of the road. Tall pines were burning from crown to foot. Continuous showers of sparks flew off them like Roman candles. Tree trunks exploded with loud bangs, burning shards of wood flew through the air. The fiery wind was blowing hard as the heat increased. Flaming trees were falling across the road right and left. I turned and went the other way. Same thing. So I drove back down to my place and got the chain. Going back into the fire, I wrapped the tow chain on burning trees and pulled them off of the road with my little truck. And no I was not scared. I was mad. Mad at the fire. Mad at what it was doing to the forest. A chemical reaction. Not the wrath of god, no, just a reaction of physics. Starting from some idiotic tiny spark.
Eventually, I came to trees too big to drag. My truck could not budge them. The heat and smoke were getting intolerable. I got my cell phone, called 911 and asked "What do they suggest I do"? The lady said "Stay where you are, we will send someone to get you". I said, "No, thats alright, don't risk anyone". She said "Stay there, don't worry, we will send someone". I said "No thanks thats alright" and hung up. I could not stay where I was.
I went back to my house. It was still there! From the north a low line of fire was coming down the hill . So I went and got two buckets, and carried loads of water from the horse trough. I stopped that fire 20 feet from my house. Just then, lights came bouncing through the smoke. It was policemen, three state troopers and a sheriff. They said Come on Come on Lets go! I went with them, but they let me go back to my truck. They said to go to Smithville to the 'Rec Center'. So I drove east down HW 71 toward Smithville. I appreciated what the police had done. They had moved flaming trees off the road that I couldn't move. But it seemed to me that the Wreck Center was back at my place. I had been having such good results with those two buckets. And the emus! So I turned on KLBJ road went back on the park road.
After Alum creek it was the end of the world. It looked like the land of Mordor in the last battle. Flames writhed on the trees like demons, like huge dragons in their monstrous fire. I could not drive through that tunnel of fire. So I parked my truck back at the creek where the fire had already burned through and ran the quarter mile to my land. No I was not afraid then. I have been in forest fires before, as one of the ad hoc volunteer fire fighters. Or in controlled burns. But this was no controlled burn. I was cautious but made my way through, mostly on the road. Flaming trees fell in explosions of sparks. But if you see one fall, that means it has'nt fallen on you. And you go on.
My house incredibly was still there. I could even see the flames of the fire reflected in it's windows. So I started in with the buckets again. But before my eyes, I saw the points of the flames change direction on the wind. And from the west and coming fast, was a wall of fire 20 feet high. I cannot handle this I said to myself. But then, a crazy thought took over. People are not in their right minds in a fire. We are like horses running back into a burning barn. I turned to face that wall of fire, narrowed my eyes and said Bring It On.
Just then, the lights came running though the smoke again. It was those same policemen! How did they know? They said, "Look! Theres her dog!" I said "You again!" They said "You Again!" I said I was doing fine. The trooper looked into my eyes and said "No you're not, You're fixing to die". I ran with them up the road, but stopped and bent down and held my knees. I was so tired, I could not breathe. There was no oxygen. They came back and stayed with me and told me to run. That wall of fire was coming fast from the west and right next to the road. There were more police waiting on the road and they ran to their cars. They would not let me get back in my truck this time. I said "wait! I have animals in my truck!" "What kind of animals?" "Birds" I said. "We don't allow birds in the police car". I thought of all the jailbirds they had had in that car. I said "They are chickens! They are in pillow cases! If this was a police dog you would let him right in!". Sometimes you get a view of yourself from the Universe. Arguing with police in the middle of hell. So I just got in with the birds.
They took me to Smithville hospital, and got me evaluated for smoke inhalation. I am a nurse. I had already treated the burns on my legs while I waited for the doctor, and the other nurses approved of this. Then the police took me to that shelter. The people there had to document everything, what kind of animals I had, what were their names. I told them the names of the chickens, and that the Raven was a chicken. They did not check. They were very kind. They gave me food and water and gave me my own room and the birds upside down laundry baskets to stay in. I slept as if comatose.
The next day, the highway and all the roads were closed. The fire had moved south but was still out of control. My truck was 10 miles away, so I snuk around the police and walked back. I got a ride part way from a news photographer. Of course my place was burned up but the emus were still alive! And not even hurt! How could they live? Then I saw where the wall of fire had come through, bare black sticks that used to be tree trunks. It looked like an atomic bomb had gone off. Then I realized, how could I have lived?
So I went to the ranch where my animals were. Boiling black clouds like a huge storm front were behind the hill. The family was in a panic. The brothers did not think the fire would get the ranch buildings. The grass on the hill was all gone because of the drought and the fire would go around. Yet those people drove off in a hurry. Jarad told me I should go with them but I said "I'm not leaving you, Jarad". Jarad had been my friend for 32 years. He had taken care of me for months when I was hurt so bad in an accident and got out of the hospital. Who had been a gallant horseman who helped me with my animals as long as I had known him. No way would I leave him there, alone. Although I had my doubts about the theory. I went into the house and got my big lizard out of the shower where I had stashed her, just in case .
This was well founded. Because what came over that hill was a monster of fire, a crown fire said by distant witnesses to be 100 feet above the treetops. It raced across the hay field like a breaking wave. Tornados of fire twisted and ran eerily along the fire line. The stored hay crop on the hill went in an explosive flash. The wall of flame roared through the corrals and burned the very soil. It burned down to mineral soil. Oh yes, it took the whole ranch, killed my milk goats when the fire took the barn, burned the ranch house and the tractor and all the out buildings. When the smoke shifted for an instant every single thing we could see was on fire. I wanted to get out of Jarad's truck. I wanted to save things. Set the horses and cattle free to run, to save the painting of the bull that hung in the house, and Jared's guitars. And where was my dog? But I was afraid. Thats when I was afraid. The smoke was so thick we could hardly see the windshield wipers. Neither of us could easily draw a breath, but we both pretended like nothing was wrong. There was nothing we could do. The horses, my beautiful black stallion and his pony friend, and Jarad's cowhorse and his old red horse.... The fire had burned through their corrals, they must have died a horrible death. I was crying. But when the wind shifted the smoke, there they were, still standing up! They had burns on their feet, and their tails were shorter. Later, in the evening, my chickens started to come from everywhere. How did they live?
Jared and I slept that night, with the fire still burning in the woods here and there, on saddlepads on the sidewalk of the smoldering ranch house. Later, we fixed the calf hospital to be a sort of a house. There was nothing else. Not even a hollow tree.
My friends showed up from south of Houston within 3 hours the next day, and brought a generator, a field kitchen, and fed us like kings. They built a bathroom with a flush toilet and even a shower. They pulled the still smoldering tree trunks off the roof of the calf hospital. I went to town on a 100 mile round trip for supplies and hay. Because country people know the back roads around the roadblocks. And we have livestock to feed and care for, we will not leave them. I came back with bales of hay stacked above the cab and groceries for the people and pain medicine for the horses. And that deputy dog at the Antioch road intersection would not let me pass. "But that is the ranch right there!" I said, pointing to the blackened corner. "This is hay for the cattle, and pain medicine for the horses!" That cop would not let me pass. He said I could go back the way I came. Then I did something I had never done in my life. I made my eyes like a bead and said "**** You!" Driving off down the side road, I got out and cut the fence. And I took other people in their cars with me too, so they could get to their places. It was like a caravan across the blackened landscape. Later this track would come to be known by the local population as The Scenic Route .
People of the countryside helped each other. Everyone was covered in soot. A cheerful woman showed up on a four wheeler with a tiny dog on the back. She had plastic rake, she said she used it to put out spot fires. She loaned us her chain saw. People who had food and clothes gave to those who did not. I made bird and deer feed and water stations. I found cut up apples and vegetables left on the feed by unknown benefactors. People showed up with trailer loads of hay and fed entire cattle herds.
It has been weeks now. The forest is still on fire here and there but they put it out with helicopters. From here on this hill we can see 4 or 5 columns of smoke. BigAssLizard has a new house. The horse's feet are all healed up. All my chickens are running loose. I am grateful to those brave policemen who saved my life. My timid little Whippet dog has shown she has the courage of a lioness.
And all in all, what was lost was just stuff. Things come and go in life. My mother when she was retired used to periodically give everything she owned away and go off and start a new life. And unlike me, she did this on purpose. I can learn from this. Actually, it is quite liberating. My next house will be a treehouse in some other green woods. Not a crummy treehouse nailed to a tree, but a nice house up on telephone poles in the trees. Yes treehouses and forests can burn down, but so what? All this is part of Life on Earth. Part of the Entertainment.
Now, you notice I mentioned FEMA. Two nice ladies came down my road when I was sitting near the ashes of my house. They said they were from FEMA. FEMA eneded up giving me $32,000. in all. And I took that money, plus some more that I had, and bought my bugout paradise in Oregon. The trees are 200 feet tall and cover the mountains. It rains A LOT. Yes, bad old FEMA did this. They also called me several times in the subsequent months to check if I was alright. You know what else? The USDA gave me money for my dead milk goats because they were livestock. I took that money and bought a Jersey dairy calf. I never did like goat milk anyway. How do you like them apples? And by the way, I am still with Jarad
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Last edited by leftwinghillbilly; 07-21-2014 at 09:34 AM..
It is funny to me to read of so many people here concerned about the internet/cell phone access of their bug out zone. If the grid goes down, what good is it?
And if it doesn't go down or up UNTIL the grid goes down what good is it? I make my money with an internet connection.
This thread isn't about a "bug out zone". If you read the title it is about the best place for off grid living. Off grid living does not mean the grid is down, it means you aren't connected to electric, water and septic service. I am pretty rural right now but I have plans to move to a much more remote area in the near future. It has nothing to do with a "bug out location", I intend to live there full time.
And if it doesn't go down or up UNTIL the grid goes down what good is it? I make my money with an internet connection.
This thread isn't about a "bug out zone". If you read the title it is about the best place for off grid living. Off grid living does not mean the grid is down, it means you aren't connected to electric, water and septic service. I am pretty rural right now but I have plans to move to a much more remote area in the near future. It has nothing to do with a "bug out location", I intend to live there full time.
Where we live, our grid power normally goes down between once and three times every month.
Our grid is technically 'up' most of the time. However we have not seen a straight month without power-loss, this is normal here.
Some of our neighbors live off-grid, supplying their own power as a method of having every day power.
I am going off-grid because I want to have power everyday.
Many townships in this area do not have grid power strung into their townships.
Reliable grid power is an urban concept.
A power line going through dense forest, and through a township, and continues to feed 20 townships after us. One tree blowing down anywhere along a line, drops power to all townships downstream.
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. Let's just agree that using the VPN makes absolutely no difference in your quest for anonymity.
