As I put things together to write a book one of the things I have been thinking about has been what my family thinks about my choice to live off-grid. I have not talked with all of them but I am fairly certain that they really don't have a clue why I decided living off-grid was the right thing for me. Hell, sometimes I don't either.
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The one that is really hard to explain it to is my Mom. She is in her early 80s and really misses me as I live over 3 hours away from the rest of my family. When I lived in the same town I would go over to her house at least 3-4 times a week to visit and have a meal or two. So it is hard for her that I live so far away. Now I am not an only child or anything like that. I have 4 sisters and 1 brother. My one sister, Tammy, lives with her and Mom sees my sister, Karen, and my brother, Steve, almost daily. And then she sees my other sisters, Vick and Debbie, at least once or twice a week. I talk to my Mom almost every day so it is not like she does not hear from me but it is still hard for her. I am not certain if I will ever be able to make her understand.
We have a family group on FB so I posted there to see what type of questions my family may have for me. My sister Karen asked me a question that I never really gave much thought to. She asked if I ever questioned my ability to do the work it takes to live off-grid as I get older? I guess this is not something that I have given much thought when I decided to live off-grid. But after thinking about it I think one of two things will most likely happen. One - I will have all my systems in place so that I will no longer have to haul water and I may have a different heat source for the house that does not involve having to deal with firewood. These are the two big items when it comes to basic needs that I would worry about. The second is that I will have moved on to some other phase of my life and not be off-grid any more. I don't plan on this being the case but never say never. But I figure barring any major accident/injury or illness I should be good for another 20+years.
So this was one of the questions I have gotten from one of my family members. I guess there are things I need to think about as I get older and how to make living off-grid work. Aging and physical issues will be something that I will need to include in the various projects and planning stages that I am thinking about right now.
So what questions have you gotten from your family?
Peace,
Pam
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I have gotten the same question. But you see I am 61 years old. As I've told you I live off grid. Wood heat, solar power. So far nothing I can't handle. My grown kids are an hour away and would help if I need it. The question most often asked of me is "how do you live without air conditioning?" I live in Oklahoma. My solar system won't handle air conditioning. But I can run several box fans and sleep comfortably under one during the hot summer. Guess I've gotten used to it. I do my chores early in the morning so usually have little I need to do during the heat of the day. Best wishes, Sylvia
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts. I will be off grid with no electricity and with an outhouse. My family feels that it will be too much physical labor to farm and care for a homestead. I feel it is liberating. I will have my 5 year old and plan to homeschool him. We will earn money through farmer's marketing. I am looking forward to getting livestock on the farm in 2014:)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know how things are going for you. How is it going?
DeleteHow are things going for you? I don't see any recent posts since November. I am 63 and planning on moving off grid by myself, something I have wanted to do since I was a teenager, but now have the means to do so. I have been thinking that my cell phone probably will not work where I am going and have been wondering what you do for communication, or if you just have to drive into town to make phone calls. Also, I assume no mail delivery out in the rurals, so are there places you can have packages delivered?
ReplyDeleteThings are going well. Cold and snowy and all I seem to want to do is sit by the fire and read.
ReplyDeleteMy cell phone does not work well so I did have a landline installed, it took a couple of months but finally got it in. We do have mail delivery but have had some issues with delivery of packages as they cannot always figure out where to leave them but most of the time they can leave them with the neighbors.
Good to hear things are going ok for you. Post more!
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