Considering taking family off grid

Has anyone considered just leaving it all behind and getting off grid? Selling everything-ipod, ipad, cars, house, games-everything except books. Living tribal or communal? Does anyone have any experience in that? where do you live-how do you live? USA? I'm sick of the rat race. Need to get out.

kind of interesting this thread,can you expound upon your OP,Your not providing enough details or much information on what your thinking here.
Whats an ipod ?

reply to post by The Utopian Penguin


No 9-5 job..public education..video games..consumerism...maybe taking it all the way to living in a tent in the alaskan wilderness.

isint this the 2nd thread by the same op minutes apart about the same thing?

reply to post by matrix12


Not really...One is asking about location and the other is about how it's done although after posting, I can see that they could be seen as being very close. Two seperate forums as well--but I'll understand if one needs to be deleted or removed. hmmmm.

reply to post by amazing

No 9-5 job

You do realize that you will now have a 24 hour job of trying to provide food, shelter, and safety for you family, right?

And that there are no vacations or sick days...no holidays or weekends off...and that if you fail at your job, you don't get fired, your family dies....right?

yep. I understand the consequences.

i think about this all the time. though i'm not sure about Alaska. just a wee bit too cold for me. i'd go for Brazil or Peru. somewhere warm and an abundance of food. not saying that there isn't in Alaska, but no warmth there. and you wouldnt have to worry about visa's or anything since you'll be off the grid =P

Cool topic, but there's one little problem - if anyone has actually done it (and I'm sure at least one person has sometime in the history of mankind.. :lol then I seriously doubt they're going to come online to read the ATS forums and respond to this thread. But, I wish you all the luck in the world.

reply to post by amazing


We sold the majority of our electronics and slimmed down our possessions a little over a year ago, bought some land and moved to be closer to it. We have, over the last year, been working on lining things up to build a home and a little small holding on it. This spring, barring all hell breaking loose, we'll be starting construction.


There seem to be a lot of people moving in a similar direction. Simpler, cleaner, freer and more responsible.

You might want to consider planning and being ready to go off grid if necessary.

My family and a few friends have prepared extensively and are ready to make the transition as easily as possible.

But for now we are still enjoying high tech living while it is still available.

We have a plan and every member of our group is responsible to see that their part of the plan is carried out with a quickness.

Of course this takes much planning and gathering of supplies as we have done.

My best to you and yours.

reply to post by Osiris811


Sort of reminds me of the movie The Beach that came out in 2000. If you've never seen it, I recommend it - really cool movie

Originally posted by amazing
maybe taking it all the way to living in a tent in the alaskan wilderness.

...in a tent, you'll freeze to death the first winter... thats preferable to being eaten cuz, ya know, theres REALLY BIG bears up there that you cant out-run and who will see you as an easy meal...

...none of my biz what you do but, gosh, maybe you should start off in a less risky environment...

Tempting idea, Ì`d be up for joining you.

To answer your question, I think it will be quite difficult with location,
Since people tend to not mind their own business, you might get law enforcement etc. after you in america.
I am no expert on the legal department, but i`d imagine, that people would somehow keep a watch on you.

reply to post by Time2Think


yeah i've seen it, great flick, hell that would be twenty times more cool then brazil

reply to post by amazing


look mate if u can build your own stuff do it
the ratio between living in the rat race and struggling at first to build your own little rat hole is getting closer and closer
i say do it before everyone else does it and then those things u definatly need are even more expensive
am i making sense?
surely things like generators and all that are going to get more expensive when people are actually buying them
we know that if ppl want something they get more expensive
but if no one wants them they are expensive too
its only going to get harder to retreat away opposed getting easier in my book
less land, more ppl looking to do the same thing
buy up before the boom
its an ironic situation

beat the rush of the rats to get out of the rat race!!!

Originally posted by amazing
Has anyone considered just leaving it all behind and getting off grid? Selling everything-ipod, ipad, cars, house, games-everything except books. Living tribal or communal? Does anyone have any experience in that? where do you live-how do you live? USA? I'm sick of the rat race. Need to get out.

I feel your pain brother. My wife and I both have degrees one one medical and the other in IT. When one came home the other was leaving for work. One day, my wife came to me and told me she was and used your words " tired of the rat race" I asked her what she wanted to do about it and her replay "get the hell out". I told her we will work one more year on a tight budget. We cut the $150.00 a month cable bill, out to eat meals. to make a long story short we both took sailing classes sold the house and 1 car and bought a sailboat were we lived for 8 months. During that time I started an online business that averaged $1300,00 a month. We both got comfortable with the sailing skills and to the day I told her to give me 1 year we set sail around the world in a 3 year trip. We still live onboard and love every minute of it. SO my word to you, make a plan and anything you do will cost $ I will leave that to you. Most sailors barter for goods. It is not uncommon for someone to raft up to us with a pair of fresh lobster an exchange for a tube of toothpaste!

Good luck and make a plan

I read your other thread and then saw this one. I feel your frustration but I must point out that most of the spots on the map have been found,labeled and claimed already in some fashion or another. Unless you have a birth right which allows you to stay with a sub-culture in a relatively remote area and you already have the experience and knowledge needed to survive such a lifestyle,you're not ever going to be able to 'get off the grid' in the way you're describing.

The sad truth is that,whether you realize it or not, you are too deeply immeshed into your own culture,it's values and lifestyle to be able to successfully 'downgrade' without severe risk to your life and limb.

Also keep in mind that Americans overseas,while usually tolerated,aren't always necessarily welcome in a lot places these days. You would need to grow a thick skin and be willing to face a lot of bigotry,racism and nationalism in another country. Not to mention,you'll stick out like a sore thumb for a long time,possibly forever, to boot because you aren't 'native'. This means having to be prepared to deal with a random stream of 'gee-gawkers',gossipers, nosy neighbors,thugs,criminals and hecklers who target foreigners.

There are isolated pockets of humanity left scattered around the globe, and they stay isolated for a reason: they don't like what the rest of the world is doing. You aren't likely to met with open arms if you found some remote enclave and announced your intent to set up camp.

So much for 'off the grid',eh?

You're best bet would be to try to match your skills with some kind of work which is in demand in some laid-back,fairly low-cost Banana Republic (Central/South America) teaching English or the like. Try to get a job offer from a company that provides you with a decent salary and a visa. If you stay long enough in some places, you could qualify for permanent residence or citizenship should you decide you want to live there permanently. There are lots of places of the web that can help you with this kind of thing.

For all intents and purposes,you were born about a hundred years too late.

That's just my two-bits, for what it's worth...and good luck!

Originally posted by FlyingJadeDragon

Also keep in mind that Americans overseas,while usually tolerated,aren't always necessarily welcome in a lot places these days. You would need to grow a thick skin and be willing to face a lot of bigotry,racism and nationalism in another country.


yeah i've lived in northern ireland for 4 years and delt with a lot of crap because of Bush. and then you have the whole catholic and protestant crap. but was fun being "off the american" grid for a while =)