Are you a city dweller itching to move towards an off grid life? If so, you need to get started on off grid living preparation.
Maybe you enjoy dreaming of mountain retreats and idyllic homesteads. Yet while this may provide an enjoyable escape from traffic congestion and office cubicle blues, it won't move you towards your goal of becoming an off-gridder.
Jump to:
- 1. Read Everything You Can About Off Grid Living Preparation NOW
- 2. Look at Realistic Potential Locations
- 3. Study Shelter Possibilities
- 4. Examine Your Energy and Water Options
- 5. Work Out How You'll Provide Your Food Supply
- 6. Explore Off Grid Money-Making Options
- 7. Take a Course
- Courses to Try
- 8. Network With Others Living Off Grid
- 9. Get in Good Shape
- 10. Start an Off Grid Living Preparation Supply List
And I know it may be a while before you finally make the leap to living off the grid. But the good news is the more you know, the less likely you'll be to make the same off grid mistakes I made.
You can do many things now to prepare for off-grid living, no matter where you live. Here are ten things I wish I had done (or done more of) before moving to our off grid homestead back in 2013.
1. Read Everything You Can About Off Grid Living Preparation NOW
Use the many free online off grid living preparation resources to learn everything you can before you make your move. And especially anything about off grid living for beginners.
And if you're really planning to be as self-reliant as possible, learn what you need to do to start homesteading today as part of your off grid living prep and homesteading education. You can also check out free off grid living books on Kindle Unlimited.
Note: even if you're living in the middle of the city, you can start honing your self-reliancy and bushcraft skills. Get started with apartment homesteading and make use of the space and resources you already have.
2. Look at Realistic Potential Locations
Think about climate, land availability, taxes, building code requirements, and landholding options (freehold vs leasehold) when you're choosing off grid homes.
Location is an important factor when you estimate the cost of moving off grid.
And if you plan to keep working at your current job, you'll also need to consider commuting costs and time. And plus possibly investing in a better vehicle (go for a pick-up - they're just plain useful when you're living as an off-gridder).
3. Study Shelter Possibilities
Based on your chosen location, dig around to uncover your options when it comes to off the grid homes.
Could you buy an off grid cabin? Or will you have to build one? What kind of building materials would be best? And how big will your home need to be?
If possible, take a drive around the area and pay close attention to what others are using for building materials.
Cost, climate, and the transportation of lumber, brick, stone, or earth all impact your choices when it comes to shelter.
4. Examine Your Energy and Water Options
As part of your off grid living preparation, you'll need to know about the available off grid energy and power system options in your area.
Review solar power, solar panels, off grid electricity, off grid appliances, wind power, wind turbines, windmills, battery systems and generators.
Keep in mind that, depending on your location and the size of your home, some of these may work better than others, while others may not be an option at all.
You need to research your off grid or stand-alone renewable energy options for the area you're interested in.
And don't forget about water. Depending on where you're planning to live when you move off the grid, you may have to deal with water delivery, well drilling, pumping or hauling from a body of water.
Look at the cost, labor and practicality of each.
Pay special attention to the quality of available drinking water. We get all of our water from the lake that we live on. However, we filter it. Read my full Big Berkey water filter review for more info.
Read More: Our Off Grid Water System in Winter
5. Work Out How You'll Provide Your Food Supply
If you plan to hunt, fish, or trap, now's the time to learn the skills and identify the hunting supplies, emergency supplies, and trapping supplies you'll need.
Read up on the best prepper pantries and canning, preserving, and dehydrating food.
Look up licensing requirements as well - and take note that in some areas (of Canada, anyway) hunting, fishing and trapping licenses are limited by season and even by your indigenous status.
And don't forget to learn everything you can about gardening.
Learn how much to grow per person, low-maintenance gardening, and permaculture design to get started. And while you're at it, learn how to preserve that food - learn how to use a fermenting crock!
Are you itching to get started homesteading? If so, you'll want to make decisions about the best homestead meat animals to raise. And to learn about the challenges of an off grid homestead, too.
6. Explore Off Grid Money-Making Options
Unless you plan to live off investment or pension income when you move, you may want to look into ways to make money when living off the grid.
Some people sell their home canning and preserves. Others try their hands at soapmaking, making other natural products or woodworking to make extra money.
For example, my daughter forages for fireweed, Labrador tea, and wild mint to use in natural beauty products. Recently, she's been experimenting with a homemade natural beeswax lip balm recipe.
You might want to try opening your home to paying guests, continuing in your current profession, either by working from home or from the nearest town, or freelance writing.
So read up on how to boost your financial self-sufficiency so you're prepared for whatever the future holds.
7. Take a Course
Sometimes, book learning (or website learning) just doesn't cut it. Another way to prepare yourself for the realities of off grid life is by taking a course.
Courses to Try
First Aid
Depending on your chosen location, it could be hours to the closest medical facility. Do yourself a favor. Learn some basic first aid. And when you finish the course, buy a First Aid Kit.
Intro Mechanics
In the spirit of self-reliance, someone in your family should have some basic mechanical skills. Fixing a car, truck, tractor, generator, etc., on your own will save you time, money, and aggravation. Especially if you're miles from the nearest town.
Basic Carpentry
More useful skills that will save time and money. Carpentry may even develop into a productive hobby.
Who knows, it could bring in a little extra cash or bartering power when you finally go off the grid. And how cool is it to say you built your table, chairs, and bed?
Introduction to Gardening
I'm a notorious black thumb who has managed to kill almost every houseplant I've owned in the past 20 years.
And I really wish I'd taken a gardening course prior to our move. Or even learned some backyard gardening basics. The previous owners left a lovely garden patch and I'm determined to put it to good use next summer.
8. Network With Others Living Off Grid
Do you picture a surly mountain-man when you think of a typical person living off grid? I did.
Yet we've found that almost all the people we have met living off the grid are friendly. They're usually willing to share advice, ideas, and assistance.
And don't let the fact that you are still living in a city or suburb stop you from networking with other like-minded individuals.
Search out Facebook and internet forums to find online communities of off grid people. Find great online communities with lots of discussions at the Mother Earth News Forums.
Keep in mind that certain parts of the world lend themselves (or require) an off grid lifestyle because they are remote.
So most of your future neighbors, whether they're down the road or miles away could also be off-gridders.
9. Get in Good Shape
If your ideal home includes the words "country, remote, wilderness, off the grid, or homestead," plan on spending a good deal of time being active outdoors.
Expect your new lifestyle to be much more active than your current one. And it may include activities like chopping and stacking wood, hauling water, building a cabin, crafting furniture, hand-washing clothing, and digging out gardens.
Get started with off grid preparation by starting a weightlifting and exercise plan now, so you will be strong and better able to handle the daily activities required to maintain your off grid lifestyle.
10. Start an Off Grid Living Preparation Supply List
Planning to move within the next couple of years? Kick off your off-grid living preparation with a supply list.
This could include tools, safety equipment, dried and canned food, hunting, fishing, gardening equipment, and clothing.
Look for options for stocking up by bulk-buying to get what you need at the best price. This will help you stock your off grid prepper pantry.
If your move will happen within the next year, start collecting essential off grid living items now. Begin with a first aid kit!
We are working on additional off grid living posts to flesh out some of the ideas in this one. Have any tips/advice? We'd love to hear from you.
While this shortlist will help you organize your plans, there are many other ways to prepare to move off the grid. Do your research and start planning now.
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So inspiring
I truly admire you for the courages, the creativities and for the love for what you do
God bless you
May the force of universe be with you
(I can not imagine all, because I live in the tropics)
Looking forward to read all the things you do.
GOOD JOB !
Keep it up. We do (basically) the same. We live in the Ozarks, off grid,
we have NO transportation to town, (20 miles away...)
Yet we are happy, contented, and well stocked and cared for.
Through a bit of effort ~ GOD PROVIDES !
Should publish a book Living Off-Grid 101
Lots of great advice on here!
So much to consider! Thank you for doing the research!
Hi Emily - thanks for the comment and yes - so many things to learn depending on what you want to spend your time on. Soapmaking, candlemaking, trapping, cooking over a wood fire...I can happily spend my day learning these skills.
I love all of you recommendations esp #9! I think a lot of ppl have great ideas about going off grid. If you are not physically fit you will not be able to accomplish basic necessities for living....hunting, trapping lines, chopping wood, washing clothes....even baking bread (kneading) takes physical strength.
I think another recommendation that wasn’t mentioned is researching soap making. Rendering fat & using wood ash....old school soap making skills.
Wow I love this this is the kind of life am hoping for my family an I to live off grid , but don't know where to start , an we need to save , we are a family of 5, an we so wanted to live off grid for quite sometime now but need advice and help ,we don't know where to begin , an lands is a bit costly an having 3kids were not sure how we can do this , please help any advice out there
Hi! Great Blog! Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
I am saving to buy some land. I have a childhood full of carpentry in my background, and have been researching earth-friendly building to make my small house, possibly with a rocket mass stove. My balcony gardening is done no-dig style within containers with my homemade compost, and I am now beginning to apply succession gardening to the list of skills - this one requires a whole different level of understanding to my previous plant and try to sustain the plants all through the summer - not only do I get more food, I get a greater variety of foods too! A few years ago I began fermenting things, and foraging, allowing me to go wandering in the bush for a month at a time, and a couple years ago, I bought an old All American canner and began canning. I am self-employed and have developed my business in a way that I could work off-grid and even part-time, living a simple life. I have been selecting and creating a collection of kitchenware and tools with homesteading in mind (buying used or on sale, so I don't need to once there). One thing that I did, though, was get out of debt. I think going into this without any will make a huge difference in how I experience the transition into this different life.... I can't wait!
Carol L.
I also live in Oregon, Will. Valley. Ive been concidering buying some land in central Oregon or W.Utah. I am 59, an organic gardener, have raised chickens in the past and love to fish. But im wondering if i have enough physical strength to start a homestead on my own. Im impressed by your plans and encouraged. Thank you Sarita for your blog. Have done a lot of research over the years and stories like yours warm my heart. Its a very hard yet rewarding life choice. May God bless your family and keep you all safe!
Thank you Sarita for your article that address points of self sufficient living or off the grid. I’m up there in age(64) and my husband of 39 years also (69). We stay in great shape by going regularly to gym/ golfing ( him), hunting wild game - both of us as I’ve just completed hunter safety and my first season hunting. We burn wood heat mainly in winter, grow Half of our fruit/ veggies, and half of our meat via hunting. What we need to figure out is a good substitute for oil heat as backup for our wood at little cost. Oh, I also am a seamstress and make a lot of our clothing and by knitting/ crocheting them. CarolCW
Interesting post. While I will probably never actually go off grid like you, I do plan to make my 5 acres here in a rural areal of Oregon as self sufficient as possible. I plan to install a whole house generator, which should help me do that. I have livestock, gardens, berries and orchards. I do have a well, but either need to dig it deeper or add a new one to it for water supply. I also plan to put solar panels on the pump house with battery backup to help defray the cost of the WHG (whole house generator). Using wood heat will be my primary source of heat in winter, however, I don't have lots of tress for use, so I'll need to look into obtaining it somewhere else. (Cost). BTW, I'm 65 and living alone. Sometimes it does seem daunting, and right now, while I'm still fully employed, most of the ideas and dreams are just that: ideas and dreams. I am actually in the stage of getting prepared to retire, making sure I have at least most of the expensive plans paid for now while I still have a good income. Thank you for taking the time and effort that it takes to give us the benefit of your experiences and mistakes!
Wow! There's certainly a lot to living off the grid! I could never live in a location like you do (it's too cold!), but the idea of living out in the country somewhere certainly has its appeal. Another thought I would have (maybe it's morbid, but it still popped into my head), would be to get CPR-certified along with the first aid training, and even though they are expensive, the investment in an AED (automated external defibrillator) might be worth it, especially if off-grid means no ready access to emergency medical care. AED's take the effectiveness of CPR from somewhere in the range of 10% up to about 80%, according to the instructer in my last CPR class.
Great suggestions for getting started and it sou nds like hard work. Thanks for sharing at the Homestead Blog Hop!