A sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle is something more people strive for every day. For some, the answer is to give up the ease of municipal life to go off the grid. While this route is certainly far from easy, the rewards of freedom and a more ethical footprint make the entire struggle worth it.
The Freedom an Off-Grid Life Offers
Most people who choose to go off-grid do so in pursuit of a dream or ideal. Moving away from modern conveniences and providing for oneself off the land offers a desirable lifestyle for the people who choose it.
Living sustainably off the grid can provide homesteaders a sense of pride and self-reliance while making a positive difference in the environment around them. Choosing to swap to an off-grid life can be a matter of ethics or self-discovery.
Others choose to forego modern luxuries like municipal electricity and water to free up their time and energy. A self-sustaining homestead can reduce the costs of living to almost nothing, freeing up a homesteader to pursue whatever their heart desires. For these people, the minimalist off-grid lifestyle offers the opportunity to spend their time on more fulfilling activities than a nine-to-five grind.
The Struggle
Of course, a complete overhaul of one’s entire life will necessarily come with a few growing pains. For a new homesteader used to the conveniences of municipal life, it can be easy to forget how many of life’s luxuries one pays for.
After an entire life of paying for air conditioning, for example, a new homesteader may be surprised to find how challenging it can be to cool a home without electricity.
Getting a drink of water becomes a lot harder when you can’t just turn on the tap, as well. What can be done almost unconsciously in seconds on the grid takes forethought and planning off the grid. First, locating a source to get the water from and finding a way to make it usable, a homesteader may even manage to build their own running water system. Transitioning off the grid means getting acquainted with how much goes into daily survival.
Why It’s Worthwhile
Even with all that’s required to build a self-sustaining, off-grid homestead, most new homesteaders agree that it’s worth it. Living off the grid and creating one’s own web of resources brings with it a sense of self-confidence that’s hard to find any other way. Plus, a sustainable homestead reduces the homesteader’s environmental impact, which is a goal worth having.
The way to a better life is always just outside one’s comfort zone, and swapping to an off-grid life is no exception. Giving up modern conveniences is a shock for nearly all new homesteaders, no matter how prepared they feel at the outset. There’s almost always something to forget after years of being lulled into a sense of ease. But the freedom of designing one’s own life around their unique dreams and priorities is worth every ounce of struggle along the way.
