pezar wrote:
I decided that I want to buy some land in a forest somewhere and live like a homesteader. I'd have a little used mobile home and hopefully piped water from a spring, and a composting toilet so I wouldn't need a septic system. Solar, wind, and diesel generator for power. Satellite dish for internet, no TV.
You've pretty much described what my next living situation is quite likely to be.
If all goes well, it will be a very inexpensive place in good condition with well water, existing septic (I would compost if it didn't), a good amount of land away from neighbors...a place we hope to gradually convert to solar/wind. (Haven't owned a TV for 23 years but I do watch movies on DVD.)
As far as my current situation goes, I live in a vintage 1977 RV that we got for $3000 (sounds like a lot but it has a shower and is 33 feet long so it's pretty roomy. Right now, we're parked in a friend's lot with electricity and water hookup paying a small rent, but we did spend 1 year off the main grid getting electricity from the all driving we did while travelling (using inverters and a bank of car batteries) and getting on the net every day via free wifi (there are lists of places online).
If you have access to a shower you can stay clean using the Navy Method
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy_shower to conserve water.
Even if you live in a van without a shower you can still stay clean by using the Navy Method, but instead of using a shower you use a 3-5 gallon bucket full of warm water and carefully use a bowl to help with cleanup.
A couple of years before we moved into the RV we gave up our landlines and switched to cellphones which made the transition a bit easier.
It's not for everyone, and to do it well it can help to be organized.
For anyone thinking of doing this, I highly suggest packing a few boxes up with what you think you need and trying to rough it for a day or 2 as practice to see how you feel about it as well as the kind of things and skillsets you might need.
Another thing to consider is climate. Living in a van or RVing can be dangerous in the winter in the colder parts of the US. Fulltiming is much easier if you're willing to at least spend your winters in places like Florida, Georgia, Arizona, or South Carolina. (As the RVing "snowbirds" do)
You can find excellent historical stats on the weather of any places you're considering at
http://www.weatherbase.com
_________________
?How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.?--Albert Einstein
INTJ.
21 Nov 2009, 10:08 pm
