Throwing out a few more photos of my remote Alaska life. Lots of questions in the last post here, some more photos will help answer some of those. Thanks for the interest in the last post.

whats been the hardest thing to adjust to?
what are some things you suggest people buy in case they have to deal with no power. also tell us what its like. have neighbors banded together? is there a lot of break in’s?

went up expecting a mess. two winters, no cleaning, ground mount out in the open with a gravel track twenty metres away.

glass itself was basically fine. rain does most of the work if your tilt is steep enough, mine sit at 35. what did need attention was moss creeping onto the bottom rail and a bit of buildup in the frame channel where water sits.

took about forty minutes with a soft brush and a bucket. no pressure washer, do not use a pressure washer.

checked output the week after against the same week last year and it is within a couple of percent, so honestly the clean was more about my peace of mind than about production.

panels are swiss solar phantom, glass glass, two years up and nothing has needed doing to them. the mounting hardware has needed more attention than the modules have.

if you are putting in a ground mount, leave yourself room to walk underneath. i did not and i regret it every time.

I will be moving in with my partner in the spring. I have almost always been a town folk, though there were a few summers we were "camping" (homeless lol). Partner is used to living on farms and pretty offgrid. We will be buying 320 acres of raw land and building on it. I do not want to be a liability or ask him too many questions beforehand. I have been reading up on different things. I do have some blue collar skills and a good work ethic but IF you were in a similar situation, what would you want your partner new to off grid living, or, on the flipside, want to know being new to the lifestyle? He has said we may have to use an outhouse for a few weeks as he is digging a septic system and we compromised on a composting toilet lol.

Just weighing in from the bottom of the world, here in New Zealand. Been living the off grid life for two years now and loving every moment of it!
A great recent milestone was not having an electricity bill for two years - now that is freedom in itself.
We’re in love with our solar panels and system that we built.
For anyone considering an off grid life, especially if you have kids, my advice is simply don’t wait!

Just finished a new shower-sauna and trying to get a new woodshed built before winter sets in. Nights are already into the 30’s and it has snowed in a few places nearby. Summers go by quickly, never enough time to get everything done before the snow arrives. I’m 12 years into living in remote Alaska, solo. Feel free to ask me questions and I’ll try to answer them all. Love this lifestyle more and more as the time passes.

Hello wonderful peoples!!! Talk to me about your experience moving kids off the grid. I grew up outside, farming, climbing trees, being in the creek. Outhouse, outdoor shower, no tv, no internet. I am very comfortable being off grid and prefer it, so we are moving to an off grid community! I have a 10 year old son who homeschools and spends a lot of his time on screens. We have visited the community for a few days and even a week long visit so he knows where we are going and what to expect already. I know there will be an adjustment period where he hates everything and everyone and that we will get through it eventually and be better for it. Just wanting to hear from those that are on the other side already!

Hiiii guys!!! For those already living off‑grid, what was the single most practical step that made the transition easier? Was it learning to grow food, setting up solar, water collection, or something else? I’m curious what you’d recommend as the first focus for someone just starting out.

A lot of people were saying that I would have a lingering death, I would be dead in a week, or I wouldn’t survive.. I just wanted to say that I, (like I said, 16f), have been hospitalized 31 times for suicide attempts. I have been clean for a few months now, but it’s still at the back of my mind. I wouldn’t say this is a suicide mission, but I say this because if I don’t escape the life I’m living now, I WILL die. I would rather die knowing I took a chance and lived my dream, than dying from my anorexia or other mental health issues.

Also, if you’re wondering why I didn’t edit the post, all of the people who responded wouldn’t see. And I didn’t want to respond to 100+ people about this.

Thank you to the people who gave tips and supported! I’m not hating on any of you, I’m just giving context.
<3 :)

I’m 16f and I am TIRED of how humans (myself included) live..

Most of us are glued to our phones, sit around a lot (regular resting is okay.. I mean bed rotting and being a couch potato), play video games that don’t have any real meaning to real life, etc.

Then there’s the fact that you’re spending your whole life in school, and then getting a job where you work 12+ hour shifts almost everyday to make someone else profit. (I’m not including healthcare and having your own business).

We live in a messed up world, and I’m so done with it.

I want to spend the rest of my teenaged years learning and preparing for living off grid.

When I say off grid, I don’t mean making a gas stove, getting electricity, having a working plumbing system, etc. I want it to be ALL NATURAL. Hunt for my food, cook my food on a fire, build my own shelter, build my own tools, (I already have experience making working stone tools, like axes), use fire/the sun for light, etc.

The idea of becoming someone who works 9-5 jobs, lives in a giant white-walled house with marble countertops and no personality grosses me out..

I just want to live off the land.

Does anyone have any tips or feedback about this? It’s okay if not.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

For the people here who have actually been living off grid for a few years, has it gotten easier or do you just get better at dealing with the problems?

I feel like from the outside you assume once you get the solar, water, heat, shelter, etc figured out, life probably settles down.

But I also imagine there’s always something. Battery issues, weather, animals, equipment breaking, running out of something you forgot to stock up on.

Does there ever come a point where your setup feels pretty much dialed in and you can just enjoy it?

Or is constantly fixing and improving things basically part of the lifestyle forever?

I’m genuinely curious what year 1 vs year 5 looks like for people doing this long term.

I think I'll just go with solar ...but I don't need this idea ...but your welcome to it , of course , it's probably been done ...instead of a wood burning pellets that require electricity maybe a "wind up " like a clock or dynamo or slightly bigger ...spring loaded ...

Solar is expensive, but at least you can usually price it out. Septic can completely change whether a piece of land works.

I've been looking at rural parcels where the acreage and price looked great, but once you look at the soil and the actual site layout, the places you'd want to put the house aren't necessarily the places where you can put the septic system.

Then you have setbacks from wells, property lines, creeks, flood areas, reserve drainfield requirements, etc.

That's why I like looking at the soil maps and county requirements before getting too attached to a property.

A cheap 5 acres isn't much of a deal if you can't find a workable spot for the house and septic.

It's one of the first things I'd check before buying land for an off grid build.

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My totally off grid ever evolving spot in the woods. It's up in stilts because the water gets that high after a good rain and during the spring thaw. Was wide open when I got it but I've since added Bluetti batteries for my 120v needs (charged by solar). And a bank of car batteries that also charge by solar. Those batteries run all of the lighting, the hot water heater, water pump... anything 12vdc.

Added some stairs to the loft after 5 years of climbing a ladder and then all the ideas starting coming. Not there's a toilet under the stairs, a 3x4 shower in the corner all connected to a water tank and waste tank i just put in last week.