The first question people ask me when I tell them that I live off-the-grid in a house-bus/mud brick home is: What about wifi? Does that mean you don’t have the internet?
My answer is definitely no, I have the internet because I run my business from home. The internet and the TV are some of the few luxuries we have.
Everything else is fully self-sustainable and natural.
It is seriously exciting and so eye-opening, living like a hippie off-the-grid. Waking up when the sun comes up, to the sound of nature and hearing nothing but silence for miles.
Last year my partner and I made the shift. I wasn’t prepared for the move, but I did it anyway. What the shift has bought about is more than just downshifting externally, but internal downshifting.
I won’t lie, it’s been hard living off-the-grid, it does involve its fair share of work.
We don’t have free running electricity (we are getting solar soon), but right now we use a generator. So, if you want a cup of coffee you have to start the generator to turn on the electricity. You can’t have too many things plugged in at any one time, so make sure you are using your electricity wisely.
I light the fire in the winter around 3:00pm- 4:00pm because it’s so cold. Sometimes I chop the wood because it doesn’t fit into the fire.
My life is simple but it does involve work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I feel blessed now to be able to live the life that so many people yearn for, but it wasn’t easy. Here are three of my biggest lessons that I have learned by living off-the-grid in a house-bus.
1. Don’t try and fit your life into a perfect box
For the first six months I was constantly projecting myself into the past, comparing how things were and wondering why it wasn’t as easy as before. When I started to let this go, and I stopped trying to fit my life into a box of what I think it should be, I could allow my life to be exactly as it is and enjoy the present moment.
2. Being busy doesn’t mean you’re going places.
When I look back on my life before I moved off-the-grid, I was extremely busy with things that didn’t add value to my life, my relationships or myself. Now, I can see that life isn’t about doing more, having more, or being more, but being selective and grateful for the things that you do have. Doing or having more, isn’t better.
3. The relationships you have matter more than you think.
I spend large amounts of time by myself now, I couldn’t have done that before I moved here. My relationship with myself is the most important relationship that I have. It’s important that I nurture and look after me. When I’m happy my world is a pleasant place to be in, when I’m miserable, my world is miserable. The best thing you can do for yourself is look after the relationship that you have with yourself, become your own best friend, lover, and even coach.
Living off-the-grid didn’t create a simple life automatically; creating a simple life is about a mindset shift more than a move. What living off-the-grid has ultimately taught me, is that life is all about choice- at every moment we can choose how we want to live, feel, and be, in that moment.
My best advice for anyone thinking about moving off-the-grid is this…
It won’t be anything like what you imagine it to be, it will be better.
My life is perfect, I don’t pay rent or have a mortgage, and I don’t have huge stresses in my life. I understand the value of small things and see the interconnectedness of all things. I feel like I am always on holiday, always living what I want to do now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Featured photo credit: Sarah Liddle/ I am the original owner of this image. via imcreator.com
