Can a Person REALLY Live “Off the Grid” by Marc Charles

Can a Person REALLY Live “Off the Grid”? 

Is This Type of Lifestyle Really Feasible?

6:27 AM
Greetings:

Living “off the grid” can be a tremendous reward for anyone involved in business and making money. 

It has been for me.

So this is a great question!

First of all…..I’d like to define “off the grid”. 

I’ve lived “off the grid” four times over the last 30 years or so in places like New Mexico, Minnesota, Maine, and Mexico. 

I’ve also lived on a luxury house boat on the St Croix River is Wisconsin. Everything was powered with a diesel generator….and in those days we grabbed TV signals out of the air and used radio telephones.

To me “off the grid” means no connection to the conventional “grid” of electricity, telephone, water, government sewage systems, the Internet and cable TV networks….which is where the term derived.

It’s harder to live this way than you might think.
But it can be an adventure and there are a ton of other benefits too.

In my experience, the two greatest benefits was the satisfaction of being self sufficient, and an appreciation for real things and values.

Watch the movie “Into the Wild” by Sean Penn….it’s a classic.

Richard Zimmerman, also known as the "Salmon River Caveman," lived an “off the grid” lifestyle. Richard lived almost entirely off the land, in a cave along the Salmon River in Idaho.

And get this….

Some of Richard’s caves were 60 feet deep. He earned extra money by renting out adjacent caves for $2 a night. Most people only spent a night or two; but others chose the $25 monthly rate and stayed for months or even years.

I’ve explored caves in New Mexico that were 30-40 feet high, and up to 100 feet wide! The temperature remains a pleasant 60-70 degrees year round.

Granted, living in a cave, in a tree house or on an iceberg may not be your idea of “the high life”.

But it can be an exciting adventure…..and it may you a new perspective to life, business and making money.

If you’ve dreamed of living “off the grid” I’ve enclosed some details for doing it in this week’s issue.

What Do You Need to Live “Off the Grid”?

Here’s a revised list I used when I lived off the grid in New Mexico:

  Access to clean water

2Access to a legitimate food source or be able to easily transport food to your location (hunting and fishing are not always

3Shelter. Building a shelter while getting established is not realistic so I rented a hunting cabin.

4High-quality laminated topographic maps. Understand how to use a map and a compass before you go.

5Firearms. Forget about bows and arrows, snags and traps. Bring a gun.

6
 Most animals are not your friends. Living off the grid is not a cartoon. I was stalked for several days by a mountain lion until an old timer showed me a secret: always try to appear larger than you are if confronted by one! Animals do not want problems.

Let someone know your exact location. Today with Google Maps and Geo-tags it’s easy.

Make friends in the surrounding area. You’ll need them. I made friends will an old man, who was a 35-year Navy veteran (designed ships).

 Invest in a state of the art first aid and survival kit (even if you’re Rambo) One of the best is QuakeKare.

CASH. Cash always works wonders when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Store cash in zip lock bags outside of your shelter, like under a large rock.

“Yeah, But Is This Really Feasible? What About Making Money?”

My focus each week is on legitimate business and money making opportunities.
So….”living off the grid” might sound like a contradiction.

If you haven’t made enough cash to retire on a deserted island, in a cave, in a tree house or somewhere else remote, then maybe you could build “living off the grid” into your lifestyle as a hobby or on a part time or seasonal basis.

My suggestion before setting off into the wilderness with a backpack, shotgun and trail mix is to try a couple of weekends “off the grid” first.

Then you could try it for a week or a month at a time. This should give you a great feel for the lifestyle.

Another option is sailing on the ocean. 

Many entrepreneurs I know used sailing as a motivation to build successful businesses and money making empires. 

In some ways, sailing is the ultimate “off the grid” lifestyle.

These days I prefer having Internet access, a cell phone and other niceties. This keeps me semi-attached to the “grid”, so I can monitor businesses and money making ventures.

My kids have been bugging me to rent a tree house for a week or two for our next vacation. We’re seriously considering it. I think two weeks in a rainforest tree house could be worth more than a year in a public school (we homeschool our kids so it’s not an issue).

Anyway, an “off the grid” lifestyle is feasible and you can make it a reality.
There are several ways to approach an “off the grid” lifestyle.

You could build a self sustained camp or cottage “off the grid” in hundreds of locations. 

My preferences are places with reasonable climate. 

But some locations are great for “seasonal off grid living” such as Maine (especially northern and the islands), Montana, New Mexico, Central Mexico and some parts of South America. 

I also like the Pacific Islands but these can be tricky (finding remote locations or islands with access to food and water).

It’s fun to think about living “off the grid”.

In today’s world it might become a necessity.

Please write to me with your thoughts and ideas for “living off the grid”.

Marc Charles

“The King of Business Opportunities”

(Ed Note:  Marc Charles is referred to as "The King of Business Opportunities" ....and for good reason. He should be known as "The King of Legitimate Business Opportunities"...because hes launched, bought, sold reviewed and advised on hundreds of businesses and money making opportunities. He understands legitimate opportunities)

******* Valuable Resources ********

Off the Grid News

Prepared Planet

Off Grid Survival

Living Off the Grid

Your Online Survival Kit

Reason Magazine

Homestead.org

Frugal Zeitgeist

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