Challenge: Could I live off-grid? #IWouldMiss

I have to admit that I have loved the idea of having a self-sufficient life for a long time, although I know that running a household without connections to the utilities and other modern facilities to which I am accustomed to would be a huge challenge. I really admire the people who choose to give up the drudgery of ‘normal life’ and choose instead to forge their own way.

Being independent and living off-grid means not depending on anyone else for existence; society, government or the public for water, electricity, gas, food and fabric. It means you have to make your own unlimited electricity, fuel, water and food. Of course to seriously live off grid you also have to live with no money, with most off-grid people using a barter system to get whatever they need.

The challenge put to me by alternative energy solutions company www.flogas.co.uk, who recently discovered that 85% of us like the idea of ‘escaping it all’, was to answer this question: What would I miss if I lived off-grid? So, here are the things I’m not so sure I could live without.

Communication

Of course most of us today rely on our mobile phones or the internet to keep in touch with friends and family. Living off-grid means living without these luxuries and so I believe that being able to communicate with the people who are most important to me would be much harder. I would very quickly feel the effect of his major change as I am in daily contact with my close family and believe I would get lonely within a couple of days of being off-grid. However, I can see the upside of this also – any contact achieved off-grid would be much more impactful on my life and instead of sending meaningless WhatsApp messages conversations with my loved ones would be far more important.

Convenient shopping

For many years I have loved the idea of growing my own vegetables in my garden, although I’m not so sure my thumbs are green enough. I am guilty of enjoying the convenience of popping to the shops or doing an online food order and I think this is something I would really miss if I decided to live off-grid. I have to admit that I am a huge Amazon junkie with a Prime account and next day delivery has ruined me and made me into a more impatient person. Living off-grid requires a lot of patience and knowing that you may not get what you want for weeks or even months! Reflecting on my last couple of sentences I can see that the upside of this would be a lack of unnecessary consumerism which ultimately is a good thing. I think modern society makes us feel like we need a lot of ‘stuff’ around us and without the availability of convenient shopping I would have less ‘stuff’ to worry about and I could focus on other more important areas of life.

Water on tap

When researching the off-grid lifestyle it became obvious that water is one of the most important things to consider when looking for somewhere to settle down. Having fresh water on your own land gives you the independence from modern facilities and allows for drinking, washing, bathing and cleaning all year round. Obviously, the lack of plumbing, safe water for drinking and hot water for showering is a really big change from ‘normal’ life. Wasting water would be a huge sin in the off-grid community so consumption would have to be carefully considered – no more long relaxing hot showers!

Plug in and Go

Living outside of society and the usual utilities would mean no access to electricity, something that I am very much attached to! Life is easy when you can just press a switch to turn on a light, to boil a kettle or start the microwave. Of course, you are able to produce your own electricity when you life off-grid and most people do this via water, wind or the sun. Having spent many a holiday with my family camping I am not inexperienced in not having electricity and looking back over the years I have to admit that the lack of electricity has led to evenings spent playing board games and going to bed when the light runs out, which wasn’t really the worst thing ever!

Going off-grid would be a massive life change for anyone who is used to the modern conveniences of ‘normal’ life, including me! That being said I still find the idea of living away from the pressure and stresses of modern life and living closer to nature attractive and I believe that after an initial transitional period I would be able to adapt. Would you be able to live off-grid?