Introducing The Wannabe Off-Gridders: Awesome Inspiration For Living The Dream

These videos from www.off-grid.net are entitled ‘Had it with the man’, and they give a great insight into why people decide to turn their back on modern living in favor of living off-grid.

These four people plan on taking the plunge very soon. Here are there reasons for wanting out of the rat race…

Consumerism? No thanks

Emily Johnson admits she spends money on things she doesn’t need. She’s aiming to have less stuff, give up consumerism and live a simpler life. Emily’s parents lost their jobs, and watching them struggle for money and try to keep up the appearance of a normal middle class family has made her question the idea of trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses’.

I feel I’m surrounded by a cycle of destruction

Amanda Gang is a sculptor who thinks building her own eco-home would be the ultimate art piece. She feels sad about the state of the world (even having nightmares about modern living) and she says of cities: “It’s not a way of life I believe in”. Amanda feels disillusioned with what she refers to as “the aggression, and zero eye contact”, and feels strongly that she needs to find some land, go back to basics, and meet like-minded people who share her dreams of community and self-sufficiency.

I’m sick of government and corporations

Tony Chester is “fed up with the way society is going”. He’s critical of government and the corporations that have hijacked democracy. “We’re done with it”, he says bluntly. “Something is wrong.” Tony has considered his ‘pipe dream’ for a long time, and says “at some point you think, why? Why can’t we do this?” For him and some friends, it’s time to stop thinking and start doing. Tony plans on making a living from his off-grid dreams, launching a paint-balling business and renting out his various yurts and hobbit houses as holiday lets (with organic food thrown in for the visitors).

Being off-grid is the next stage in human evolution

Alex Barker can’t understand why people would associate off-grid living with regression to our cavemen days of old. “It’s about simplifying your life, but at the same time producing whatever energy you need on your own so you’re not being dependent on the grid,” he says. “I see off-grid community as a step up, not a step down.” Alex sincerely believes that eco communities are the future, and they will eventually attract others who finally realize that our current way of living is both unsustainable and ‘stupid’. For Alex, choosing to turn our backs on energy companies and mortgages is freedom, not inconvenience.

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