AdvancedLiving

Planning food for months at a time. We can't just go shopping any time we want, since the closest grocery store (notice I didn't say "supermarket") is 50 miles away.

We pay our property taxes and all other taxes that we are required to do.

This being Catron County, the local government is quite non-invasive. This was once the getaway of Geronimo and his band, and Butch Cassidy and his gang, and there really isn't much required other than "live and live", or what we call here "the fence policy". That is, what you do on your side of the fence is your business.

Watch movies in the evening, go for walks, and some of us enjoy 4:20 PM

GREAT QUESTIONS!

1) You mention that you don't have a car, and I was wondering what the benefit of this is other than a gesture. It seems to me that having a car provides an important option in a crisis, even if you don't use it frivolously. One of the local ranchers here has lots of horses, they are always in the area, we only need to take a halter and a saddle over to one of them and we have a ride. Not having a vehicle is not the best way to go but it is what we needed to do to make this possible.

2) How does your son feel about being so far removed from his peers? Are you concerned about his ability to date/ get married/ give you grandchildren in isolation? He has mixed emotions about it, but has friends in the area, a meer 15 miles away and they visit often,

3) Ideally, is there something you would have built or brought that would make the experience easier/ more comfortable? I'm thinking Barbies Dream Compound here, sky's the limit. A bigger green house, aside from that no much...

4) Are you, at the point, fully sustainable? Or are there things you still need from 'the world'? We should be at fully sustainable next growing season....

5) Medical emergencies aside, how would you deal with chronic illness out there? This is a real concern for me as I consider moving forward - I have Crohn's Disease, and I'm in remission which means it's not a crisis, but I still do need to take a lot of medicine daily, and follow up with doctors/ blood work with some regularity. Would your lifestyle be able to accommodate something like this? I realize getting Crohn's is unlikely, but as you guys get older, it's not unreasonable to expect some problems may arise.

When we moved here I weighed 300lbs, I now weigh around 175lbs, I can say this the life will get you in shape of kill you. Around this time of day I cut wood with my son who is 22yo, I'm 60. We cut wood with a two man saw 72" type and this will get you in shape quick.. When I first started using it I thought I would die, now in all honesty I must say that I love using it. Looking at the 8 cords of wood hand cut by myself and my son is very rewarding. I understand about cronic diseases my brother has Crohn's disease also. But for my self my only cronic problem is a knee replacement when I was in the army over 40 years ago..... it slows me down a bit but I refuse to let it be a hinderance.

6) I'd be super grateful for any other advice/wisdom! The biggest thing I can think of is you attitude, if you reslove your self to do it you can, however we have seen many people who are doomed to fail before they begin. For example we have met people who cannot live with out a Traders Joe's near by, and other who their spouses sabotage the attempt at every trun... That is the biggest stumbling block we have seen, spouses sabotaging the attempt. Be sure that everyone in your clan is on the same page about doing this, and I know that this is hard to say leave those who are not sold on doing the off the grid lifestyle back home.....

Feal free to contact me at [email protected] with any questions that may come up.

We, Dan & Sheila, are both 60 now. Our son in his 20s, also lives here. It was easier for us "older folks", since we have already had the experience of living in a world where there was opportunity for success. Our son understands the gift of having a place where we can live a more natural life, and depend on ourselves.

The book was written so that we could share our experiences with others, so that they might learn from the mistakes we already made, and to help us get a few "luxuries" (like some extra groceries once in a while). We would never go back to the "normal" suburban lifestyle!