So sick of living inside the machine. Where to go? page 5

[joelwlcx]

Not closed-minded. I just think it is really really funny when someone tells me they want to live off the land because they're tired of working so hard.

I've hauled a days worth of water from a pond for cattle, hauled more to water my garden, stayed up til midnight and the next morning canning food that was going to spoil and done it by woodstove in 99 degree heat. I've cried as I put down dog-savaged sheep and pulled baby goats and lambs myself because I couldn't afford a vet.

Cutesy ideas of living in an RV as authentic back to the land are just that: cutesy.

I don't think it's not wanting to do work... It's not wanting to work for someone else's benefit, and be given a rather un proportionate amount of money just to end up giving it to someone else who profits from your basic needs. It's not wanting to be called a bum or a hippie for having the before mentioned opinion. It's not wanting to be pigeonholed into a normal, functioning, boring, member of society, only to be told you're not being yourself.

It's wanting to work for you, to benefit you, and most importantly, to be happy. It's working hard, but having something real to show for it i.e. health, happiness, a family, a home, and ultimately, independence. It's about connecting with the earth, not being isolated from it.

[zoebird]

I would agree.

Working for yourself often means working harder, but you get to reap 100% of the benefits of your hard work -- whether that's working on a farm at subsistence levels (such as this crew who love their life) or working for yourself in any other entrepreneur-adventure.

When DH and I were in the US, working for others, we would work an average of 35-40 hr work weeks, being paid what our jobs were paid, as determined by those who employed us. We would receive benefits as they determined, too. And holidays. And sick days. And everything else.

Being frugal, we lived very well on our relatively low incomes and didn't want for anything. . . except freedom. The opportunity to succeed and fail on our own merits. The opportunity to reap all of the rewards for our hard work.

We moved to NZ. We bought a business. It's my dream business. I love it. I work an average of 60 hour work weeks. Dh works about 40 in the business and manages our household. We currently make less than we did before, but we have the opportunity to earn a lot more as we build our business. It's only been two years, and we have secured for ourselves a great income so far, with so much room to grow (the four arms of our business currently are only at 1/3 capacity, and as I discover and train more resources, we'll be able to sustainably grow -- meaning that we can triple our current income, which will be double what we were making after 15 years in industry in the US! And, we plan on franchising, which means basically unlimited potential.)

So, yes, I do work harder. But I am out of the rat race. I'm doing really rewarding work that I *love* and reaping ALL of the benefit of that work. And, I'm able to help others do the same with my business, as well as provide for some folks who simply don't want to run their own businesses (maybe only want to teach yoga part time, etc).

[RitaRose]

I don't think anyone believes it would be all picking berries and laying on the grass in the sun. If they do, they're idiots and they'll figure it out pretty quickly. My idea of that lifestyle involves a lot of poop, blood, sweat, misc odd animal fluids and doing things that aren't pleasant because they're merciful. Just my take, and I may still be wrong.

What people are fighting against in "the cage" is having no control over their own lives. It could go bad, it could go well, but little you do has any effect on it. For instance, I've worked hard and smart and ethically for my last two companies. I got laid off from the last one because the real estate market tanked and they couldn't afford to keep me (or more than half of their other employees), and I hated it, but I understood. With my current job, I've been on a layoff notice for more than a year now, just waiting for the axe (maybe in a month?) because they took more than $100 million from the government to eliminate my job with new technology.

Even though I could go out and get another corporate job with nice insurance, paid sick days and paid vacation, I really need to understand that the security I thought I could find in a massive corporation just isn't there, and the only real security I have is relying on myself.

[Earthy Mama]

If we left, where could we go? What forests can we live in without fear of being hunted or harassed? Where are the deer plentiful?

I'm 30. This has all been crap. I want to wake up, find food, love my family, play games, work the land a little, and sleep free of B.S. I want every day to be the same.


I just don't know how much longer I can take this fake, fake world and these games we play, the money we have to make, the dreams we must kill to satisfy cultural norms. Why don't we take to the trees again?

Husband and I feel the same way. We left our home, bought an RV, bought 16 acres of land and are living on it now all within ONE year of deciding to do this. Working on the eco-home/solar/water catching thing and next year getting some farm animals and big garden etc.... Aaaaahhhhh love it.

[Jareddame]

Brazil, Ecuador, Northern Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Rural Colorado, Rural Montana, Rural Alaska, and other places you can get out of the rats race. For me I like Northern Colorado for its affordable housing, ample jobs and plenty of open space between NOCO and Wyoming. Great hunting also .... duck, goose (state infestation from canada), elk, deer, antelope and rabbits in the cold months (bow hunting my preferred method). Then you are close enough to Denver for a play or ballet if you feel the need to indulge.

[sbhikes]

I know a guy who is living off the grid for a year. Recently he got 3 deer in one week and never had to fire a shot. All were killed by cars.

[seaweed]

as a matter of interest, how did he dress out the deer when they prob hadnt been bled out? we soak rabbits in brine but deer are a lot bigger.

[Earthy Mama]

I know a guy who is living off the grid for a year. Recently he got 3 deer in one week and never had to fire a shot. All were killed by cars.

Was just talking to my gf's about their hubbies success with hunting. I told her to have hubby just sit at a deer xing sign. Ha!

[sbhikes]

I don't know how he processed the deer. I don't know the guy that well. He's the boyfriend of a woman I work with. He has challenged himself to live off the grid for a year. He's been at it for a couple months now, has lost a lot of weight, but the deer have brought him into bounty.

[Comma]

I want a deer.