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Currently it's a ten km round trip to the local shop or I, walk one kilometre to the local bus stop, spend 3 euros and half a day to go into town. Usually, I will stop en route and pick up supplies for a few days or maybe the week, I prefer buying from local shops that are family run even if they are more expensive, that way I am supporting them and not shareholders and, in my own little way I'm helping keep the corner shop alive for those that use it out of necessity. And, if I stay in an area for a while I build up a rapport and sometimes learn something useful too boot!

@@the-nomad Good info thank you. In the northeast USA there's not a lot of places left like that, or maybe there are but they're very far away from where I am now in the big city.

Sheer laziness. I was moving the house goats for the land owner and instead of moving the tether I decided to keep the goat chained to the stake. Passing under a pear tree the goat rushed back to grab some fermenting pears and the stake swung round and hit me. Could have been far worse, I'm already blind in the other eye. I will not take any more shortcuts to get jobs done quicker lol. All good now, the swelling has gone down and the bruises are disappearing. They just look like old man bruises now 😉

@@kolchakpasha it's a great life 😉

@@craigsalter7900 thanks! I'm not expecting it to be plain sailing, these are my first horses and, they came to me as wild so, I'm taking my time and learning as I go as well. I'm using what could be considered the 'gentling' method, basically repetition and positive reinforcement plus a little bribery aided by the magic of carrots 😉

Koniks Ja bet latviski👍

They look at ease with you, which is nice.

​@@craigsalter7900The magical qualities of carrots 😉

I live on the road and they will be my travelling companions, as well as Jeb and Charlie my canine buddies. However,until we have them trained and ready to get back to our adventures I will be buildings covered open stable for them with a shed next to it where I'll be sleeping. Remember that until last Thursday they had been living wild in the forest.

And the reason the place looks like it does is because every evening Nico gives himself the task of pulling down the stacked (and restacked) wood piles. LOL

Had a few developments so will be updating with cart tour soon.

Yeah, agreed but I have to make do with what is available. Been considering my options.

Thanks!

Thanks. Well, I'm packed and preparing to hit the road. Just need to check the weight of the waggon and see how realistic it is to.pull (and probably reduce my gear even more LOL) but, looking forward to the new journey.

Oh, definitely kicking! LOL

No set agenda, initially I was planning on Poland, however, there is the lure of staying in Latvia a while longer. I still need to get ponies or oxen and train them, so, by then I might have a goal in mind 🤠

Hey, yeah I have a PayPal account ( PayPal.me/mikesvardo) Also a Patreon channel which currently I am rebooting into a behind the scenes channel. But, generally I direct people to my 'buy me a coffee' page, ko-fi.com/nomadlife , which jas neen a bit like my journal. I'm in the process of rebuilding my social media empire (LOL) with a bit more structure and better planning... hopefully LOL

​@@the-nomad Cool, I wish you the best👍🤙

It;s all good John, I'm at a winter camp on the edge of one of Latvia's National forests now, well settled in and preparing to raise funds for a couple of ponies or oxen to pull the waggon and get me back on the road this year :-)

Yeah!:-) was pla on moving this coming month anyway cos it's such a toxic environment (people wise)... Just been given a trailer and somewhere to store my additional gear and the goats and chickens. This is a chance to rebuild the lifestyle back to what I want and keep mobile all the time

Hi, thanks for the comment! I'm.a.Brit but have been living in Latvia for the last seventeen years and I do consider it to b my home. At present i am considering returning to the UK or, alternatively wandering Europe or, possibly even staying in the Baltic States and just drifting around.

if dogs dont go to heaven, send me where they go!

The end of the video shows. Yes, easily but I plan to make a few changes to the design later.

Just need to decide, do I build big enough to carry my gear or reduce my gear to minimum and build small.

I suppose only you know if your well enough to use a handcart. Personally I will be using my horse for mine

Yeah, when they were dumped on me they were moulting they were in bad shape and I didn't expect anything and daylight wise sunrise is at 0500 and sunset at 2300 so I would have expected them to be laying by now. There is the possibility that they are laying somewhere in the fields cos they are fully free range and one day I might come across a clutch of eggs...sadly, no cockerel so no chicks.

It's all down to finances at the end. I'm not going to bust a gut trying to achieve the exalted status of income generator here or thru' social media. If it happens then great, if not, no problems. I'm splitting the running gear into two parts, a cart and something that can be attached if necessary or, pulled behind the cart like a trailer. Got the idea from a cart called a Lincolnshire Hemaphrodite. (Nothing gender related or sexual LOL). If I can get hold of a pony or two ( over here about 400 euro each) then great, bull calves cost a lot less but I need to consider issues or crossing borders and necessary vaccinations. Final option is I pull myself. And, if/when the chance arises then get myself an animal to do the work. Like I said, not looking to generate income thru social media but I am going to get back to leatherwork and working with bone and antler to see if I can earn something. Keeping things fluid, although I would like to get in the road for summer, I will let it happen as it unfolds.

Thanks, itš a bit of a bumpy ride but it is giving me the impetus to re-evaluate and restructure my life 🙂

Had a stroke the Wednesday before, so it was a quiet one! Anyway, all the best fr the new year and hope you had a good xmas mate! (obviously I am better ;-) )

@@the-nomad thoughts are with you mate, I hope you recover well from the stroke - much respect to you for toughing it out.

Thanks for the insight.Yeah, I understand what youare saying and getting more subscribers would be good but, not my main goal. My income is limited (around 60 euro a month ) so getting top notch equipment isn't going to happen, I make do with what I have and, I'm not into teaching the skills, as you said there are plenty of quality channels doing that, I will never be able to compete, and that isn't what my life is about, it's about living when you slip through the gaps of 'civilisation' . 🙂

​​@@the-nomadif you do want better sound quality sooner or later you could probably pretty easily do that. Just a small external mic attached to your shirt or something like that wouldn't cost much.

Off grid, about 16 years, homeless this is my 6th year. But I guess that you can add to that my military service which was mostly in the field.

@@the-nomad wow 😮 that is remarkable

@@jo-ih6ur It's a fun way of life

I'm good, thanks. I have lots of firewood and my shelter is small so it warms up quickly 🙂

Yeah, I go at my own pace, much to the frustration of others LOL

Hi Ritchie, no, Latvia is a pretty flat lowland country, the highest point is only 300 m above sea level. It''s the location with weather coming from Siberia or the Arctic which causes things to drop to below -20c at thelowest point in winter. But, I have access to plenty of firewood and, although I need to do some major repairs to the woodstove. Joing the hunting collective has been a huge boost to my larder and greatly reduced my spend. with regards to solar, firstly understand your power consumption in watt then don't go for the all inclusive kits, I boutght my solar setup as separate items on eBay, yes from China but that's where it all comes from anyway. I have two large 100 watt panels, a 3000w inverter (for the items that need mains power, such as my laptop) I have a small 200w panel thatI use to top up my batteries and for things that charge thru USB, my batteries are straightforward car batteries that were on offer, I run them in parallel as my inverteris a 12 volt inverter, and they do a great job, even now with grey skies I am getting 13.4 volts (batteries run at 12.7 and can go down to 12.2 without issue, even though I have run them at 11.7 with no ill effects), total cost for all of that as under 200 euro. But as you are in scotland, consider wind generators, there is a 600 watt generator on eBay for 150 euro (last time I checked) but go for a vertical 'barrel\ shaped propellor, as that will take wind from any direction or 'disturbed' winds.

Lol...I texted before you finished. Give him a wack on his nose.

@@jacquelineoberlin3737 Tried that, it doesn't work LOL... but, we have an agreed distance and I think his other issue is that he sees me as an apple bending machine :-)

I think the stalker is his ram mate!

It's all good, it's the visiting ram that wants all the ewes to himself! I have two dogs that are good alarms if people, deer, geese, cats etc, etc etc get too close and, I do have my walloping stick :-)

Oh and that’s not based off this one video, I’ve watched it gradually happening over the course of your channel - wishing I could help prevent it some way

Yeah I did wonder that myself, however, in my defence since I was unablke to access the internet (and specifically the youtube shorts and Instagram) my demeanour has imprioved greatly, no more videos of animals being abandoned etc. Losing income was a positive surprisingly enough! Also, I was unable to purchase my meds (I take aspirin and Lucetam due to thge fact that I have had mini stroke and I have wondered if the damage done has inckuded mood altering.) I'm back on the aspirin now that I have manbaged to 'beat' PayPal and get hold of my cash, plus, working with the local hunting colective on Saturdays is giving me plenty of meat, so my diet has improved dramatically. Thanks for the comment, but I am good, just finished improving the insulation of the waggon and inside temperatures have dramtically increased from -4 to +7c and, tomorrow I will be adding Rockwool sheets that I have acquired so, things will get even better.. But I am good (in all senses LOL) just wanting to move forward with the plan to get back on the road, but of course that isn't going to be easy when my income is mininmal (not a plea for cash LOL) THe vet that helped with Jeb when he got injured has told me of a local animal auction and a few of the hunting collective now usefuil contacts, so come spring I may be on my way to get my draft animal, then it's a whole new stroy. (plus, over the winter, once I've revamped the waggon Iwill be making crafrt items to sell.)

oh, and apologies for the dealy in replying, no funds meant no internet or, more accurate, very limited internet ( I was sneaking into local govt offiuces in the village so I had a power point ot access the free wifi LOL

LOL, no.... wouldn't really fit in with the lifestyle, I'm thinking it's an imbalance or result of the mini strokes.

Hey Leigh, yeah he came back the other day, I posted a belated video. Judging by his actions since returning, and wanting to get out again I'm pretty sure that there's a bitch in season nearby.

acaba de regresar después de huir durante dos días porque en algún lugar hay una perra en celo, así que no. Estoy con él las 24 horas, los 7 días de la semana, así que estará bien.

Hey, thanks. Just realised that I hadn't posted the video about his return. He came back late in the afternoon and was in good shape. JUdging by his actions since then , there is obviously a bitch in heat somewhere around here and he's keen to go back and see her!

And, belated happy birthday or (pre happy birthday LOL)

He's back. Sauntered into camp like he owned the place. Now tethered and all fence has been walked and repaired. He's not happy though so I'm guessing there is a bitch in season somewhere.

@@the-nomad he’s bagged off - lucky bugger!

Yeah, he's a savvy dog and, we are in the countryside so not a lot if traffic but the lumber lorries are way too fast.

Yeah, still thinking that he will return, just that now I need to concentrate on my jobs.

This was my initial plan when I became homeless and, I almost achieved it when I raised and trained Bill my bull. My challenge at the moment is raising the cash, I'm currently living on about sixty euros a month so I have to up my game and start earning. My savings were wiped out last month with the vet fees for Jeb and Charlie and my medical fees when I had my mini strokes. Of course I am impatient to get on the road but with winter coming I also need to make sure I can survive. It's all fun and , I do have coffee :-)