I am a 45 year carpenter. Yes 45 years as a carpenter. I an 67 years old. I have built dog houses and billionaire mansions. And I can run a pipe and rope a few wires to make stuff work. Five years ago I would have checked the place out. But I just bought a place in my beloved Idaho. Down on the snake river. Not much snow in the winter. Loved your video. I wish you the best.
Now there's a real man! Experienced and wise. He uses his wisdom and knowledge to help others. Great personality too. If we all were like this guy, we would live in a better world. Thanks for the vid!
I moved from Chicago to a small village of 200 people in Argentina and I can tell everyone that I am much happier with the rhythm of my life l. I've been here for one year and I am loving every moment. Thanks for taking the time to read this comment
@@astoica1 the economy here is really bad every high inflation but my wife and I save for a while to be able to do this. We bought a 200 year old hotel for 14000 dollars that was in very bad condition and fixed it up and turned it into our home. Now what we do is live off the land and grow most of our vegetables and raise our own animals. It's very hard work but we enjoy it and have a better quality of life. Let me know if you have any other questions. Sorry it took me a while to reply very bad internet here lol
I admire people like you that will be upfront and not make off grid living seem like a cushy lifestyle, especially in an environment like you live in. Skills today, especially working with your hands, for the majority of the younger generations consist of how fast you can send a text on your cell and sitting in front of a computers. We live in the Blue Ridge mountains and not off grid or homesteading. People tell us how beautiful your home and property is, and then ask us, how long did it take you to get this far. We tell them, started in 1974 and still haven't completed our goals. Who did all the work?, well we did because we had the skills to do it. Thank you for your honesty, I hope this video finds it way to a lot of wannabe thinks they can do it with no skills and the money to sustain them.
I’m skilled in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, simple car mechanics, farming, and hydroponic growing. I’ve been building up this resume my whole life because when I was young I knew I’d end up in the middle of nowhere. Spent the last year researching places and stumbled upon Terlingua Texas. Made a planned trip for October 2018 to visit. Would be an honor to buy you a beer and talk to you about the area if at all possible.
I been looking and concidering goinging off grid for a while. Now that I am retiring. I think I may come down your way look around. I've actually been looking hard because I do not like even close to city or urban. I am more than just a skilled carpenter. A master carpenter 40 years survivalist out of the missouri river bottoms. And I can still dig all day long even at 66 years of age.
You have put a lot of hard work into your place and it has turned out to be a beautiful place! I lived in the Mojave Desert for 17 years in Southern California. It is a very hard place to live. Good job keep up the good work live life to the fullest!
Visited that small town when my family and I went to big bend national park. It’s a quaint little desert town. It’s a different world in West Texas from San Antonio. We loved it. Going back in near future.
Robert touched on a couple issues in a very large issue. Livability on The Ranch in Far West Texas. Everything that is alive wants to see you hurt or killed. Plants most places are not aggressive, but Ranch plants are angry vindictive things that use sharp tools to hide their stored water inside them from bears and mountain lions and feral pigs. Many species of poison snakes that can kill you. Tarantulas and scorpions are also going to brighten your day. 1% of the homes and businesses have utility power and 1% of those have a well. So everybody is forced to makes minimal electric and minimal water through alternative methods that are hit and miss. Temperatures reach way above 110 degrees on warm sunny days and it’s almost always warm and sunny. Most Ranch property is way away from limited services like schools, hospitals, doctors, veterinarians, post offices, UPS etc. Want to see a movie or get a Big Mac it’s about 200 miles away. When it does rain, 100% unpredictably, roads are often times closed for 2 days. In town when it rains, it will be 2 days before you can drive home. Most people have No cell phone service . Most places don’t have Internet, telephones or wifi, so you are living in the stone ages of technology. The one local gas station can easily and often does, run out of fuel. Many of the Ranch roads require high clearance 4WD. Because of the lack of services, if you do find a house to live in, insurance is about impossible to find or afford because if you have a fire, the volunteer fire department is too far away to put the fire out. And they can only bring so much water when they do show up two hours later. Have a heart attack or stroke? It’s a death call on this remote Ranch. Kiss it goodbye. Only people that make it here are people who could make it anywhere because they have money and resources to constantly wage a quiet war with the harsh desert. The ones who win the battle do so because they try to change very little, they learn to do with less, lots less. The romantic videos of John and Robert are like the serpent offering Eve an easy apple. Believe me, Terlingua Ranch is no easy apple. (I own 88 acres on The Ranch with utility power, well, telephone, internet, wifi, cellphones, satellite phone, two jeeps, and a nice house. People who scrape out a living in this desert are a special people, it’s not easy)
To the trolls that comment about my "disability" and how it seems I am "mooching off THEIR taxes", or cheating in some way...… not that you actually read anything.... you just post snarky, cretinistic comments that make you feel better while sitting in your Mother's basement eating a ham sandwich, wishing YOU has the skills and balls to do what I do…… this video is several years old. I was badly injured and did collect Social Security disability for a short time. However, those days are far behind and I am as fully able to work as any man my age NOW. SS disability, can be a short term, or long term benefit. Mine was short term. However, I qualified for it because I NEVER worked "under the table" as so many of you do and have. I worked for 47 years, paying FICA taxes as required. Now that I am over 66, I qualify for more SS retirement income than you probably earn at a job, if you even have one! This video was NOT about me, however you may want to make it so in order to be a simpering troll. It is about unskilled, ham sandwich eaters like yourself who think they can re-invent themselves in a remote area. Sorry folks, there is a saying you need to remember that goes like this: "Wherever you go, there you are". You are doomed to failure! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOURSELF AND THE MESS YOU MADE OF YOUR LIVES!
eco-ranch.us Social Security is an insurance program anyway, not welfare. Anybody who’s paid into it is entitled to the help, when they need it. I swear people who sneer at the disabled or retired are either brainwashed or must hate their own jobs, maybe both.
I haven’t seen any disability with you it seems that you are more than abled living in w tx. My father had a way of responding to me asking “where we were” and he would say, “we are right here! We must make the best of it!” He would always be lost, but he was right. We were there, and that’s where we were. You always have the stars to guide you somewhere else.
Thinking about it, I've spent most of my life learning the things I'd need to live independently, with the end goal of living a remote life. And this was long before the wave of interest that TH-cam has generated. I've lived rough, I've had successful organic gardens, I build, I train dogs and horses, I've traveled the country with a trailer, camping remotely. I've worked many jobs (yes, even bartender, cook and handyman) I love the desert and I love the Northern forests. The list of random skills I've developed would take a page. BUT, now that I'm on the edge of 64, that dream seems to be more remote than Terlingua. Back issues and bouts of depression seem insurmountable. But, I still scroll through thousands of listings for a small, remote house I could buy for cash and ride out the balance of life away from the madhouse of society. Apart from small savings, I have just my 1,000+ SS check. looks like I'll be living vicariously through all the brave souls who took the plunge when they were younger. Got to temper those dreams with quenches of reality, ya know.
Hear that! I'm not looking to get worked to death, that is for sure, I've spent the last 46 years doing that! With a 34 year career in the HVAC trade with bad knees and back surgeries to show for it. I also realize a person is only fooling themselves with visions of living off-grid as the life. If anything it is more work! But a different kind of work and that is what a lot of people haven't figured out... And that "living off-grid" still takes money! And at times, more than you usually have. The same old game just different rules and faces.
Terlingua and West Texas have a special place in my heart. I’ve been coming every year from Dallas as far back as I can remember and will be there this May! I’ve always wanted to buy property out there, and most likely will when I am older and have the funds to do so. So crazy how underrated this place is. Something about it calls me back every year (sometimes I go two or three times) When I leave Dallas I leave whatever stress or energy behind and completely cut myself off from the outside world (pretty easy when there is no cell service!) Thanks for making this video.
Very tough to words to live by, but somethings that definitely need to be said. I'm taken back by how many people have admitted wanting to come out there, seemingly lacking a lot of the things you've talked about.
The problem is that most people that are sick of all the debt, high tech, and stuff are... well, the people that are also often drawn to it. I mean, you only have tons of debt if you are living outside your means. You only get overloaded with the technology and stuff if you are buying it. No one makes these folks do any of that... they CHOSE to do it. Them moving to an isolated place isn't going to change who they are at heart. All it will do is make it harder, if not impossible, to be who they are at heart.
I'm in debt and I live in my dad's kitchen behind pieces of cardboard. I have no quality of life. No personal space or privacy. I've never had anything in life. A lot of other 18 to 34 year-olds are like me nowadays, especially in California with cost of living so high. It has much more to do with the economy these days than living outside of your means.
Living behind cardboard in your Dad's kitchen sound made up. But if the comment is real, I am not trolling you, but blaming the economy sounds like an excuse for not trying. Even today with the damage that guy with the dead racoon on his head is doing to our country, new immigrants are coming here and not just surviving, but thriving! Try living exactly as they do for a couple years...…. we did. You WILL get ahead!
This is the best informational vid I seen about off-grid living in west Texas, I noticed you said you worked the mines? I too work the underground coal mines in eastern Kentucky been running a roof bolter since 96 and I dream of getting the hell out of here but I don’t want to get out there and strike out, I’m sure a lot of people just can’t hack it and leave.
Really insightful video. A lot of people think moving out to the middle of nowhere is going to solve all their problems. You have to have the motivation, dedication and resources as well. I see people trying and failing out here all the time. Luckily we are in an area that gets a bit more water but we are working and learning all the time. If you move to the middle of nowhere with a woman you need to make sure you are on the same page. I'm extremely lucky because my wife and I are extremely motivated and love working hard. It's very rewarding when you are able to turn a piece of land into something usable. Don't let the hard work dissuade you from moving to the middle of nowhere, but come with a plan and expect an extremely hard life that can be very rewarding. Thanks for the great video, I'm very glad to have found your channel.
Thank you! That is the reason my channel is not "monetized". I am returning what Life has taught me.... TEACHING things we need to know to survive the new world we are creating. If I depend on money from these, my honesty will be jaded by the need for views. Right now my attitude is: "watch them or not, I don't care" and then the truth, from my perspective, comes out.
All excellent reasons why I am in Arizona nomad. I don't have to own any land, I just move as the weather determines From government land to government land. BLM or national forest land. High altitude in the summer desert in the Winter. Always within reasonable Distance of a real grocery store.
Been there; too hot, too dry, too dusty, no water. Too far to goods and services. Cheap land and no building codes are not enough. Fun place to visit tho'
Love the straight forward talk. I'm planning to buy a small ranch here in Arizona in a couple of months. I have my plan in place for my job but if I had to find different work I've been a welder fabricator for the last 26 years,however I'm trying to not do it professionally these days. I'm originally from Dalhart Texas in the panhandle, it's rather flat and empty there! Keep up the great videos sir!
Words of wisdom.... I've considered visiting the area and checking it out. I love working with my hands and seeing what I've accomplished at the end of the day. Its a satisfying feeling.
I was planning to come out there, but you make it sound too hard! Now I've changed my mind! I've lived here in the lush green mountains for over eighty two years and I always wanted to go to the desert where it might rain twice in a year and the nearest stream or river was eighty miles away and didn't run but about forty % of the time! Now you've talked me out of it dang it!
My friend, with NO ill intention intended, after 82 years of life, you need to stay right where you are. Visit here, maybe, but to live, NO! Your health may be fine now, or for 30 more years, but you and I both are ONE cardiac episode away from a nursing home. Make the most of where you are!
Dear Robert, I feel so lucky to have found your clips. First may God bless you for your great attitudes. When you have a heart to build up people and their lives it means that you have God's blessing on you. Recently I have decided to make the move and now I am in the process of informing myself. I am an x Doctor,engineer and electrician. My plan is to have an RV whiles my son and I I work on our place. I hope when i move out there I find a place near a people with good hearts such as u and your neighbors. God bless, Al
I am building my house out of rocks and mud. I know how to plumb am a finish carpenter I learned how to wire, I am learning how to pour concrete. Lol I taught myself how to cut tile, I used to farm apples and cherries I can knit crochet and sew. Jeje and I'm 67 year ol woman. Woo woo crept i moved to Baja California Sur where the desert meets the Sea.
Hi Robert Earl, thanks for the heads up. I have been messing with this idea since the late 80's when I was driving trucks through the New Mexico and Arizona desserts on my way to deliver in California. I saw signs for $100 an acre right off of I-40. Family and friend ties always kept me from pullin' the trigger. I will most likely continue to live vicariously through you. Godspeed brother.
Great job on this video. Of course, I am like so many other people that daydream about living like that, but with my medical issues and minimal handyman skills, it will stay a daydream.
I am SO happy you made this video. I've been a regular visitor to the area for a couple of decades now and it continues to amaze me how unaware people are just VISITING the desert. Reality is the area is a harsh land and it does NOT forgive you for mistakes. You have my admiration for homesteading there and good on you for letting other potential homesteaders know what they can expect. As much as I love spending time in Big Bend NP, Study Butte, Terlingua and the state park I want trees too much to want to live there myself.
I just received ANOTHER message from a guy who bought some land in the "Cedar Springs" area of Terlingua Ranch, from an on-line broker, sight unseen! It is hard to get more remote and inaccessible than Cedar Springs out here and the roads in that section are horrific!!! This fellow makes FOUR people in the last six weeks that contacted me who bought that worthless land! I wonder if some online broker type got its hands on a few sections and is promoting life out there......."ethically", of course! (uh huh) Remember, these "realtors" only are lying if their mouths are moving! People, DO NOT BUY LAND SIGHT UNSEEN, PARTICULARLY ON-LINE!!!!! We have some title issues out here like a lot of places and titles to land need to be proven clear or title insured before you commit to purchasing..... DO NOT buy land you have never seen (would you buy a car you never saw, or marry someone you never met?????). Much of that land in Cedar Springs, Solitario too for that matter, has pretty views, but crappy roads and like a Floridian shoveling snow in Minnesota for the first time, it is fun the first 2-3 times, but by December it sucks and there is three more months of Winter. The difference is that the roads and the drive suck year-around!!!!!!! MOVE OUT HERE...... IF: you have financial means....... know the property you are buying is accessible and does not flood (you read right)...... possess skills we need out here (we have enough bad handymen, cooks & bartenders)....... own a reliable, high clearance vehicle and have a reputation among friends, family & co-workers as the best self-starter they know. Without these, YOU WILL FAIL, or tough it out in a OSB cabin, eating Spam by candlelight! SPEND YOUR MONEY USING COMMON SENSE! Buying land anywhere sight unseen and/or from an online "realtor" (even one that is "legitimate) is just plain STUPID!!!!!
We did the “big bend” land of the ranch. I looked at the flash flood areas per how the land laid. Half of our plot seems to be flash flooded where the other half isn’t.
Hello Robert, it’s me again..i live in France ..and i just wanted to send you a youtube video. But the problem is that it is in french and i don’t know if you speak french...well it is about this man in the south of france he didn’t go to school very longtime..but he had this wonderful idea about growing his own food in an area where it makes me think of arizona...in some ways...he bought a piece of land where there was no possibility to have water going in that part..but he wanted to try to grow vegetables anyway.... So he tried to make some grow . By watering them just a little tiny bit..and it did grow..of course i believe the ground had what was needed....and little by little the vegetables grew...he collected the seeds..and now he doesn’t have to water them at all...except when he plants them...when they are baby plants...he put them in the ground side ways...not facing the wind.,but he almost lays them down with the roots in the ground ..just once or twice....those vegetable grow with very strong gene seeds..which now can support extreme temperatures without being watered!!! ..he plants the vegetables go away and comes back after two months and collect the vegetables period....to begin with people thought he was crazy and now so many people goes to see him even agriculture scientific go and see for themselves to see if it true.....because they never get deseases either.....so i just wanted to send you this video...and thought maybe it could be a plus..for your homestead.....maybe...😁👍🏽🐒💐🌸 th-cam.com/video/ZiwXR-7uc6Q/w-d-xo.html
Using the subtitles and "auto-translate" I will be able to follow the video fairly well. I will watch it later this morning. I only speak and read English, but have watched many videos in other languages and learned just by watching. Thanks!
I agree with everything you said here. A little over 3 years ago, I moved off grid in the mountains of Tennessee. I have solar, and a natural spring for water. It's tough living a true off grid lifestyle in an area that has so much abundance. I can only imagine what kind of struggle would come with having little to no water. I commend you for your strength and perseverance out there in those arid conditions!
Hey, Robert. I was born in Alamogordo, NM, so I’m pretty familiar with desert living and feeling kind of homesick. I make $750/mo SSDI, and have some carpentry and masonry and survival skills. Could you please help me find a plot down there that I can owner finance for no more than $200/mo? The only reason I ask is because it’s hard to find legit realtors selling land down there, and I really distrust the online “brokers” like you talked about. Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the video, either way!
eco-ranch.us Thank you for the offer. I may take you up on that. I have found a few decent plots - one near Van Horn (10 acres for $4k), and one supposedly in Terlingua (no GPS, 40 acres for $20k). Both of them are on “buy cheap land” sites. There don’t seem to be any plots of land on legit websites unless they are being sold for thousands per acre. So real estate agents are either *really* ripping you off, or these other lots are so worthless that only total sheisters are willing to rip you off for them. The guy selling the 10 acre lot near Van Horn, Kyler Dawson, actually did an interview on some land investment podcast that was really interesting. Apparently, there’s a whole community of people who buy large plots from the towns for pennies and sell them for thousands of dollars more than they paid for them. And if they can get you to make monthly payments, they charge 10-12% interest and end up getting more than twice the cash price off you in the end. Sounds like a good racket, if you don’t mind being a parasitic scumbag. Anyway, I have a few months to save up some cash and see what I can do. Thanks again, and thanks for making all these awesome videos!
There is land for sale in this area. People need to come here for a week or so. Meet some locals and ask around about land. Parcels will be available then, from honest folks. The cost of a week's "vacation" here, will be offset by the quality of the land found and the THOUSANDS less is costs than from a NON-LICENSED land broker.
West Texas is your place if you love wide open wilderness.Unforgiving and harsh summers and environment.I been all over that part of Texas. Some love plowed fields of panhandle area and Oklahoma.Very few trees.Home is where your heart is.I live on top of a hill in deep East Texas.
whoa wait i thought i was moving to texas then i saw this guy on youtube inviting me there with his youtube video title. and then talk me out of coming there for 20min
Great video Buddy....very well said with great insight.....thank you for the valuable information ill take it with me on my journey to off grid living god bless.
If I move out there I'm doing so because I don't want to do anything. LOL. Build my little " Palace on the Prairie" and kick back - other than maintenance. Already have an income. I would love the solitude.
I hear ya, it's been a dream of mine for years to do what you have done...mostly researching earthships. They offer apprentiships at New Mexico earthship community, where you can go and learn how to build them, and then you can go build your own. They are so neat because they are selfsustaining homes made from bottles and tires that are thrown away and stay cool like a cave and the water system uses the water 4 times and waters your indoor garden...to me, if I were to get some land out there, I would build an earth ship, and not traditional type of housing. There is some new tech now where you can get water from the air, and that seems promising, but the earth ships collect rain water into a cystern. You can also purchase the whole electrical setup for the earth ship all done for you but yes, you need some skilled people out there who have the same desire to get out of the rat race. Great video and advice!
Miserable is a matter of perspective. I just got back from south Florida where Debbie's Father just moved into a nursing home. His house in a "gated, 55 plus community" sat on a 50'x100' lot. you could hear the neighbor in their toilet when outside, smell their cooking and hear everything that went on outdoors for ten houses in any direction. No place to park a car either. While there, nosey neighbors from all around walked by constantly gawking at us. Those that could no longer walk, drove their cars around and around the block, gawking. It took me 45 minutes to drive through traffic to go the five miles to the freeway when I left. Grocery prices were less than 10% cheaper than here. To me, all that was miserable.
eco-ranch.us dude I understand your attraction to this lifestyle. My grandpa lived in the woods in northern Canada with only the railroad track, no roads, that ran past his cabin about 2 miles away. A train went by west one day than east the next. He would set a flag out to signal for them to stop and leave a bag with cash and a grocery/supplies list for them to purchase. The next day they would stop and hang his stuff, with change, for him to pickup. I wasn’t making a comment on your lifestyle, just on your surroundings. I also agree with your assessment of retirement “villages”, can’t believe this appeals to anyone. I’m retired and ran through W Texas a lot to the west coast and have seen the ads for multiple acres for very little cash. My comments were aimed at folks who might think this is a realistic solution to the expensive cost of property ownership, but need to realize there’s a reason this acreage is so cheap
You are right. I told people. America was built by people who had skills. They just found a place to practice and improve those skills. Otherwise, it would be just a 3-rd world country.
Look at the wages being paid for the new jobs in our "booming" economy with the lowest unemployment rate in 49 years...…. AND the highest under-employment rate in our history, we made Third World status.
Im living in a tree hut in norway with my vife, five childrem, mothet, father, mother in law, father in law etc, horses, cattels, chickens, you name it we got it. All off grid! Its almost unbelivable! Thank you!
Love trees, like to see your hut. Love Tarzan even more. Thinking of designing a portable summer kitchen(shower/washer/cooking) for unexpecting mansion owners that can't fig out how they can fit enough solar on their roofs, lol. What a circus out there.
I bought a ping pong table yr2000 ish from a JDeere worker fig they talk stocks. He said buy Autozone. I would be rich. We/you/us need to include GREAT resources for extra income. Power to the people! I BELIEVE yahoo CEO Marissa was a Wall St plant that dismantled Yahoo Finance so the ave Jo net investor could not do great research. Ave Jo needs another source.
I've been looking at moving down there for several years now. My trade, truck driver and like you have severe lung damage. Mine was caused from carbon monoxide poisoning in a 2016 Frieghtiner. I agree with everything you say in this video. One day I'll get my ducks in a row and bring something down there that will be positive for the area and peaceful for Me. God bless
Remember what I keep saying: life here is rugged. The only advantage is the cost of land. In retrospect, it is better to have a mortgage than to work as hard as we must in this extreme environment. Unless you just love the desert and crackpots for neighbors, life with trees & water is far easier!!!!!!
Just to comment on my overall health: My lungs are not really damaged, my chest is. It cannot expand like yours does, due to the severe injuries of 8 years ago. It acts like lung damage, but will never get worse or better. I DO NOT have Muscular Dystrophy. That was a premature diagnosis from the way I was moving due to bad knees and the fact that my First (maternal) Cousin does have MD. Both knees need replacement. However, they are MUCH better this year and if I do not overwork them, e/g work as if I were still 30, there is little pain and I will delay surgery as long as I can. All in all my overall health is about 20 years younger than my age!
@@ecoranchusa glad it's not diseased lungs, that's a real pain to deal with I have a very good idea about crackpots for neighbors lol. If I'm ever blessed to be able to proceed with my plans, I wouldn't be close to a town, I'd be 50 miles from anything. With resources to sustain myself.
i used to hang out in terlingua in the 1980s,thought about living there the power company wanted $75000.00 to run power to the property line.there was very little pole lines back then.when the guy bought lajitas and started running pole lines it started getting a little cheaper.still pretty expensive though.
Been building and staying on terlingua ranch for 50 years this year. Some family lives out there for about 20+years now .will be there in coup days to do more work before hunting season traffic.
Inspiring personality. I am 41 yr healthy man from Dallas and I see my future when I venture into 60's and experience peace and retirement. Meanwhile I am looking for a 3 or 4 acres farmland 3 hrs away from Dallas.TX. Can anyone suggest me how much it would cost? I subscribed.Thank you
Wow that is very cheap. I bought a piece of land in the middle of nowhere in San Bernadino California since 2005. 2 . 3 acres for 63 k.and interest from the bank and property tax until now I would say I spent 100k. It's a little 1k a year for property tax. My husband wants me to sale it, he doesn't want to dump the money there for nothing but I have people send me home paper said they want to buy my land for 2k . It's a joke. I'm not saling that is too low price. I bought the land way before I know the internet, Google things. I'm very regretted and very disappointed. That's the biggest mistake I made. Oh well.
As a still capable HVAC tech, my question is how many unwelcome visitors do you see from the “south”? I may look to purchase some land there to build a desert getaway. You make good points here and Dave Ramsey rocks!
Despite what that whack-a-doodle, temporarily in my White House says to Frost Belt coal miners...…. there is NO, NO, NO problem with illegals crossing here, or anywhere in the area and has not been for the entire nine years I have lived here. Drugs come over the border vis drone, at about 300', far higher than any "wall" could go and we have had negative Mexican migration here for the last five years. It is a great place to live, IF you like the desert and "free-spirited" residents.
You said you need skilled workers and then you said you can't build walls and America wasn't built this way , the next thing you say is don't come with out skills and knowledge ! That's what I'm saying about America and it's border I enjoyed your video and it was informative
Great video...will watch some of your others. Curious how you got so many bottles. I've been saving wine bottles for 6 years and maybe have enough for a small wall or shower or something like that. Maybe need friends to help save them lol. No experience in TX, but your advice is very applicable here in the AZ Sonoran desert. Similar rainfall/temps, etc.
It was a community effort. I collected bottled from the Terlingua Ghost Town businesses for two and a half years to get what we have..... in the neighborhood of 120,000. Others who have built bottle structures, also has LOTS of help collecting the bottles.
Me and my husband plan to come to texas next year or so. Hopefully youre my neighbor. Currently live in Southern Oregon, plan to come as soon as possible. But prepared as well can be. We are expecting our first kid in January. We have many things to wrap up here, sell our aninals, and save and plan. My husband is skilled but doesn't have credentials/license, he isn't afraid of having to work a real job though. Maybe we can get him a contractors license or something. IDK! His dream is "woodworking". And our dream is having a self sustaining ranch. What do you think, if we got crops to grow we could set up a farmers market maybe!? When we come it will just be me, my husband, our 1 dog and cat, our ford truck loaded with some of our tools and probably a small travel trailer to live in for a while. And hopefully as much much as possible saved. Me and my husband are hard workers, well do anything if it means freedom and living another day, selling wood maybe work there? We need help so we can do this right.
Stay in touch. When you do make the move, we can let you use our place as a base to go find your property, get a job and so on. There is a "Farmers Market", but not much from the farm, just overpriced, low quality crafts. I will be there soon with actual produce and when you get growing, you can go and maybe we can get it to be a real Farmer's Market!
I don't blame you for bugging out with a baby...I used to say if we ever accidently got pregnant, I'd move to a central American country to raise a child.
Since the reality show "Badlands Texas" Terlingua has turned into a Tourist town and investors are coming in and building Duplexes and other rentals. It is no longer a place to visit if you want an adventure. Sad.
The area is good and there is still adventure here. However.... NEVER.... NEVER.... NEVER.... NEVER call that insipid piece of shit that National Geographic barfed upon America a "reality show"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They found the "people" who live here that favor tin foil as their preferred headgear to interview and turned a simple tragically ending drunken brawl between two good friends into a way to make money! THE PRODUCERS, ADVERTISERS AND ANYONE WHO THOUGHT IS WAS WORTH WATCHING ARE GARBAGE!!!!!! The jackasses begged me for an interview and I refused, as did all the people here worth knowing!
Where there's a WELL there's a way ! Great video and advice ! Terlingua Texas looks like a great place for seniors like myself to visit ! I love the desert, but I do remember really hot days and freezing cold nights at times ! Best wishes to Robert and the lucky residents in Terlingua Texas !!!
Would like to have my place all sit up, then move in RV, water collection system, water source, maybe rent a place for a few months until it gets sit up,
I'm saving now and I think Terlingua is the perfect place to get away from it all. If you pay dues at Terlingua Ranch, I believe you can get inexpensive water at the Lodge to fill up an RV. I'm also looking at atmospheric water generators.
It is well water and tastes terrible, but yes, it will keep you alive. Water generators require humidity. We have too little 10 months of the year. Rainwater catchment works fine though.
Better visit and stay a few weeks before you move there. It's out in the middle of no were. There are no stores. It's know as a ghost town. I lived in Death Valley California and Terlingua makes Death Valley look like the Garden of Eden.
God Bless you Brother, I left America (the home that I love) in 2003 and went to Iraq, Afghanistan, and have never been back. I have skills beyond most folks including the locals where I live now on the other side of the world. Problem here is I'm a "foreigner" and not allowed to do my own thing here (lesson learned). That said you're giving straight up advice to the "Wanna Be's". I'm stuck here because I have a family to support, I do have a lifetime of skills I have learned but not allowed to use them here. I am a truck driver, (not allowed), I am a welder Fabricator, I'm a qualified machinist (old school manual verses CNC) I can design (on a drafting board not a computer program), then build what I designed to exact specifications. I've studied and researched alternative energy for over 40 years. I would be an asset to your community, But alas I'm where I am if you would like to be totally energy self sufficient I would suggest going on line, then Downloading Patrick J Kelly's PDF file. the new one isn't as accurate as the old ones but there it still a mountain of information to be sifted through. I wish you Good Speed and Good Luck Sir, I say that out of respect, as I'm several years older that you. Hopefully you're still on the planet. If you wish to maintain your health and vigor I would suggest learning about Anion therapy, and John Bedini's Royal Rife Frequencies. Respectfully, Braun.
Thanks for the straight talk. I've been down there once and had a great time, but I'm not crazy enough to move there. Perhaps you should promote the chili cookoff, though. People could come and look around while having a good time. It's a fun event with no real (personal) investment in the area.
Wondering what your views are 1.25 years after you released this video. I have a youtube channel, but let it decline after demonetization. I know how to get it back online where it pays, though. Just release a complete video of how to do just one of my sheds, then start releasing all my measurements for all of them. Big learning curve with yt videos for me. I'm trying to figure out where I want to go. I'm a decent carpenter, frame wise. Trim is too tedious for me unless it's my own house. I stick to exteriors; frame and cornice carpentry, sidings, roofing. No masonry or concrete work really, unless I'm choiceless in my own adventure, meaning home project that I already consider to be lossy in certain ways. but that's a more laid back atmosphere, even though it has it's crunch times. I've watched this video before, and was drawn back to it because of the raw way you state the realities of things. My biggest reality check is not being in the city where i find jobs easily, and even checking the population in my city of va beach or norfolk va doesn't quite match up to other places because people come here from other cities asking why our cities are so close together. So population based on just one city around here doesn't work for other "regular" people either. I'm getting fat and lazy at 48 yrs old, even though I have an rv I boondock for cheap and an 83 f250 4x4 with a 300 cid motor, and no real bills whatsoever. I'm also about to start roofing with a company two weeks on, two off, at 35ish per hour minimum, nationwide, just because it's available and I'm getting lazy. I am tired of building these sheds though, ten years after I started doing them, and it's time to pass the knowledge on and for me to move to different things that excite me and make me wanna roll my fat ass outta bed again. Last sentence is as simply put as it feels, but I ain't that outta shape just yet. I'll read through the 500 comments in the next day to figure out how current they are.
My views have not changed. More people are trying to move here though, with little to no skills, thinking THEY are somehow special enough that money will fall into their laps. It won't here. New Homesteading, sustainable living, off-grid living, farming..... all require self starters that solve problems and do what is needed to survive the day! One thing though, we have an overabundance of "rough carpenters" in this area, so it may not be a place for someone not wanting to do finish work or masonry AND several hundred more "rough carpenters", lawn service workers & busboys just crossed the southern Mexico border, heading for the USA.
@@ecoranchusa I appreciate the response. I wouldn't be in the same category as what you just defined as "rough carpenters". I'm skilled, and although in this atmosphere I have very specific start and stop points, I can still do whatever is necessary to complete projects. Around here, we'll often have three different carpenters on any typical new house or room addition. We have the framer who also does all the sheeting, there will be a cornice guy for a house with all wood exterior trim if it has wooden cornice work, and an interior trim guy. I have, and can, do all the jobs, but each job takes a special set of skills, and it's not one man around here on the projects, it's typically a crew of 4 or more guys for framing or cornice work, with special skills and equipment for that one aspect of the job, and then they move on to the next job. I tend to work alone on homeowner projects rather than builder projects. Builder projects are really fast paced, whereas homeowner projects tend to be budget, or lack of budget, based, and i can get the job just by giving a price for an entire project, which is usually the first phase shell work, meaning framing, exterior doors and windows, cornice, siding, and roofing. Even then, there is separate masonry/ concrete guy, electrician, plumber, and hvac guy, with the homeowner often handling all cleanup, insulation, sometimes wallboard, and sometimes interior trim work. The scary thing for me is leaving an area with over 1.5 million people across 7 cities that only a sign or bridge indicates you've crossed city lines, and where staying busy is relatively easy. I'd definitely have to take a ride in the rv and actually see the area first.
I am a 45 year carpenter. Yes 45 years as a carpenter. I an 67 years old. I have built dog houses and billionaire mansions. And I can run a pipe and rope a few wires to make stuff work. Five years ago I would have checked the place out. But I just bought a place in my beloved Idaho. Down on the snake river. Not much snow in the winter. Loved your video. I wish you the best.
I was stationed at Mtn Home, and those were the best 4 years of my life. Idaho had everything an outdoors person could want. Enjoy.
Now there's a real man! Experienced and wise. He uses his wisdom and knowledge to help others. Great personality too. If we all were like this guy, we would live in a better world. Thanks for the vid!
I moved from Chicago to a small village of 200 people in Argentina and I can tell everyone that I am much happier with the rhythm of my life l. I've been here for one year and I am loving every moment. Thanks for taking the time to read this comment
how is it there?
@@astoica1 the economy here is really bad every high inflation but my wife and I save for a while to be able to do this. We bought a 200 year old hotel for 14000 dollars that was in very bad condition and fixed it up and turned it into our home. Now what we do is live off the land and grow most of our vegetables and raise our own animals. It's very hard work but we enjoy it and have a better quality of life. Let me know if you have any other questions. Sorry it took me a while to reply very bad internet here lol
I admire people like you that will be upfront and not make off grid living seem like a cushy lifestyle, especially in an environment like you live in. Skills today, especially working with your hands, for the majority of the younger generations consist of how fast you can send a text on your cell and sitting in front of a computers. We live in the Blue Ridge mountains and not off grid or homesteading. People tell us how beautiful your home and property is, and then ask us, how long did it take you to get this far. We tell them, started in 1974 and still haven't completed our goals. Who did all the work?, well we did because we had the skills to do it. Thank you for your honesty, I hope this video finds it way to a lot of wannabe thinks they can do it with no skills and the money to sustain them.
I felt I had to try. Now if they move here, or one of the other off-grid friendly counties in the country, they have been warned.
After two days in the desert fun
My skin began to turn red
didnt the desert turn to sea? lol
Hilarious
Thank you for not sugar coating this life. Love the honesty you have.
"a man's got to know his limitations". - Harry Callahan
I’m skilled in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, welding, simple car mechanics, farming, and hydroponic growing. I’ve been building up this resume my whole life because when I was young I knew I’d end up in the middle of nowhere. Spent the last year researching places and stumbled upon Terlingua Texas. Made a planned trip for October 2018 to visit. Would be an honor to buy you a beer and talk to you about the area if at all possible.
Absolutely!!! Get in touch as October gets closer and we can get together!!!!
I been looking and concidering goinging off grid for a while. Now that I am retiring. I think I may come down your way look around. I've actually been looking hard because I do not like even close to city or urban.
I am more than just a skilled carpenter. A master carpenter 40 years survivalist out of the missouri river bottoms. And I can still dig all day long even at 66 years of age.
You have put a lot of hard work into your place and it has turned out to be a beautiful place! I lived in the Mojave Desert for 17 years in Southern California. It is a very hard place to live. Good job keep up the good work live life to the fullest!
Thank you!
Visited that small town when my family and I went to big bend national park. It’s a quaint little desert town. It’s a different world in West Texas from San Antonio. We loved it. Going back in near future.
Robert touched on a couple issues in a very large issue. Livability on The Ranch in Far West Texas.
Everything that is alive wants to see you hurt or killed. Plants most places are not aggressive, but Ranch plants are angry vindictive things that use sharp tools to hide their stored water inside them from bears and mountain lions and feral pigs. Many species of poison snakes that can kill you. Tarantulas and scorpions are also going to brighten your day.
1% of the homes and businesses have utility power and 1% of those have a well. So everybody is forced to makes minimal electric and minimal water through alternative methods that are hit and miss. Temperatures reach way above 110 degrees on warm sunny days and it’s almost always warm and sunny. Most Ranch property is way away from limited services like schools, hospitals, doctors, veterinarians, post offices, UPS etc. Want to see a movie or get a Big Mac it’s about 200 miles away. When it does rain, 100% unpredictably, roads are often times closed for 2 days. In town when it rains, it will be 2 days before you can drive home. Most people have No cell phone service . Most places don’t have Internet, telephones or wifi, so you are living in the stone ages of technology. The one local gas station can easily and often does, run out of fuel. Many of the Ranch roads require high clearance 4WD. Because of the lack of services, if you do find a house to live in, insurance is about impossible to find or afford because if you have a fire, the volunteer fire department is too far away to put the fire out. And they can only bring so much water when they do show up two hours later. Have a heart attack or stroke? It’s a death call on this remote Ranch. Kiss it goodbye.
Only people that make it here are people who could make it anywhere because they have money and resources to constantly wage a quiet war with the harsh desert. The ones who win the battle do so because they try to change very little, they learn to do with less, lots less. The romantic videos of John and Robert are like the serpent offering Eve an easy apple. Believe me, Terlingua Ranch is no easy apple. (I own 88 acres on The Ranch with utility power, well, telephone, internet, wifi, cellphones, satellite phone, two jeeps, and a nice house. People who scrape out a living in this desert are a special people, it’s not easy)
To the trolls that comment about my "disability" and how it seems I am "mooching off THEIR taxes", or cheating in some way...… not that you actually read anything.... you just post snarky, cretinistic comments that make you feel better while sitting in your Mother's basement eating a ham sandwich, wishing YOU has the skills and balls to do what I do…… this video is several years old. I was badly injured and did collect Social Security disability for a short time. However, those days are far behind and I am as fully able to work as any man my age NOW. SS disability, can be a short term, or long term benefit. Mine was short term. However, I qualified for it because I NEVER worked "under the table" as so many of you do and have.
I worked for 47 years, paying FICA taxes as required. Now that I am over 66, I qualify for more SS retirement income than you probably earn at a job, if you even have one! This video was NOT about me, however you may want to make it so in order to be a simpering troll. It is about unskilled, ham sandwich eaters like yourself who think they can re-invent themselves in a remote area.
Sorry folks, there is a saying you need to remember that goes like this: "Wherever you go, there you are". You are doomed to failure!
YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOURSELF AND THE MESS YOU MADE OF YOUR LIVES!
eco-ranch.us Social Security is an insurance program anyway, not welfare. Anybody who’s paid into it is entitled to the help, when they need it. I swear people who sneer at the disabled or retired are either brainwashed or must hate their own jobs, maybe both.
I haven’t seen any disability with you it seems that you are more than abled living in w tx.
My father had a way of responding to me asking “where we were” and he would say, “we are right here! We must make the best of it!” He would always be lost, but he was right. We were there, and that’s where we were. You always have the stars to guide you somewhere else.
Your right...that is why people need to learn...they should have an off grid school for people who wants to live off grid...
Thinking about it, I've spent most of my life learning the things I'd need to live independently, with the end goal of living a remote life. And this was long before the wave of interest that TH-cam has generated. I've lived rough, I've had successful organic gardens, I build, I train dogs and horses, I've traveled the country with a trailer, camping remotely. I've worked many jobs (yes, even bartender, cook and handyman) I love the desert and I love the Northern forests. The list of random skills I've developed would take a page. BUT, now that I'm on the edge of 64, that dream seems to be more remote than Terlingua. Back issues and bouts of depression seem insurmountable. But, I still scroll through thousands of listings for a small, remote house I could buy for cash and ride out the balance of life away from the madhouse of society. Apart from small savings, I have just my 1,000+ SS check. looks like I'll be living vicariously through all the brave souls who took the plunge when they were younger. Got to temper those dreams with quenches of reality, ya know.
Hear that! I'm not looking to get worked to death, that is for sure, I've spent the last 46 years doing that! With a 34 year career in the HVAC trade with bad knees and back surgeries to show for it. I also realize a person is only fooling themselves with visions of living off-grid as the life. If anything it is more work! But a different kind of work and that is what a lot of people haven't figured out... And that "living off-grid" still takes money! And at times, more than you usually have. The same old game just different rules and faces.
No one has slammed the door. DON'T BREAK THE LAW. DO IT.......L E G A L L Y
Terlingua and West Texas have a special place in my heart. I’ve been coming every year from Dallas as far back as I can remember and will be there this May! I’ve always wanted to buy property out there, and most likely will when I am older and have the funds to do so. So crazy how underrated this place is. Something about it calls me back every year (sometimes I go two or three times) When I leave Dallas I leave whatever stress or energy behind and completely cut myself off from the outside world (pretty easy when there is no cell service!) Thanks for making this video.
🤣🤣🤣Love your spirit and personality. You just save me in sooooo many ways. Such a wake up call.
"So how you gonna grow hydroponically, if you don't have the hydro to ponic it with?" Fair question... fair question. Love your straight talk!
Very tough to words to live by, but somethings that definitely need to be said. I'm taken back by how many people have admitted wanting to come out there, seemingly lacking a lot of the things you've talked about.
The problem is that most people that are sick of all the debt, high tech, and stuff are... well, the people that are also often drawn to it. I mean, you only have tons of debt if you are living outside your means. You only get overloaded with the technology and stuff if you are buying it. No one makes these folks do any of that... they CHOSE to do it. Them moving to an isolated place isn't going to change who they are at heart. All it will do is make it harder, if not impossible, to be who they are at heart.
I'm in debt and I live in my dad's kitchen behind pieces of cardboard. I have no quality of life. No personal space or privacy. I've never had anything in life. A lot of other 18 to 34 year-olds are like me nowadays, especially in California with cost of living so high. It has much more to do with the economy these days than living outside of your means.
Living behind cardboard in your Dad's kitchen sound made up. But if the comment is real, I am not trolling you, but blaming the economy sounds like an excuse for not trying. Even today with the damage that guy with the dead racoon on his head is doing to our country, new immigrants are coming here and not just surviving, but thriving! Try living exactly as they do for a couple years...…. we did. You WILL get ahead!
@John Brandt Absolutely agree John, you can't run away from what you are!
This is the best informational vid I seen about off-grid living in west Texas, I noticed you said you worked the mines? I too work the underground coal mines in eastern Kentucky been running a roof bolter since 96 and I dream of getting the hell out of here but I don’t want to get out there and strike out, I’m sure a lot of people just can’t hack it and leave.
What an amazing life. Enjoyed the video. Thank you for sharing.
Truck driver is a handyman, electrician, mechanic, plumber, dishwasher, housekeeper, an accountant, first responder and many more all in one. 😎👍
So are all the other unemployed guys out here......
Really insightful video. A lot of people think moving out to the middle of nowhere is going to solve all their problems. You have to have the motivation, dedication and resources as well. I see people trying and failing out here all the time. Luckily we are in an area that gets a bit more water but we are working and learning all the time. If you move to the middle of nowhere with a woman you need to make sure you are on the same page. I'm extremely lucky because my wife and I are extremely motivated and love working hard. It's very rewarding when you are able to turn a piece of land into something usable. Don't let the hard work dissuade you from moving to the middle of nowhere, but come with a plan and expect an extremely hard life that can be very rewarding. Thanks for the great video, I'm very glad to have found your channel.
Thank you!!!
Your right about rampant consumerism..
Realistic and true, respect Sir! Hats off to you and your wife.
This is one of the best videos that just tells it like it is; for better or worse. Thanks for the honesty of what it actually takes.
He’s telling you to bring money. Or have a skill that makes money.
I love this guy. But that’s what stock brokers told me too
love how you show the not so pleasant side of your passion... instead of hiding It like many other content creators seem to do.
Thank you! That is the reason my channel is not "monetized". I am returning what Life has taught me.... TEACHING things we need to know to survive the new world we are creating. If I depend on money from these, my honesty will be jaded by the need for views. Right now my attitude is: "watch them or not, I don't care" and then the truth, from my perspective, comes out.
All excellent reasons why I am in Arizona nomad. I don't have to own any land, I just move as the weather determines From government land to government land. BLM or national forest land. High altitude in the summer desert in the Winter. Always within reasonable Distance of a real grocery store.
I LOVE YOU!! Wise man, and very cool!! Message that needs to be out there. Thank you!!
Been there; too hot, too dry, too dusty, no water. Too far to goods and services. Cheap land and no building codes are not enough. Fun place to visit tho'
Love the straight forward talk. I'm planning to buy a small ranch here in Arizona in a couple of months. I have my plan in place for my job but if I had to find different work I've been a welder fabricator for the last 26 years,however I'm trying to not do it professionally these days. I'm originally from Dalhart Texas in the panhandle, it's rather flat and empty there! Keep up the great videos sir!
I know a man who lived in Terlingua for 7 years, & left it, he left his home, & moved to Kingsland, TX. He just couldn't take the desolute no more.
Well done sir. You most be the most honest person on Utube.
5 miles of dirt road is why that land was so cheap.
Yes
Words of wisdom.... I've considered visiting the area and checking it out. I love working with my hands and seeing what I've accomplished at the end of the day. Its a satisfying feeling.
I was planning to come out there, but you make it sound too hard! Now I've changed my mind! I've lived here in the lush green mountains for over eighty two years and I always wanted to go to the desert where it might rain twice in a year and the nearest stream or river was eighty miles away and didn't run but about forty % of the time! Now you've talked me out of it dang it!
My friend, with NO ill intention intended, after 82 years of life, you need to stay right where you are. Visit here, maybe, but to live, NO! Your health may be fine now, or for 30 more years, but you and I both are ONE cardiac episode away from a nursing home. Make the most of where you are!
Government should pump water from the Appalachian mountains to Texas, lord we got so much water and humidity that mold in homes becomes a issue...
I always wondered why there was never a water pipeline built from the western end of Lake Superior to California!
@@ecoranchusa prolly because of the cost of going around or through the Rockies
My husband and I just visited about a month ago. We were only there for 2 days but believe me, I did not want to leave.
Yeah, you have 6 to 8 inches of rain a year and you ought to be there the day it comes.
Dear Robert,
I feel so lucky to have found your clips. First may God bless you for your great attitudes. When you have a heart to build up people and their lives it means that you have God's blessing on you.
Recently I have decided to make the move and now I am in the process of informing myself.
I am an x Doctor,engineer and electrician.
My plan is to have an RV whiles my son and I I work on our place.
I hope when i move out there I find a place near a people with good hearts such as u and your neighbors.
God bless,
Al
Many people here have great hearts! But like everywhere else, there are a few sourpusses. Just throw some sugar on them and they are not too bad!
lol...
I am building my house out of rocks and mud. I know how to plumb am a finish carpenter I learned how to wire, I am learning how to pour concrete. Lol I taught myself how to cut tile, I used to farm apples and cherries I can knit crochet and sew. Jeje and I'm 67 year ol woman. Woo woo crept i moved to Baja California Sur where the desert meets the Sea.
Hi Robert Earl, thanks for the heads up. I have been messing with this idea since the late 80's when I was driving trucks through the New Mexico and Arizona desserts on my way to deliver in California. I saw signs for $100 an acre right off of I-40. Family and friend ties always kept me from pullin' the trigger. I will most likely continue to live vicariously through you. Godspeed brother.
Thanks for watching.... and commenting!!!
Need this to kill what was growing into an obsession. Thinking maybe I will just buy that Selmer bass clarinet after all.
Great job on this video. Of course, I am like so many other people that daydream about living like that, but with my medical issues and minimal handyman skills, it will stay a daydream.
Whoa No way. I live off grid on the Eastern Sierra Nevada. World class skiing, trout fishing. No state income tax. And women in the area... lol.
yea but do you have dishwasher
I am SO happy you made this video. I've been a regular visitor to the area for a couple of decades now and it continues to amaze me how unaware people are just VISITING the desert. Reality is the area is a harsh land and it does NOT forgive you for mistakes. You have my admiration for homesteading there and good on you for letting other potential homesteaders know what they can expect. As much as I love spending time in Big Bend NP, Study Butte, Terlingua and the state park I want trees too much to want to live there myself.
I just received ANOTHER message from a guy who bought some land in the "Cedar Springs" area of Terlingua Ranch, from an on-line broker, sight unseen! It is hard to get more remote and inaccessible than Cedar Springs out here and the roads in that section are horrific!!! This fellow makes FOUR people in the last six weeks that contacted me who bought that worthless land!
I wonder if some online broker type got its hands on a few sections and is promoting life out there......."ethically", of course! (uh huh) Remember, these "realtors" only are lying if their mouths are moving! People, DO NOT BUY LAND SIGHT UNSEEN, PARTICULARLY ON-LINE!!!!! We have some title issues out here like a lot of places and titles to land need to be proven clear or title insured before you commit to purchasing..... DO NOT buy land you have never seen (would you buy a car you never saw, or marry someone you never met?????). Much of that land in Cedar Springs, Solitario too for that matter, has pretty views, but crappy roads and like a Floridian shoveling snow in Minnesota for the first time, it is fun the first 2-3 times, but by December it sucks and there is three more months of Winter. The difference is that the roads and the drive suck year-around!!!!!!! MOVE OUT HERE...... IF: you have financial means....... know the property you are buying is accessible and does not flood (you read right)...... possess skills we need out here (we have enough bad handymen, cooks & bartenders)....... own a reliable, high clearance vehicle and have a reputation among friends, family & co-workers as the best self-starter they know. Without these, YOU WILL FAIL, or tough it out in a OSB cabin, eating Spam by candlelight!
SPEND YOUR MONEY USING COMMON SENSE! Buying land anywhere sight unseen and/or from an online "realtor" (even one that is "legitimate) is just plain STUPID!!!!!
Are there any local realtors you would recommend?
We did the “big bend” land of the ranch. I looked at the flash flood areas per how the land laid. Half of our plot seems to be flash flooded where the other half isn’t.
Hello Robert, it’s me again..i live in France ..and i just wanted to send you a youtube video. But the problem is that it is in french and i don’t know if you speak french...well it is about this man in the south of france he didn’t go to school very longtime..but he had this wonderful idea about growing his own food in an area where it makes me think of arizona...in some ways...he bought a piece of land where there was no possibility to have water going in that part..but he wanted to try to grow vegetables anyway....
So he tried to make some grow . By watering them just a little tiny bit..and it did grow..of course i believe the ground had what was needed....and little by little the vegetables grew...he collected the seeds..and now he doesn’t have to water them at all...except when he plants them...when they are baby plants...he put them in the ground side ways...not facing the wind.,but he almost lays them down with the roots in the ground ..just once or twice....those vegetable grow with very strong gene seeds..which now can support extreme temperatures without being watered!!! ..he plants the vegetables go away and comes back after two months and collect the vegetables period....to begin with people thought he was crazy and now so many people goes to see him even agriculture scientific go and see for themselves to see if it true.....because they never get deseases either.....so i just wanted to send you this video...and thought maybe it could be a plus..for your homestead.....maybe...😁👍🏽🐒💐🌸
th-cam.com/video/ZiwXR-7uc6Q/w-d-xo.html
Using the subtitles and "auto-translate" I will be able to follow the video fairly well. I will watch it later this morning.
I only speak and read English, but have watched many videos in other languages and learned just by watching. Thanks!
Its great to communicate help and learn between eachother. Very inspirational
I agree with everything you said here. A little over 3 years ago, I moved off grid in the mountains of Tennessee. I have solar, and a natural spring for water. It's tough living a true off grid lifestyle in an area that has so much abundance. I can only imagine what kind of struggle would come with having little to no water. I commend you for your strength and perseverance out there in those arid conditions!
Mountainman That's why I have my sites set on Ozarks. More water, game, fishing and farm land. I'm not above eating possum and dandelion greens.
Such wise words, I hope you put the dreamers off and you get the folks that are going to thrive
Hey, Robert. I was born in Alamogordo, NM, so I’m pretty familiar with desert living and feeling kind of homesick. I make $750/mo SSDI, and have some carpentry and masonry and survival skills. Could you please help me find a plot down there that I can owner finance for no more than $200/mo? The only reason I ask is because it’s hard to find legit realtors selling land down there, and I really distrust the online “brokers” like you talked about. Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the video, either way!
You would have to come here and look, meet locals and ask. I can offer a place to camp and start out from, but that is about all.
eco-ranch.us Thank you for the offer. I may take you up on that.
I have found a few decent plots - one near Van Horn (10 acres for $4k), and one supposedly in Terlingua (no GPS, 40 acres for $20k).
Both of them are on “buy cheap land” sites. There don’t seem to be any plots of land on legit websites unless they are being sold for thousands per acre. So real estate agents are either *really* ripping you off, or these other lots are so worthless that only total sheisters are willing to rip you off for them.
The guy selling the 10 acre lot near Van Horn, Kyler Dawson, actually did an interview on some land investment podcast that was really interesting. Apparently, there’s a whole community of people who buy large plots from the towns for pennies and sell them for thousands of dollars more than they paid for them. And if they can get you to make monthly payments, they charge 10-12% interest and end up getting more than twice the cash price off you in the end.
Sounds like a good racket, if you don’t mind being a parasitic scumbag.
Anyway, I have a few months to save up some cash and see what I can do. Thanks again, and thanks for making all these awesome videos!
There is land for sale in this area. People need to come here for a week or so. Meet some locals and ask around about land. Parcels will be available then, from honest folks. The cost of a week's "vacation" here, will be offset by the quality of the land found and the THOUSANDS less is costs than from a NON-LICENSED land broker.
eco-ranch.us Excellent! Thanks for the invaluable advice!
You are truly a man of integrity and truth. Wish there were clones of you worldwide!
God bless you brother thank you and may the Holy Spirit forever dwell in your temple
Dry, rocky place....
But still Looks nice. 👍
Great inspirations.👍
West Texas is your place if you love wide open wilderness.Unforgiving and harsh summers and environment.I been all over that part of Texas. Some love plowed fields of panhandle area and Oklahoma.Very few trees.Home is where your heart is.I live on top of a hill in deep East Texas.
whoa wait i thought i was moving to texas then i saw this guy on youtube inviting me there with his youtube video title. and then talk me out of coming there for 20min
Great video Buddy....very well said with great insight.....thank you for the valuable information ill take it with me on my journey to off grid living god bless.
a good honest video. people should listen but they won't. can't fix stupid!
If I move out there I'm doing so because I don't want to do anything. LOL. Build my little " Palace on the Prairie" and kick back - other than maintenance. Already have an income. I would love the solitude.
Good on ya brother. I respect your honesty. Maybe I'll have the pleasure of meeting you some day.
Come any time!
I hear ya, it's been a dream of mine for years to do what you have done...mostly researching earthships. They offer apprentiships at New Mexico earthship community, where you can go and learn how to build them, and then you can go build your own. They are so neat because they are selfsustaining homes made from bottles and tires that are thrown away and stay cool like a cave and the water system uses the water 4 times and waters your indoor garden...to me, if I were to get some land out there, I would build an earth ship, and not traditional type of housing. There is some new tech now where you can get water from the air, and that seems promising, but the earth ships collect rain water into a cystern. You can also purchase the whole electrical setup for the earth ship all done for you but yes, you need some skilled people out there who have the same desire to get out of the rat race. Great video and advice!
I’m disabled, fixed income and limited handyman skills, don’t see how I can do anything like this...still, would like to try
We weren't built to just pay bills. I am looking to move off the grid in Nevada.
This seems like rock-solid advice. Greetings from your neighbor in west Texas.
Dude this guy is bad ass
IPHONE 272 LOL!! 🔥 I love it! Keep it up man! Love the videos!
Sage advice!
TRUTH! you are doing a great public service! Love the rooster - and your wonder dog. 💞
There’s a good reason you can buy acres of dust in west Texas for super cheap, it’s miserable
Miserable is a matter of perspective. I just got back from south Florida where Debbie's Father just moved into a nursing home. His house in a "gated, 55 plus community" sat on a 50'x100' lot. you could hear the neighbor in their toilet when outside, smell their cooking and hear everything that went on outdoors for ten houses in any direction. No place to park a car either. While there, nosey neighbors from all around walked by constantly gawking at us. Those that could no longer walk, drove their cars around and around the block, gawking. It took me 45 minutes to drive through traffic to go the five miles to the freeway when I left. Grocery prices were less than 10% cheaper than here.
To me, all that was miserable.
eco-ranch.us dude I understand your attraction to this lifestyle. My grandpa lived in the woods in northern Canada with only the railroad track, no roads, that ran past his cabin about 2 miles away. A train went by west one day than east the next. He would set a flag out to signal for them to stop and leave a bag with cash and a grocery/supplies list for them to purchase. The next day they would stop and hang his stuff, with change, for him to pickup. I wasn’t making a comment on your lifestyle, just on your surroundings. I also agree with your assessment of retirement “villages”, can’t believe this appeals to anyone. I’m retired and ran through W Texas a lot to the west coast and have seen the ads for multiple acres for very little cash. My comments were aimed at folks who might think this is a realistic solution to the expensive cost of property ownership, but need to realize there’s a reason this acreage is so cheap
Great honest, REAL advice. I had to subscribe to see more. Thank you!
You are right. I told people. America was built by people who had skills. They just found a place to practice and improve those skills. Otherwise, it would be just a 3-rd world country.
Look at the wages being paid for the new jobs in our "booming" economy with the lowest unemployment rate in 49 years...…. AND the highest under-employment rate in our history, we made Third World status.
Okay, you convinced me, I'm not coming. Thanks so much for your heartfelt heartwarming video.
Good word's bring more videos we support you from south Africa
Im living in a tree hut in norway with my vife, five childrem, mothet, father, mother in law, father in law etc, horses, cattels, chickens, you name it we got it. All off grid! Its almost unbelivable! Thank you!
Good on you!!!!!
lol
Love trees, like to see your hut. Love Tarzan even more. Thinking of designing a portable summer kitchen(shower/washer/cooking) for unexpecting mansion owners that can't fig out how they can fit enough solar on their roofs, lol. What a circus out there.
I bought a ping pong table yr2000 ish from a JDeere worker fig they talk stocks. He said buy Autozone. I would be rich. We/you/us need to include GREAT resources for extra income. Power to the people! I BELIEVE yahoo CEO Marissa was a Wall St plant that dismantled Yahoo Finance so the ave Jo net investor could not do great research. Ave Jo needs another source.
I've been looking at moving down there for several years now. My trade, truck driver and like you have severe lung damage. Mine was caused from carbon monoxide poisoning in a 2016 Frieghtiner.
I agree with everything you say in this video. One day I'll get my ducks in a row and bring something down there that will be positive for the area and peaceful for Me. God bless
Remember what I keep saying: life here is rugged. The only advantage is the cost of land. In retrospect, it is better to have a mortgage than to work as hard as we must in this extreme environment. Unless you just love the desert and crackpots for neighbors, life with trees & water is far easier!!!!!!
Just to comment on my overall health: My lungs are not really damaged, my chest is. It cannot expand like yours does, due to the severe injuries of 8 years ago. It acts like lung damage, but will never get worse or better. I DO NOT have Muscular Dystrophy. That was a premature diagnosis from the way I was moving due to bad knees and the fact that my First (maternal) Cousin does have MD. Both knees need replacement. However, they are MUCH better this year and if I do not overwork them, e/g work as if I were still 30, there is little pain and I will delay surgery as long as I can.
All in all my overall health is about 20 years younger than my age!
@@ecoranchusa glad it's not diseased lungs, that's a real pain to deal with
I have a very good idea about crackpots for neighbors lol. If I'm ever blessed to be able to proceed with my plans, I wouldn't be close to a town, I'd be 50 miles from anything. With resources to sustain myself.
We built this country with legal immigration. That started to change in the 70's
i used to hang out in terlingua in the 1980s,thought about living there the power company wanted $75000.00 to run power to the property line.there was very little pole lines back then.when the guy bought lajitas and started running pole lines it started getting a little cheaper.still pretty expensive though.
Bitter medicine for some, but "blunt saves lives" as they say.
Been building and staying on terlingua ranch for 50 years this year. Some family lives out there for about 20+years now .will be there in coup days to do more work before hunting season traffic.
Inspiring personality. I am 41 yr healthy man from Dallas and I see my future when I venture into 60's and experience peace and retirement. Meanwhile I am looking for a 3 or 4 acres farmland 3 hrs away from Dallas.TX. Can anyone suggest me how much it would cost? I subscribed.Thank you
The land is your largest cost item. I could set up a nice, livable "start" of a home, infrastructure included, for about $6000 plus the land.
Wow that is very cheap. I bought a piece of land in the middle of nowhere in San Bernadino California since 2005. 2 . 3 acres for 63 k.and interest from the bank and property tax until now I would say I spent 100k. It's a little 1k a year for property tax. My husband wants me to sale it, he doesn't want to dump the money there for nothing but I have people send me home paper said they want to buy my land for 2k . It's a joke. I'm not saling that is too low price. I bought the land way before I know the internet, Google things. I'm very regretted and very disappointed. That's the biggest mistake I made. Oh well.
As a still capable HVAC tech, my question is how many unwelcome visitors do you see from the “south”? I may look to purchase some land there to build a desert getaway. You make good points here and Dave Ramsey rocks!
Despite what that whack-a-doodle, temporarily in my White House says to Frost Belt coal miners...…. there is NO, NO, NO problem with illegals crossing here, or anywhere in the area and has not been for the entire nine years I have lived here. Drugs come over the border vis drone, at about 300', far higher than any "wall" could go and we have had negative Mexican migration here for the last five years.
It is a great place to live, IF you like the desert and "free-spirited" residents.
@William Davis go to mx, cross this land to come here...good luck. Greetings from Terlingua Ranch
You said you need skilled workers and then you said you can't build walls and America wasn't built this way , the next thing you say is don't come with out skills and knowledge ! That's what I'm saying about America and it's border I enjoyed your video and it was informative
who closed the borders? as far as i know they only closed the borders to illegal entry.
Thanks for this video. I hope it helps someone not make a huge mistake. Do you have a video about getting internet? I'm going to look now.
you are right about people spending. I don't need that.
Great video...will watch some of your others. Curious how you got so many bottles. I've been saving wine bottles for 6 years and maybe have enough for a small wall or shower or something like that. Maybe need friends to help save them lol. No experience in TX, but your advice is very applicable here in the AZ Sonoran desert. Similar rainfall/temps, etc.
It was a community effort. I collected bottled from the Terlingua Ghost Town businesses for two and a half years to get what we have..... in the neighborhood of 120,000.
Others who have built bottle structures, also has LOTS of help collecting the bottles.
I’m thinking a vet, a medical clinic, and similar, even as a mobile thing could be useful.
That would work fine, but vehicle maintenance will be an isue.
Thank you so much for all your wise words. Greetings from California.
Me and my husband plan to come to texas next year or so. Hopefully youre my neighbor. Currently live in Southern Oregon, plan to come as soon as possible. But prepared as well can be. We are expecting our first kid in January. We have many things to wrap up here, sell our aninals, and save and plan. My husband is skilled but doesn't have credentials/license, he isn't afraid of having to work a real job though. Maybe we can get him a contractors license or something. IDK! His dream is "woodworking". And our dream is having a self sustaining ranch. What do you think, if we got crops to grow we could set up a farmers market maybe!?
When we come it will just be me, my husband, our 1 dog and cat, our ford truck loaded with some of our tools and probably a small travel trailer to live in for a while. And hopefully as much much as possible saved. Me and my husband are hard workers, well do anything if it means freedom and living another day, selling wood maybe work there? We need help so we can do this right.
Stay in touch. When you do make the move, we can let you use our place as a base to go find your property, get a job and so on. There is a "Farmers Market", but not much from the farm, just overpriced, low quality crafts. I will be there soon with actual produce and when you get growing, you can go and maybe we can get it to be a real Farmer's Market!
I don't blame you for bugging out with a baby...I used to say if we ever accidently got pregnant, I'd move to a central American country to raise a child.
I appreciate you educating us of the challenges so that we may make and informed decision to be there.
Since the reality show "Badlands Texas" Terlingua has turned into a Tourist town and investors are coming in and building Duplexes and other rentals. It is no longer a place to visit if you want an adventure. Sad.
The area is good and there is still adventure here. However.... NEVER.... NEVER.... NEVER.... NEVER call that insipid piece of shit that National Geographic barfed upon America a "reality show"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They found the "people" who live here that favor tin foil as their preferred headgear to interview and turned a simple tragically ending drunken brawl between two good friends into a way to make money! THE PRODUCERS, ADVERTISERS AND ANYONE WHO THOUGHT IS WAS WORTH WATCHING ARE GARBAGE!!!!!!
The jackasses begged me for an interview and I refused, as did all the people here worth knowing!
Interesting and real. Thank you for your candor sir
i bet the dust storms are depressing
Where there's a WELL there's a way ! Great video and advice ! Terlingua Texas looks like a great place for seniors like myself to visit ! I love the desert, but I do remember really hot days and freezing cold nights at times ! Best wishes to Robert and the lucky residents in Terlingua Texas !!!
Would like to have my place all sit up, then move in RV, water collection system, water source, maybe rent a place for a few months until it gets sit up,
I'm saving now and I think Terlingua is the perfect place to get away from it all. If you pay dues at Terlingua Ranch, I believe you can get inexpensive water at the Lodge to fill up an RV. I'm also looking at atmospheric water generators.
It is well water and tastes terrible, but yes, it will keep you alive. Water generators require humidity. We have too little 10 months of the year.
Rainwater catchment works fine though.
Better visit and stay a few weeks before you move there. It's out in the middle of no were. There are no stores. It's know as a ghost town. I lived in Death Valley California and Terlingua makes Death Valley look like the Garden of Eden.
Good honest info. Thank you!
God Bless you Brother, I left America (the home that I love) in 2003 and went to Iraq, Afghanistan, and have never been back. I have skills beyond most folks including the locals where I live now on the other side of the world. Problem here is I'm a "foreigner" and not allowed to do my own thing here (lesson learned). That said you're giving straight up advice to the "Wanna Be's". I'm stuck here because I have a family to support, I do have a lifetime of skills I have learned but not allowed to use them here. I am a truck driver, (not allowed), I am a welder Fabricator, I'm a qualified machinist (old school manual verses CNC) I can design (on a drafting board not a computer program), then build what I designed to exact specifications. I've studied and researched alternative energy for over 40 years. I would be an asset to your community, But alas I'm where I am if you would like to be totally energy self sufficient I would suggest going on line, then Downloading Patrick J Kelly's PDF file. the new one isn't as accurate as the old ones but there it still a mountain of information to be sifted through. I wish you Good Speed and Good Luck Sir, I say that out of respect, as I'm several years older that you. Hopefully you're still on the planet. If you wish to maintain your health and vigor I would suggest learning about Anion therapy, and John Bedini's Royal Rife Frequencies. Respectfully, Braun.
Thanks! When I moved to Canada.... CANADA, I found that there was much I missed about America as well. Sorry you cannot return!
Thanks for the straight talk. I've been down there once and had a great time, but I'm not crazy enough to move there. Perhaps you should promote the chili cookoff, though. People could come and look around while having a good time. It's a fun event with no real (personal) investment in the area.
Wondering what your views are 1.25 years after you released this video. I have a youtube channel, but let it decline after demonetization. I know how to get it back online where it pays, though. Just release a complete video of how to do just one of my sheds, then start releasing all my measurements for all of them. Big learning curve with yt videos for me. I'm trying to figure out where I want to go. I'm a decent carpenter, frame wise. Trim is too tedious for me unless it's my own house. I stick to exteriors; frame and cornice carpentry, sidings, roofing. No masonry or concrete work really, unless I'm choiceless in my own adventure, meaning home project that I already consider to be lossy in certain ways. but that's a more laid back atmosphere, even though it has it's crunch times. I've watched this video before, and was drawn back to it because of the raw way you state the realities of things. My biggest reality check is not being in the city where i find jobs easily, and even checking the population in my city of va beach or norfolk va doesn't quite match up to other places because people come here from other cities asking why our cities are so close together. So population based on just one city around here doesn't work for other "regular" people either. I'm getting fat and lazy at 48 yrs old, even though I have an rv I boondock for cheap and an 83 f250 4x4 with a 300 cid motor, and no real bills whatsoever. I'm also about to start roofing with a company two weeks on, two off, at 35ish per hour minimum, nationwide, just because it's available and I'm getting lazy. I am tired of building these sheds though, ten years after I started doing them, and it's time to pass the knowledge on and for me to move to different things that excite me and make me wanna roll my fat ass outta bed again. Last sentence is as simply put as it feels, but I ain't that outta shape just yet. I'll read through the 500 comments in the next day to figure out how current they are.
My views have not changed. More people are trying to move here though, with little to no skills, thinking THEY are somehow special enough that money will fall into their laps. It won't here.
New Homesteading, sustainable living, off-grid living, farming..... all require self starters that solve problems and do what is needed to survive the day!
One thing though, we have an overabundance of "rough carpenters" in this area, so it may not be a place for someone not wanting to do finish work or masonry AND several hundred more "rough carpenters", lawn service workers & busboys just crossed the southern Mexico border, heading for the USA.
@@ecoranchusa I appreciate the response. I wouldn't be in the same category as what you just defined as "rough carpenters". I'm skilled, and although in this atmosphere I have very specific start and stop points, I can still do whatever is necessary to complete projects. Around here, we'll often have three different carpenters on any typical new house or room addition. We have the framer who also does all the sheeting, there will be a cornice guy for a house with all wood exterior trim if it has wooden cornice work, and an interior trim guy. I have, and can, do all the jobs, but each job takes a special set of skills, and it's not one man around here on the projects, it's typically a crew of 4 or more guys for framing or cornice work, with special skills and equipment for that one aspect of the job, and then they move on to the next job. I tend to work alone on homeowner projects rather than builder projects. Builder projects are really fast paced, whereas homeowner projects tend to be budget, or lack of budget, based, and i can get the job just by giving a price for an entire project, which is usually the first phase shell work, meaning framing, exterior doors and windows, cornice, siding, and roofing. Even then, there is separate masonry/ concrete guy, electrician, plumber, and hvac guy, with the homeowner often handling all cleanup, insulation, sometimes wallboard, and sometimes interior trim work. The scary thing for me is leaving an area with over 1.5 million people across 7 cities that only a sign or bridge indicates you've crossed city lines, and where staying busy is relatively easy. I'd definitely have to take a ride in the rv and actually see the area first.