1 YEAR Living OFF GRID in the DESERT (What We've Learned)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video we share some of what we've learned during our first year developing this off grid land in the high desert of New Mexico.
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I lived on an off grid farm in the 50s and 60s. Before solar power. We had a windmill that charged a car battery, just so we could listen to the radio. Otherwise, the water came off the roof, and the wood cook stove provided heat and hot water. Gas lamps for light, and we canned everything we needed for the winter. The only things we paid for was flour, sugar, and kerosene.
Congrats on a year! Awesome spot you guys have out there.
It’s a great way to cure someone of the “i want it and I want it NOW” mentality 👍
Excellent video 📹 👏. Off grid living may not be for everyone but looks like so challenging 😀.
Nice overview of your experience. Nice to see Shannon adding her perspective as well. I’m looking for a place in central/south NM or maybe a spit in AZ. It’s so awesome to have the technology available today that allows this life while still working a full 40 hour week online. We are blessed!
It’s so interesting because I’m always talking about how much I want to live in a tiny house with lots of land and animals. But I would want to be closer to things and connected to the internet and water.
You can live off grid 20 minutes from a city also.
I think that you both have had the push for adventure helped alot. But the fact you are both Intelligent and learn quickly is a super big advantage. I have enjoyed your channel for a very long time.
I bet you learned there are more rats in the desert than one would ever imagine! Kidding aside, I think you probably learned a lot about how to exist with the other creatures that you share the land with in your particular environment. I enjoy the way you guys share your failures as well as the successes, the ugliness and harshness as well as the beauty and also that you don't try to portray a phony picture of such living. Thanks for taking us along on the journey!
Four legged or two legged rats???
I hope you have enjoyed your past year and have many, many more great years ahead. Good luck.
Shannon, red is your color, you look beautiful! This video came across as a true joint effort. For the first time I really felt this lifestyle is what yoh both want. Thank you for sharing.
Having lived in NM for a time and trying to buy an off-grid Earthship in Carson some years ago, I watch your videos trying to guess where you're at! My purchase did not work out, and I ended up back East. But I can't say enough for the High Desert of NM. All the best!
Yep. Patience is a HUGE one. That and planning. I moved from DC to rural coastal Virginia. I'm 2hrs from the nearest "big city" and 40 minutes from a small town with more amenities. There are more yoga studios near me than grocery stores lol. I'm partially off-grid. We have electricity and internet from a cable company, but we have a well and septic and propane for cooking, heating, water heat, and a propane generator. It wouldn't be too difficult to go fully off-grid with a solar setup and something like Starlink. The community out here is very friendly and helpful. A lot of 'I know a guy who knows a guy' lol. And yes, you plan your trips into town to get a bunch of errands done all at once. And there were definitely delays in building and getting a well and septic done. Great video for anyone looking to move away from city/suburban life. Patience and Planning!
Thank you for sharing your experience of living off grid for the past year.
Some very good points, and advice. Strange how living in congested cities has made so many of us wary of our neighbors. So many people are being told they can't possibly live the rural way, off grid or on, or do anything with their hands. They'd learn positivity from the skills and self reliance everyone is actually capable of, if only they tried. When people see someone willing to work for their own life to be good, it attracts similar people, and community. Keep up the good example!
So glad to hear you have great neighbors. I think community is important no matter where you live! Thanks for this insightful video!
Wow! I had no idea what you two had done! Amazingly wonderful! Best wishes!!
Another awesome video! Nice catching up with you again, Nate!
It's definitely not an easy life, that's for sure. You really have to want to be off grid, to enjoy the benefits, to be rather handy, and be flexible when things don't go as planned. I don't think I could do it, but I really enjoy watching your adventures! Hope to see more of the cabin clean up/fix up as well!
I haven't forgotten about you guys!! You guys are so awesome, and have tremendous patience in your household, environment, and errands, as well!! Just taking consistent, small steps is amazing progress! Take care, guys!👍🤗✨
I think this was an important video. I hope many people who are considering attempting this lifestyle will watch this & many of your videos from out there. It has been a challenge, to say the least & you guys have been very honest about showing it as it really is. The fact that it's in such a harsh environment only adds another layer of difficulty. I have said it before, I admire you both for taking this on. I definitely couldn't have. Little House on the Prairie looks like a walk in the park compared to what you've gone through. 😄
Good stuff! What a gorgeous spot!
I'm definitely not cut out for it. I love the idea of a self sustaining lifestyle and I so much admire you guys. But, the reality is harsh. Having your house in Florida, right up my alley. 😂
You both are so amazing smart determined knowledgeable willing honest 👍
Started watching Nate long ago and love both of your life affirming evolutions personally, work ethics, and together as a TEAM
You are both blessed to have found a great fit for each other’s personalities❤️🌷❤️
Great video you guys!!
We sold our house here in Oregon and will be hitting the road soon looking for our next home base. We’re thinking Tennessee, I like Arizona but my wife not so much. We really admire you guys a lot and wishing you the best.
That was a lot of great advice. Thanks for putting it all into one video.
Happy Anniversary with you N.M. adventure! You guys make such a great couple! I am happy for you both!
Hey guys, I just randomly watched your video and I really enjoyed and kept watching more. I really admire your courage and going to subscribe to your channel.
I haven't been around TH-cam all that much in recent days. But I followed your channel back when you were driving the element and when you first met Shannon. I was so happy for you when you first met. Brendon is a great guy and now we get to see Sharron blossoming into such a beautiful young woman. You guys win the internet in my mind for Young Couple with the greatest prospect of a happy life !
I'm fully off grid and work a 9-5 IT job, so I know the feeling about internet reliability. Since you have two internet sources, you can set up a firewall to fail over in the event one goes down. For instance, with Starlink and Unlimitedville and a Netgate SG4100 you can set up a Primary and Secondary internet provider.
Heard about your channel from Tristan's latest video, over at SUV RV'ing.
Being off grid is the dream...my thing is though, with every household project I do, it seems like I need at least 3 trips to Lowes. I would hate having to make all of those long drives because I keep forgetting something or messing something up - but it would definitely be a good learning experience to where I would be better at planning and not needing to make all of the trips to complete a project. Thanks for the tips in your vid!
Very much enjoyed this video. The information is invaluable. Thank you for putting this together.
Yet another awesome video, thanks!
Thanks for the great video!
Very nice video. Thanks for putting it together.
Excellent advice!!!
Great Video, Thank you for sharing.
Something I learned recently when I moved is don't be afraid to introduce yourself to the UPS driver, sometimes they are new or aren't familiar with an unpaved road and need a friendly face to see. If its rural enough there is a good chance they will be your only driver.
Thank you. Great video.
you two look made for each other
You guys are amazing keep it up ❤
Very helpful and candid. thank-you.
You guys are amazing!
Hi Nate and Shannon. I live in the mountains of Western Maryland on a ridgetop and also have starlink. A couple weeks ago I had an outage of several hours. I put in a ticket and finally received a response from them a day or two ago (LOL) explaining that a satellite had gone offline or the equivalent and that everything should be working fine now, but to let them know if I had any other issues. In the meantime I had learned that starlink had sent up some smaller satellites and I kind of surmised that perhaps they're using the smaller satellites for the remote areas now and that they had to take the bigger satellite I was on offline so that they could swap my service out for a smaller one. They did not say anything of that nature to me, I just put two and two together and thought it would be a smart business move due to capacity and usage. The more remote area that you live in and I live in (although not to the same degree) in addition to the likelihood of not as many customers; it seems to me that that is why they're currently sending up smaller, less costly satellites. I've had starlink since I returned from out west last year in April (a fellow traveler I am) and I really haven't had any issues prior to this. So if they simply swapped out your satellite feed as I believe they did mine; perhaps you won't have any additional connection issues. Well here's hoping anyway. Y'all are doing a great job and I hope things get smoother as you go along.
Good video, just glad you still are making videos. Stay safe and enjoy life.
Amazing and well done video. Really enjoyed it and thanks!!! Hope your having a great weekend.
That's the life I want
Great video. Lots of "good sense" shared info. Congrats on one year time out there. Keep enjoying
Yall with your sincere ways and down to eart attitude have just became one of my favorite peoples to watch and learn from on this life im fixing to jump into
regarding the cellphone issue, you may want to look into directional antennae. There are videos on it. Generally speaking a cellphone broadcasts its signal equally in all directions. I have seen videos over the years where people set up directional antennae which use all the power of the signal but in one direction, so you get a better outgoing connection which is often an issue.
Definitely enjoyed this, thank you. Currently in the off-grid planning process myself. Cheers
Well done you guys.
What a great video keep the content going
Beautiful
Awesome video
Great video.
I'm so ready to move off grid. I am only in the research stage right now so these videos are very helpful. Thank you!
I'm interested in the well situation... Can't wait for that video
Great video
Great advice! 👍
20 some years from now these will be the very best days of your lives....
Joan
6 years offgridd , I'm in the southern US. Forest lans , I love being here.
Summer is hard at 100 degrees.
Ive just found yalls channel. Me and my wife are currently getting our stuff together for an off grid life. So far weve bought a nice camper and ive did all the solar.... extremely large solar system and 24 leaf batteries at 24 volt. Love what yall are doing
Hi from Néw Orleans! Met Nate at Raising Canes!
Sweet.
Great video. Cute tarantula
Happy for you both.
22 years for me.
Good info. A sense of humor would go far too
MINDSET- I'm not hot, I'm not cold, I'm not miserable 😤
Nice video. I can relate to much you say! We live off-grid in a very remote spot in northern NM. Starlink works great here ( Like you, I work online) and I use Google Voice to make phone calls. We also can't get UPS to deliver here, so get those deliveries to a UPS store an hour away. We, too have difficulty getting people to come and work and have no neighbors for miles, so are pretty self-reliant. Our road is very rough (1/2 mile washed out this spring), but IS a county road, so gets some maintenance. We love it. It's clear that you do, too!
I'm surprised you haven't put in rainwater collection yet, but I'm sure it's on your list ! Cheers from the (generally) sunny Sth.Australian desert. :)
This is awesome, thank you both for sharing! Some of these comments talk about loneliness: have y'all not seen the world today?! It's mostly filthy and overrun with propaganda robots. It's a sad day when you can be both lonely and miserable in the city. I'm gearing up to be lonely in the country with some peace and wholesome-ness in my life. I've been practicing in the city for off grid living. We really don't need much to live "comfortably" -obviously that word is in the eye of the beholder. The greedy, self-absorbed, instant gratification mindset is devastating to the human soul...time to unplug and connect to God's world and leave the beast system behind.
I'd say too when you guys had that mini house delivered way way out there you should have mad arrangement to meet with that delivery guy at the pic up location and then led them to your property, putting them through the stress worry and great wild wonder delivering it way out there , i just didn't think that was so cool,,,blessings.
Great video!
Wonder how your getting your water now?
Rain catchment on each structure?
Congrats on all you’ve created!
WHEN YOUR GOING TO GET A PACKAGE FROM FED X OR UPS MEET THEM WHERE THE PAVEMENT MEETS YOUR DIRT ROAD
Quite a undertaking for both of you. Just like the homesteaders in the 1800's and 1900's. My Grandparents were from Missouri and Oklahoma. During the dust bowl they headed for California. Hopefully to pick cotton in Bakersfield, CA. My Grandfather built the first Class A on a flatbed truck with sides, roof, potbelly stove, steps attached to truck with front seats engine etc. They took 2 months to get to CA. Would stop and cut broom corn to buy more gas and food. My Dad was their last born, he was only child with them. Must have been 1932. Because my Daddy was in 8th grade a d went to school with Judy Garland. They landed in antelope Valley..didn't make it to Bakersfield. Eventually the rest of their children moved to California and settled and raised their
families. My parents met in High School. A VJUHS. Had the largest bus route in the world.
Just a personal opinion here, but living in ur rig and roaming around for me is a way to minimize cost and headaches of life. Did this in the mid 70's and am again doing this again after retiring in 2018. When u decided to kinda get away from van life and move into building on some land u created a whole other reason to keep ur channel going. I salute ur perseverance but there is no way I could take on the list of challenges, way to much trouble and complicated. Roaming down PCH on the west coast and waking up at the beach is the life for me. Maybe we will run into each other down the road. Safe travels.
🦋
About leaving the laundromat when your clothes are in the dryer... I did that in college and someone stole all of my clothes, 7 pairs of Levi's. I was gutted. 2 of the best conveniences in modern life are having a hot shower and an in house washing machine and dryer.
OK Mr.Element, I am looking for a used element to convert into a camper I'm going to buy one of those pop up tents that you put on the doors so I have more room also I'm looking for one that has a hitch so my question what's the biggest trailer that I can pull with that element I'm looking for one with all-wheel drive 4 door and it's gotta have the sunroof in the back over the back seat. Also what are some of the major things I should look for when I'm looking at the element problem wise? This was a good video.👍✌🎅🚌🌻
Nate you should try to collab with Insty Connect!
I've learned that everything takes longer than you think. Lol. I can only imagine it's worse than normal out there in the high desert. The only way you can circumvent the erratic weather there is to build an EarthShip or something similar, IMO.
Thanks. I am wondering about those pack rats and stopping them from getting in your car?.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
BTW, increased solar activity is going to cause more issues with satellite (Starlink) based internet connections.
This increased solar activity is going to be at it's peak for the next couple of years.
When you live far away from modern conveniences, do you not take that in to account before deciding to buy? I mean these are basic questions you have to consider before you ever buy anything.
Is this near Taos, NM?
Youse are overdue for building solar panel towers. My schemes are aim them more east and west than full sun and using insulation covered aluminum wires for huge DC runs at minimal cost. I like your terrain but don't know what parts of New Mexico are modest.
Congratulations ... any skinwalkers sightings ?
Curious, would you say that living off grid is more demanding than van life? Been watching you on and off for quite some time, when you first started out alone.
On the subject of water wells, well costs are about to drop and availability will be good. We're headed into a big recession, so well drillers will soon have lots of time on their hands. Don't be surprised to see drilling costs drop in half. Good luck!
u guys should voip over starlink
What was the link to the cell phone booster again?
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You had a house in Florida??? Did I miss something?
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Help! I need help finding a county that will allow me to build a small cabin in AZ or NM!
Would you stay this remote if/when you have kids?
Well y did u move out there
I see the appeal to living off of the land and being off grid and to yourself I just don't understand trying to do it in the desert.