Welcome to your new, nearly $4 million off-grid home...well, you can always dream

The off-grid reader: An occasional column on off-grid news and views

Ready to move off-grid: here’s a starter guide

So, you think you want to move off-grid. Judging from the increase in Off Grid Nova Scotia members - from some 900 in 2020 to over 6,000 in 2022 - it appears there’s a fair bit of interest. (Disclosure: I am an admin of the Off Grid Nova Scotia Facebook group.)

Well then, this guide to off-grid living might not be a bad starting point. It’s pretty basic, but it's worth a glimpse if you’re a newbie.

“If you're looking to live off the grid — like so many of us have been dreaming about as climate change ravages cities and the pandemic made us crave space — there are some things you may want to consider,” the author writes. “Why do you want to do it? What kind of off-the-grid dweller do you want to be? Can you afford the hefty up-front costs? And do you have what you'll need? Do you have what it takes?”

These are mainly legit questions. I’m not sure I’d qualify the costs as “hefty,” certainly no more than any other home. “Do you have what it takes?” is a great question. As I’ve said elsewhere, you need to be healthy and fit to deal with the demands of living off-grid. Cutting, gathering and hauling wood, not your thing? Well then, maybe you have the bucks to pay for wood…but you still have to stack it in the wood house and bring it into the home every day for heat for the wood stove.

Not everything in this article is gospel. It talks about rainwater harvesting as if that’s the only possible source of water. We harvest rainwater for the gardens but have a foot valve that draws water from the brook below our property for everyday use. That water is processed through ultraviolet light and two filters. Being off-grid doesn’t necessarily equate with being primitive.

Okay, so you’ve decided to make the jump. Can you afford it?

In an age where affordable housing is no longer the norm, off-grid homes - and I say “homes” - may present a more accessible option for low-income earners who can’t afford to splash out the half-million or more needed to purchase a house these days.

In Colorado, “van-lifers” are a viable option now. The publication 5280, Denver’s Mile High Magazine, reports the cost of living is so high in the state now that people are kitting out vans with solar, propane and more and making those their domiciles.

What’s progressive here is the attitude and programs of some of the towns. Breckenridge, for example, worked with one individual, Raychel Kelly, to launch a pilot project providing van lifers with a place to sleep. Kelly slept in her car, but “through the Family Leadership Training Institute, she developed ideas for a Local Overnight Safe Parking Program that she brought to the Interfaith Council, which partnered with Kelly to launch an experimental solution to give vehicle-dwellers a safe and legal place to sleep.”

The pilot project began in 2019 and allowed up to 10 vetted applicants to park at a church on a secluded parcel of land, according to 5280.

While Nova Scotia’s South Shore is hardly a ski resort, it contains a UNESCO heritage site and several popular tourist destinations. In recent months rents have skyrocketed while vacancies have plummeted. Yet people are still moving into the region. This might be a solution.

Van life. Not the take you may have been hoping to read

Speaking of van life, the New York Times smeared van life with a cheap piece that was jokey and hokey, but not so serious. Caity Weaver, who describes herself as an “American journalist, humorist, and writer” at the Times for its magazine, wrote a large take-out for the newspaper that seemed to be more about her than actual van living.

On Weaver’s and her spouse’s second night in their rented 2013 Ford Econoline E-150, she finds the space too claustrophobic. What transpires next: “Michael?” I whispered, and kept whispering — “Michael? Michael!” — until I heard him wake up. “Are you awake?” I asked innocently. It turned out he was. I explained that I needed to open one of the van’s doors — an action that would instantly flood our sleeping area with frigid air. “Are you OK?” Michael asked. “Oh yeah,” I shrieked. I clambered over the driver’s-seat armrest and hurled myself, sock-clad, onto the frozen dirt outside.”

Shrieked? Hurled? It would be funny except that it isn’t.

Ultimately, it’s hard to see the point of this approximately 2,000-word indulgence. It’s not exactly like John Cheever spearing suburban living, or Miriam Toews delving into her Mennonite heritage. It’s just a self-absorbed ha-ha take skewing what Weaver and her editors thought might be worth a chuckle. Except it wasn’t.

Worst of all, it comes across as someone privileged making fun at the expense of those less fortunate. As the post above details, more and more people are living in their vans because it’s the only affordable option they have.

Wowzers. You won the lottery and decided to go off-grid

Finally, on the absolute opposite end of the spectrum is this completely luxe, nearly $4 million off-grid home in Hawaii that looks like it recently sold as the listing no longer shows up.

“Amenities in the one-bedroom home include an open-plan living area with floor-to-ceiling windows, a library, a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and a rolling ladder to access the ample shelving and a bedroom with a mechanical glass garage door that opens to an outdoor seating area,” according to Mansion Global.

Also, the 48-panel solar-powered home includes a pool made from a shipping container.

That’s it’s gorgeous and a dream isn’t in question; affordable? Well, that’s something else entirely. Still, one can always dream.