I used to think living off-grid meant you had to be 100% self-sufficient 100% of the time.  Wash all your clothes by hand, cook on a wood cook stove all year round, and drive into town for your internet.  But reality (and humility) quickly set in once I started practicing off-grid living myself!  And I quickly realized that I can have the best intentions for self-sufficiency, but it’s going to be a journey to get there.

While our yurt and the parcel it’s on is truly off the grid (no power drop), we are very blessed to live next door to my parents, who are on the grid.  They let us keep a washing machine and a freezer in their shop (that dryer in the picture isn’t hooked up), and we pay them a small amount towards their electricity bill each month.  We also use that electricity source to charge the lithium ion batteries for our power tools and our stick vacuum, as well as a small power bank that we bring inside and use to charge our phones, headlamps, and the dogs’ e-collars. 

Our water comes from the shop right now too.  Sometime later this year (hopefully) we’re going to dig a shallow well in our front yard and put a hand pump on it so that we’ll have an easy water source right outside our door, but currently we haul it over from the shop with a 3 gallon jug. 

We’d like to someday install a propane instant water heater for our yurt, but we have a few more critical systems to get in place before we indulge in luxuries like running hot water!  So for now we heat water on the stove for dishes and quick sponge baths, and we go next door for showers a couple times a week.

We also mooch off my parent’s internet, which allows us to make phone calls since there is no cell service where we live.  I definitely feel much safer know we can call 911 in an emergency without having to drive into town to find service!

Someday we hope to be able to accomplish our dream of producing our own electricity (or getting systems in place so we can do without) and not needing to rely on the resources of others. But I have to keep reminding myself that we’ve only been here a year, and we did start completely from scratch!  While pregnant and with a toddler in tow I might add.  So I think we’re doing pretty good so far! 

What thoughts or ideas have you had that turned out to be a bit unrealistic?