What a better way to prepare yourself for your own move off the grid than to ask people who have done it what they would have wished they knew before they got started. I asked my community of off grid friends what was something they wish they had known before they moved off the grid, and these are their answers. These are people from all over the globe, with different climates, and different landscapes but they give you a broad view of what the struggles can be when moving off the grid.
Beware of racoons and varmints they will steal your food! - Carl
Take your time, don't quit your job. -Jay
Get the wood stacked as early in the year as you can. Build a house to keep it in, tarps stink! - Crystal
Don't be too proud to get or ask for help, advice or to reuse or repurposed just about anything including your roadside finds, parts from the junk yard or whatever you can save. - Dan
How cold the outhouse truly would be. - Ash
If you live a distance from town, and in a snowy climate, stock plenty of food! Might be a week or more until you can get to a store. - Georgia
Go slowly and think before you do anything, that has prevented many accidents for me. - Adam
Just the daily struggle. If I had to do it over again I would have the house completely finished before I moved in, This no hot water crap kills me sometimes. - Anita
Be intimately connected with your water source. - Ron
Trust that gut feeling with people you meet out in your area. Believe me there are rotten ones. Good ones too. But if you feel there's something off about them, odds are you are right. Protect your family and don't blow off those gut feelings. -Kelly
If you think it will take a day to accomplish a task, leave an entire week available. Nothing goes as planned. - Anita
Prioritize. Budget your time and energy. Find friends to work and barter with. You'll either love or hate this life. There's no in between, - Phoenix
Infrastructure first, then get animals. - Janine
Fence your property asap. Helps reduce unwanted guests like 4 wheelers, snowmobilers, hunters, bears and thieves! - Greg
Sit down and go over expenses. Have a budget, a cushion on that budget for things you never thought of until you're doing it and a holy crap fund for when SHTF and you need to repair something pricey and important. - Shanti
You're going to get tougher! - Odette
Roll with the punches, very little happens the way you planned it. - Ken
Don't expect too much out of yourself at the beginning, it takes time to learn and grow and succeed. - Cheryl
Design your life with low expenses. - Mercedes
To not give up on something (such as raising a particular animal). To not be distracted by the next thing I want to do and give up last project. - Allison
Split wood when you don't need it. - Justin
Always have a Plan B. Think about things breaking or not working. And start with half of what you think you can do. - Victoria
I should have saved more money. - Bob
I wish I knew to downsize all our clothes, towels and linens. There are seven of us, including a babe in diapers. I hand wash and line dry. It became so much easier when I downsized all of our clothes. - Andrea
Water goes FAST. - Charles
