WE WERE LIED TO About OFF GRID LIFE.

🤗READ Before you comment: We only rented this cabin for the summer in Alaska. We wanted to learn about off grid systems and get a feel for how "normal on-grid people" would adjust to off-grid living. Many of your questions will be answered by Watching the Entire video. We're getting ready to release the next video, so we won't be able to moderate any more comments. If you have any questions, feel free to email!

I don’t know if this is good advice, ’cause for them that know it it’s obvious & for them that don’t it sounds absurd or impossible, but here it is: in all things, listen to your intuition

well done for giving it a go!

Oh yeah, pooping in a bucket with a toilet seat attached to it, having to chop fire wood to use wood heat, no air-conditioning, no internet, no TV. I grew up like that. Not ever interested in going back. Just buy a house out in the country with some land, plant a garden, get some chickens and make the place yours. That's far enough off the grid for me.

Thanks for sharing a different side to off-grid life

It always looked like fun 2 week adventure but misery as daily life

Wow can't imagine doing it with 5 young kids and a baby. The first 8 months I was cooking outdoors we had umbrellas for shade and all the dishes got dirty with the wind and rain. Building a shelter next to the caravan was a game changer, which is now the outdoor kitchen we share with the critters and cheeky birds looking for crumbs. EVERYTHING takes longer to do. We had a solar array up within 2 months so that helped feel a bit more normal (the internet is such a great source of information), water tanks within 6 months and we plumbed it to the caravan and around the property, that was also a game changer not having to refill constantly. The composting loo was a big surprise and not as icky as one would expect, and now we have our first years pile transformed into rich compost for the garden. Now we are 2 years and 2 months in, fruit trees and garden are flourishing and got our first harvest of berries. We have a small cabin built and still need to line and wire it up. We have 3 shipping containers for storing our tools, bulk dry foods, washing machine etc. The main container house build starts this year and we have multiple projects on the go: laundry/shower, chicken coop, organic pond, wood shed, greenhouse and a couple of other cabins for our adult kids when they come to stay. Looking back the 1st year was really hard but we are now into our groove and absolutely would not go back to the city to be a mortgage slave. In a couple of years we would have finished building most of the necessary infrastructure and be self sufficient and start producing things to earn some $$. It is so beautiful here with the forest, mushrooms and birds that I loath to leave the place to even go into town to pick up supplies. The thought of spending a 3rd winter in the caravan does fill me with mild dread so better get cracking and finish the cabin. This life is certainly not for the faint hearted but ever so rewarding and liberating. The kids love coming here from the city and one day will build their own places as they probably won't be able to afford a house

sorry folks living off grid is hard my wife,my two grandchildern and myself did it for 6 years we started with nothing we had 40 acres a wood mizer sawmill and we did it would still be doing it if I hadn't had a heart attack. and had to move to a lower elevation was a real nice place we hand made almost every thing, had solar power hand dug our well is 60 foot deep.we had composting toilets and propane instant heat water heaters depends on a lot what you know

My dad bought land with a larger cabin that had a working propane stove, and fridge (as well as kinda working toilet). It was an old miner's cabin up in the mountains, 10 miles away from the nearest town. We had a lot of adventures up there. Spent many parts of our summer up there too. I think the longest I spent up there with my family is a few months. Now my dad spends most of his time up there since he retired. That is not to say he doesn't do anything. He spends most of his time preparing the property for fire season. If we needed to do laundry (which we probably did once a month or so), we would go into the bigger city (about 25 miles away) and do it there. My mom had a lot of preferences that we tried to cater to (like a warmed swimming pool so she could do laps in). She never liked spending much time up there.

I don't think we embraced "off grid" like you did, but I definitely think we got a sense of that life and didn't really want it. It sounds like you jumped into the deep end of the pool without a floatie. I commend your family's commitment... I don't think me or my family could spend as long as you did in that cabin.

Good luck guys. You can do it! There's an adjustment period, like with anything. Throw more load onto your kids.

Anyone who is even considering it. I would say go camping first,off grid is only a few levels up.

Remember,, on the way is the goal.... Tech have taken us a way from the natur and we have to take the punch :)

This video really got a much worse reception than it should have.. While I had the same initial reaction of being surprised that you brought a family of 8 out and thought it would just be magic... (like, who says you cant own a laundry machine just because your offgrid with the right solar setup? or even just buy all your food?) I was happily surprised that the end of the video made that realization on it's own and talked about being more involved and learning from the communities how to do offgrid "right" if there even is a way. The pinned comment that points out this was only a summer "trial run" is incredibly important to clarify considering the life change it felt like you were just willy nilly throwing an entire family into if you watch this video blind, which is I assume what most people were concerned with because of course youre allowed to be a bit more unprepared if this is in fact the test run to see if you like it.

Dick Prinike was a dude....a man's man....

I am Magine homesteading off the grid in Alaska is especially difficult. There is a reason there is still Free land available in Alaska.

Third World life sucks. Have you ever watched an old western? If the answer is yes, please answer the following. Out of all the characters in whichever western movie/ show you were watching, did you ever want to be the dirty, minor or fur trapper that comes into town from the mountains?
If the answer is yes, then you should give homesteading in Alaska a try.
If the answer is no, then maybe skip it.

Love the honesty here. Off-grid life requires foresight, skill, and know-how. The “lie” might have been that these things aren’t necessary, or the lack of awareness. It’s refreshing to see a more authentic and not falsely polished video.

Honestly … it was the mosquitoes fault y’all had this experience. Until the cloud cleared “mosquitoes went away” you noticed the mountains just like when you were about to leave Alaska you started to appreciate it more I see how you were disappointed those darn mosquitoes

Bro where did you go fishing at ??? Maybe I can visit that spot one day in my dreams when I sleep

❤ good for you! Living outside the box

Having 6 children "On Grid" is hard enough...I would imagine 10X harder "Off-grid". Off grid is easier when you're on your own...Oh yeah...and nothing is ever "always" kept clean when you're off grid

I like that you decided to see this whole situation to experience for yourself! Enjoying the real truth of your video!!

Using solar in the summer is not the problem, winter is the issue, almost no sun to charge anything!

Appreciate the honesty. Don't appreciate the greedy amount of ad breaks.

I commend you for doing this experiment! Very interesting to watch your story. Thank you for sharing!

I can also tell a lot of effort went into the video. Great job!

For outhouses: We used to use one sometimes when I was a child. It's best to not attach the toilet seat to the wood and store it in the house next to the fireplace. Just take it with you and wipe it off with a baby wipe when you get back in the house. Then you'll always have a nice warm and toasty clean seat (free of bugs and hiding spiders) when it's time to go.

Those kids are so adorable😊

Dicks videos do show him getting stuff by plane.

You're good story tellers and have some captivating cinematography. Best of luck! (Winter is coming... Goodbye solar.)

The moral of this story reminds me of a video by "exurb1a" called "The answer is not a hut in the woods".
Because it really isn't we can't expect a way of life to fix all of our problems when most of those problems are only about ourselves, regardless of the place we are or how we're living. Once you fix that, you may be able to appreciate a simple life

This is like making a video "we were lied to about using a horse drawn carriage over a car"

This is incredibly well-produced. Thank you for sharing your journey with us in such an entertaining, thoughtful, and authentic way!

That was surprisingly very entertaining. First time i saw this. It was fun. Thx for sharing ur life.

I just think you guys failed at camping because what you have been doing is really camping, not homesteading. It's a great first step though. Success is almost always preceded by failure.... So you're doing something right!!! I think you guys will succeed if you stick with it. I think you have what it takes. Whenever I go backpacking, the first two days are usually miserable, and I mean miserable. It's not rational, it doesn't fit the 'dream'. it's like the flu. It just is. It's all the built up city stress coming off my mind and out of my body and it really sucks. Then I cry. I really usually do, on or about the 2nd day in. (all 6'2, 300 lbs of me) I have a really good sobbing cry as the stress leaves my body like a malevolent demon at the end of a good exorcism. Then the sun comes out, the trees whisper and the birds sing. I'm alive again! It's a huge transformation.

Now I'm me. The real me. Not the fake city me. Everything is deeper and more real, colors are brighter and I'm infinitely more spontaneous. And there you are, shocked to find yourself standing right in the middle of God's mind. He made the thing and it becomes obvious. The wilderness is a little piece of the mind of God. God is your friend and he will show you amazing things. You can see them clearly with your heart as you wonder why you don't always use that powerful but suppressed 5th sense... Then the real adventure begins because when you are actually you, YOU don't even know what you will do next. What a breathtaking, liberating place to be. The Little House on the Prairie was someone else's dream and reality. But you have your own. Find it. Live it and the adventure will never end. Love.

This experience brought about exactly what you wanted .
You wanted to be a better person, you wanted to know more about yourself and your resiliency, capability.
It did just that, simply in short order.
You were expecting years but it didn't take that long.
Now you realize you're just a little too bougie for this life.

From the short snippets of the Alone in the Wilderness "documentary" it was clear that Dick Proenneke was a accompanied by a production crew because the camera was panning, i.e., moving to track his movements. A setup only operated by him would have had a fixed camera view point. The whole thing was produced for a certain effect.

6 min in
One word take away.

Ready?

“Infrastructure”

You need to build my friends.

Enough said
Cheers😊

Cold toilet seat, what a great tip . . . . those early a.m. trips to the loo will not wake you so much with a warm toilet seat. There's a better chance of going back to sleep if you sit on a warm seat under a dim light (especially in a cold winter) no matter where you live.

If one attempts to lead an on-grid life in an off-grid setting, then yeah, it is hard. I mean daily dishes?! Who uses dishes in the wilderness?! We ate stuff we cooked on the fire (like fish), or in the fire (like spuds) on wooden boards :))

So get the broken stuff fixed, nothing comes easy. You have to have an aptitude for construction and building things.

Alaska is not the place I would like to live off grid at, I hate the cold.

plant some winter lemons in the brown area in front on the poop view ahaha

There are off grid foot pump washing machines. They are a little bigger than the size of the pot

It's the same as on grid now all the shit you deal with is your own

Should have focused on building other structures, like a kitchen living area, or additional bedrooms. Add more solar and battery back-up, buy fridge and washing machine. Seems y'all barely gave it a try.

Need a bigger house and a modern laundry room. I moved to rural montana and it is so c😅mfortable. You guys are basically camping.

Why did you leave your homestead???? I thought you had a great thing going? I already thought you were off grid with your pics and cows and chickens, etc. I am so impressed with how grown your kids are. ❤

Awww, your kiddos saying they don't like the rainy days... I grew up in Kodiak (not off grid ofc), but I've been living stateside for the past 24yrs now, and I cannot tell you how much I miss the rain. I love a good overcast day and I miss those all day rains so bad.

Also, the only place I've ever seen an overflowing outhouse is in AK, lol.

Btw, glad to hear y'all speaking honestly about off grid living.

Edit: Reading through these comments, a lotta y'all are being way harsh with your judgments... So eager to scold this couple and school them in your superior off grid living knowledge. It feels very toxic. I'm not finished watching the video yet, but so far I'm appreciating the honesty they're sharing. Everyone is going to have their own experiences when it comes to doing something like this, and everyone is going to be at a different level of experience, and everyone has their own dreams that they're chasing... there's nothing wrong with that.

beautiful video, although it is worth pointing out that you guys moved to alaska with 6 children. Like you are already playing the game in the hardcore mode.

We have an off grid property. I also have no intention of doing laundry by hand :) There are ways of running washing machines in off-grid setups. It would require a bit more battery bank than you currently have or simply using a generator. Having pressurized water is easy enough with a pump and pressure tank. If all else fails, town and the laundromat are just a few miles away from our property.