Originally Posted by RebelWithACause
Many of the posts here are truely inspiring. I didn't realize there were so many people out there sharing the same ideals I hold.
I have accumulated so much more stuff than I need, when I look around this cluttered room it makes me sad. However, I've come to realize that all this junk can actually enable the life I'm progressing towards. I made a spreadsheet of everything I own, and then researched the resale values (ebay, craigslist, etc)...and came up with an amazing amount of value in all this junk.
I've always had the dream of being pretty much totally self-reliant. I want to build myself a house with my own hands, grow my food on my own land, be independent of inputs and outputs (no power, no sewer). Live in harmony with the world, essentially.
I'm currently in school (though I don't really know why, I don't see myself "working" in a conventional sense, but I do like learning, and I need money at least to start, so it makes sense for now), but I have been taking incremental steps towards achieving this. First off is education, I read everything and anything I can about self-sustainability, alternative construction techniques (lots of amazing stuff here), biology, chemistry, agriculture. I've even been "practicing" these skills while I can afford to fail, for instance I've got a little garden with various soil mixtures and plants I'm learning so much from, and eating my first home grown meal was an incredible experience. I've got a little flock of chickens running around the yard, and a pool with some fish and plants floating on the surface, plus a worm bin that turns all our scraps into fertilizer (and food for the fish and chickens). And I'm slowly selling off all my stuff, bit by bit, putting all the money aside for that all important piece of land.
When the time comes I'm confident I will have all the skills I need to realize my dream. And the prospect of owning a house without selling myself into slavery for 30 years is incredible.
You would have liked some of the folk I met when I was living in the countryside of Catalonia (Spain). Near where I lived there were 3 houses of people with similar mentalities. Most of them were ex-squatters, hippies and such. The houses where they lived were ancient, several hundred years old, all three were hard to get to (if it rained, you needed a 4x4 or a bike to get there). They had pseudo-contracts with the respective owners to maintain or restore the house and they were free to do whatever they wanted. They had animals (goats, pigs, chickens, geese, rabbits- yes, we eat rabbit in Spain-, etc). They grew their own veggies and some held regular jobs from time to time. They lived off the grid, no running water, etc. They had springs nearby and they used solar panels for electricity.
Anyhow, they were an interesting crew to say the least but I´m always suspicious of commune people as I've heard many stories of hippies actually having lots of money, the equivalent to trust fund kids in the US. Plus I can´t stand all the pointless assemblies.... anyhow, it was tempting for a while but it was far from being simple. Lots of hard work around the house and in the garden, always worrying if they were going to get enough water for the summer (bad droughts here last few years), worrying about hail and their tomatoes, being hours away from emergency healthcare, etc. I'm sure they´ll be ahead of the rest of the world when the BIG oil crisis finally arrives...