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Why the phrase “off the grid” has Hollywood gripped

 

 

The theme of off-grid living is sweeping through Hollywood as it takes a center stage role in upcoming blockbusters.

The newest Bourne movie hits the big screen this week, and lead character Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) immerses himself into off-grid living as he tried to shake loose those who are tracking him. He makes a career for himself on the bare-knuckle fight circuit somewhere in southern and central Europe as old associates reappear throughout the movie. This film is not out yet but it is pretty safe to say that when they refer to Bourne as being off-grid they don’t mean he’s living on a farm using hydropower to decode top CIA Intel. But rather ‘off the radar’; one can guess burner phones and such will be used. His romantic interest Nicky Parsons is back and has downloaded confidential files about Bourne’s former life as David Webb. The film is said to keep you on the edge of your seat once is gets going and definitely is on our list to watch.

 

Another sequel is soon on it’s way out, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is another part two thriller. Tom Cruise who plays Reacher stumbles upon a grand conspiracy and goes, guess where?  Off the grid, according to the press releases. Surfing from motel to motel and covering his back, he tries his hardest not to  be tracked as he unwraps this mystery.

 

Films such as Captain Fantastic, Life of Pi, 127 Hours, Wild have all used the OG word in their PR packs. But what exactly is it about the theme of going ‘off-grid’ that really goes down a treat with audiences? Granted, there’s not much of actual off-grid living in the terms of living a sustained life, living off the food that you grow, using solar power instead of the grid. No, it’s more the mysterious and independent side of living off-grid that really gets the movie audiences going. In times like this, globalization and the rise of technology has interlinked people from across the world. Perhaps it’s the idea that once you go off-grid, you’re technically unknown. These days most people have a phone and on that phone, there is some sort of geo-location software or a software that allows you to be tracked. So maybe it’s the idea of not being tracked that is endearing to people, which is why Hollywood has integrated off-grid living into so many of its film narratives.

Both films are being released this week so keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested in watching them in full.

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October 20, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Crucial court hearing for Steward Wood

 

You may remember the Steward Community Woodland Group from our previous article ‘Dartmoor community eviction‘. There’s a little summary downpage.

Since then, the Woodlanders have graciously thanked all for their support, but their current situation calls for even more support from the public. The self-sufficient group has decided to challenge their loss at court. Their latest Facebook post reads: “The most important thing happening at the moment is our High Court challenge of the Planning Inspector’s decision. Before our case can go ahead to a full hearing, a judge will decide whether we have a sufficient case to proceed”.

The judge has allowed them to do this orally which apparently indicates that they have a good chance of winning. If they win, they have to pay £10,000 and if they lose, it’ll be £15,000. They have asked anyone who is happy to help fund the legal fees to contact them via their website or Facebook page or call them on 01647 440233.

More updates as they come.

 

STEWARD WOOD BACKGROUND SUMMARY

  • The group is made up of 23 men, women, and children, who live off-grid in Dartmoor National Park in Devon
  • They have lived peacefully side by side with nature for 15 years in the park on temporary planning permission
  • The park authorities are now ordering them out on the grounds that they are having a “harmful impact on the character and appearance of the Devon park”
  • The same authorities are allowing property developers to make millions building hundreds of homes.  See our new video here
  • Their appeal was rejected on the 10th August 2016

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October 13, 2016 No Comments
Communities

WrethaOffGrid vlog 01

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I have been doing more and more reviews online, including video reviews so I have been getting more comfortable with being in front of the camera instead of always in back of the camera. I decided it was high time to start doing a regular vlog videos, so here is my first one.

I am open for comments and suggestions as well as questions from you, I would love some feedback and would love to answer your questions, you may ask whatever you wish, though I can’t guarantee I’ll answer ALL questions, I’ll do my best. :)



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October 9, 2016 No Comments

Off-Grid underground Hobbit house

Kristie Wolfe is no slouch when it comes to building unusual homes, she goes in with ideas put to pen and paper and begins to build her dream. This time she is building a Hobbit style village on some acreage in rural Washington. Being off-grid is as much something desired as it is necessary, it’s cost prohibitive to put in electric service, or any other commercial city type service out there.

She built into a hillside, taking advantage of the earth as a natural insulation against the heat and the cold. I’m not sure I would enjoy the layout of the first Hobbit home she built, putting the front door in the bedroom. It does make for some nice views, I prefer my bedroom area to be more private myself… The “fireplace” is not real either, it’s a facade created around a propane heater, I certainly don’t mind propane, I use it myself, but I’d like to see a real fireplace with a real chimney so that wood could be burned in it if you wanted.

Other than those two things, I love the Hobbit home she build, I can’t wait to see the next one. Here is a video tour of the home, enjoy!



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October 7, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Auroville, the Utopia next door

 

Imagine a place free from politics, religion and money. People from every background, of all ages, living in unity and self-sufficiency. The food that you all eat you grew together from scratch on organic farms. Utopia?

Auroville.

A small universal township, located in south India – on the border of Tamil Nadu state. The concept was birthed from an idea of a township devoted to an experiment in human unity in the 1930s.

It gets better- you can visit it. Yes, this isn’t just a place people may hear whispers about but never actually get to see — you can travel there quite easily, let us show you how.

It was set up officially on the 28th February 1968. 5,000 new occupants assembled at the centre of the township for a ceremony. They brought with them soil from their individual homelands to be mixed in with the new soil of Auroville and there is an urn in the middle containing all the mixed samples of Earth. It is said that the purpose of Auroville is “to realise human unity.”

There is the most beautiful Peace Area located in the middle of the town called the ‘Soul Of The City’ or the Matrimandir at the centre of the township. It helps to create an “atmosphere of calm and serenity” and serves as a groundwater recharge area. Many gather here at sundown.

 

The population is now 2,400 but it can hold up to 50,000 people. The inhabitants live sustained lives side by side in harmony, without money and politics (even though it is backed by the Govt. of India). It is self-sufficient with over 160 hectares of organic farms, cornfields and orchards. The city area was actually built with a radius of a 1.25km ‘Green Belt’ comprised of forests, dairies, wildlife areas. All of which provide habitats for wildlife and serve as sources of food, timber, medicine and so on.

 

They have stated on their website that they have planned a further extension of their Green Belt to transform ‘wasteland into a vibrant eco-system’. They say they are working towards adding an impressive 800 more hectares. Find out more on their website.

The nearest international and domestic airport is Chennai International Airport. If you are already in India and would prefer travelling leisurely by rail, Chennai Central Railway Station connects to all the major cities in India with its reliable express trains such as Tamil Nadu
Express and Rajdhani Express (fully air-conditioned).

 

You can watch someone’s personal experience of entering Auroville as the track how exactly they got there via a travel vlog they uploaded on YouTube. If you have liked what you’ve read, you can support the cause and donate to Auroville here.

It was backed by the Indian Government in 1960 and taken to the General Assembly of UNESCO. Six …

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October 5, 2016 No Comments
Communities

Tiny turf houses in Iceland

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I love seeing how people used to live, “back in the day” as we like to say. It’s interesting and educational to see how people used the natural materials available to them to build their homes, more than mere shelters, these were places where families lived together, I like how they made individual places for each part of living, one building for living/sleeping, one building for cooking, another building for storage and so on. They kept each building small so it could easily be heated in the winter, and also so that it could easily be torn down and rebuilt without disrupting the entire household.

They didn’t have access to wood (trees) so much of what they used was volcanic rock and turf. They also tore down and rebuilt the spaces about once a generation, reusing the rock and anything else they could reuse, digging out new turf to chink between the rock. They also built partially into the ground, using the earth to insulate and protect their living spaces. They built in small narrow hallways, or tunnels between the living spaces so they didn’t have to go outside to get from one living space to another, a real heat saving move in the winter.

I don’t know how their summers were, but I suspect being dug into a hill also helped to keep the living spaces cooler. It seems they didn’t have much privacy, everyone slept in the same room, fortunately it seems everyone had separate beds, at least only a couple or a few people slept together per bed, there were slight partitions between the beds, but nothing like how we live today. I suppose if that’s all you know, then you would be used to it and live accordingly.

I also understand that since they had very little wood, they actually used their own body heat to keep the living spaces warm, another good reason for everyone to reside and sleep in the same room.

This video was quite interesting and eye opening, apparently that way of life has just come to an end, merely one generation ago, there are still people alive who grew up living that way.



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September 30, 2016 No Comments
People

Dartmoor community eviction

 

An off-grid community located in woodland within Dartmoor National Park, UK are faced with eviction after 15 years of living side by side with nature. The park authorities are ordering them out on the grounds that they had a “harmful impact on the character and appearance of the Devon park”.  Meanwhile, the same authorities are allowing property developers to make millions building hundreds of homes.  See our new video here

The Steward Community Woodland group appealed the decision, stating they have “hugely improved the biodiversity on their 32-acre plot”. Their homes are completely off-grid, made up of recycled timber produced on site, amongst other reused materials elsewhere, that fit nicely with the woodland.

A community stalwart named Merlin manages the community energy schemes such as solar and hydro power systems to generate and store power for the 23 occupants.

The group welcomes locals  to come and help in the communal gardens. Schoolchildren from the area are also invited to learn more about woodland and growing skills in a hands-on and fun way instead of inside a classroom.

Tom Greeves, the chairman of the Dartmoor Society has praised the group, stating: “We admire the tenacity and dedication over 15 years of the small group of men, women, and children who have opted for a very different lifestyle”

However, the park authority does not agree. It granted temporary planning permission twice in the past and now the development management committee has refused permanent permission.

The 14 adults, four teenagers and five children who live there are devastated. Sonia Parson who has raised 3 of her children on the commune said she is heartbroken by the news in a video you can watch here. She says her kids see the other members and the animals they live among as family and do not want to be moved on.

After the decision on 10th August 2016. The group took to their website to express their anguish over the news: “It is with huge sadness and utter shock that we must let you know our appeal has been dismissed” one post reads. Whilst another exclaims gratitude to their supporters:  “We received over 400 letters of support and a significant number from our local area. We would like to THANK all the people who wrote in and have supported us mentally,

Whilst another exclaims gratitude to their supporters:  “We received over 400 letters of support and a significant number from our local area. We would like to THANK all the people who wrote in and have supported us mentally, physically and emotionally. Your support will and has been a huge help to us.

You can view the details of the appeal here.…

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September 29, 2016 2 Comments
Communities

Knowledge and experience

knowledge-experience

Since we aren’t naturally born with all the knowledge (and experience) we’ll ever need, we have to learn. Hopefully we are learning something new everyday, whether it’s something we are interested in for ourselves, or something we have to learn for work or our lives, learning is one of the cornerstones of what makes us human.

We used to do much of our learning by reading, going to the library was one of my very special treats, I loved reading, I still do, but today I read much more digital (and audio based) content. Books are a huge source of knowledge, you can still go to the library and find a wealth of information sitting on those dusty shelves. Presumably you even own some books yourself, these are great backups as there is always the chance that an EMP, whether natural or man made, could wipe out our digital sources of knowledge.

Speaking of digital, with the internet, places like YouTube, Instructables, eHow and the such, you can research and learn just about anything you are interested in. I personally find YouTube to be a huge source of information for me, from art related, crafts, DIY, building, cooking, the list I could make would practically be endless. When I needed to do some work on my tablet, an item that is not supposed to have end-user changeable parts, I went to YouTube and found out that first, I can change out these parts, and second, how to do it. This completely free source of information saved me from having to buy a new tablet, saved me money and time. For just a few dollars, I was able to fix the problem and I was able to see HOW to do it.

Just go to YouTube, you don’t HAVE to have an account with them, but it makes things much easier since you can “like” and save videos as well as subscribe to channels you enjoy. Go there and do a search for the subject you are wanting to learn about. There are many ways to filter your search, some of my most used filters are by date and length. Don’t forget you can also include negative search terms, that is simply inserting the minus sign then the word (without a space between the minus sign and the word), use words you do not want to show up in your search term, for example, if I wanted to look up dog videos, but didn’t want puppy videos, I could do a search for “dog -puppy”…

Now go through the search results, I personally prefer right clicking on the video in the list and opening in a new tab, that way I can just close the new tab and immediately go back to the search list without having to wait for the search to happen again, I can also open …

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September 28, 2016 No Comments
Communities

First fire of the season

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We had our first wood fire this evening, it’s not really cold, not as cold as it will get, but it was one of those chilly, grey, damp, rainy days that just begged for a nice wood fire. Of course there is the fantasy of sitting in front of a nice toasty wood fire and the reality of having to clean off a summer’s worth of junk, dust and dog hair from the wood stove, none of which smell very good when they get hot :)

Once I had it all cleared off, I almost didn’t want the fire anymore, but it didn’t take much cajoling to get PB to go outside and grab a few pieces of damp wood, almost too damp to burn. A handful of paper trash later and we had a nice toasty small fire going, it was nice to hear the crackle of the flames and smell of the burning wood.

The wood stove is now nicely warm as I sit in my winter configuration, having my laptop inside the SkyCastle, at the table, just behind the wood stove. I’m looking forward to not fighting the bugs that are attracted to the light of my laptop, not worrying about what may climb up my leg outside.

PB has been working on updating the kitchen. Earlier this summer, one of our neighbors gave us an interesting stove/oven that came out of an RV. It’s the same size as the blue one I’ve used from the beginning, but instead of a turquoise blue, it’s a dark cherry red, I tried to find another one like it online, but couldn’t find another in the same color, rare. We have spent the summer wondering which one to keep inside and which one to leave outside for the outdoor kitchen area. PB decided on a third option, keeping them both inside.

I wasn’t sure I liked that idea, that meant having to lose some of my precious storage, and honestly I don’t see myself cooking on BOTH at the same time. I wanted the red one inside. But once PB got everything mocked up, the two stoves side by side look pretty sharp. I also like the arrangement of the burners on top, the blue one has 2 burners in front and 1 in back, the red one has 1 in front and 2 in back, they look like they were made for each other.

The red one has a thermostat for the oven, something the blue one doesn’t have, though I have been able to cook and bake in it just fine, having a thermostat will come in handy. I did lose some of my storage, but I think I’ll be able to live with it, things have been condensed in another area and will probably end up working better. PB is planning on building a vent-a-hood over the …

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September 25, 2016 2 Comments
Communities

Hobbiton

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I love looking at alternative type housing, even if it’s a bit of a fantasy, I do live in a SkyCastle after all :) I watched this video a few days ago in pure fascination. I was a bit disappointed to discover it’s really the set from one of the Hobbit movies, I am glad it was saved from destruction and is being kept around as a tourist attraction.

I do know there are those who do live this way, people with whimsical ideas about how to live, those who don’t listen to what polite society has to say about how to live.

 

Watch this short video and tell me you wouldn’t want to live like this :)



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September 23, 2016 No Comments
Communities

We want to hear YOUR UNPLUGGING stories

Some of you will be reading this at your desk at which you spend 8 hours a day, just to pay the bills and mortgage. Some will stare at our off-grid memes, posted on our Facebook page just wishing they could trade in their current situation for something a little more extraordinary. But if you were given the chance, would you be brave enough to take the leap of faith?

Author Vanessa Run has done just that. She studied Journalism and went on to work in various media companies, but the work bored her and she realized that ‘living for the weekend’ was not living at all. Her current book is on escaping the rat race for an off-grid lifestyle, close to nature in a campervan traveling around the picturesque beauty New Zealand has to offer.

Writer Nick Rosen has also published his own book, How To Live Off-Grid, in which he embarked a similar journey in a campervan.

Nick has also made short films all over the world about off-grid homes and the people who built them.

Enough about other people, we want to know about you. How do you live?

Can you send us a video? Or some still photos? Have you tried to live unplugged from the grid? Did you ditch your job for a mountain top cabin and a simpler life?

We want to hear from you!

Write to us at news@off-grid.net


Your name* 
You don’t have to use your real name, just tell us what you would like us to call you

Who are you?* Where do you live, how old are you, are you living alone, in a family or in a group etc, do you work.*
What do you do?* What job do you (or did you) have?
Your unplugging story*
How did you do it?*
Why?*
Where did you go and why?
How has it changed your life?*
Do you plan on moving back?
Tell us about your new life
so how remotely do you live? Tell us your daily routine)
Please add a photo or video if you think it will add to your story
File uploads may not work on some mobile devices.
Can we publish your response?*
Contact details
Please provide a telephone number or email. This will be kept confidential but we may contact you to ask you to contribute to our coverage.…

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September 22, 2016 No Comments
Communities

California Gov, Jerry Brown – Off-Grid

 

Environmental champion, Jerry Brown says his next home will be totally off the grid. Powered by solar panels, the 2,674 square feet abode will include one-bedroom, one and a half bathrooms, a large lounge area, wood fireplace, an office, a mud room and a massive porch to sit on and watch the world go round.

 

Architect Dna Hoover describes it as a “boomerang-shaped building that kind of curls around a little knoll with two really old blue oak trees.” The site will afford the Browns “a pretty incredible view that’s quintessential California landscape. It’s incredibly beautiful but harsh in the same way,” he said.


Usually, Gov. Brown spends weekends at a rustic cabin west of Williams and resides the rest of the time in the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento, which is an energy sufficient property. He has described his cabin outside Williams in 2014 as “pretty primitive,” with no water or toilet. He said at the time that the first lady “would like more amenities.” Hence the fancy soaking tub and wood fireplace in the new home.

Aged 78, Brown is the state’s oldest and longest-serving chief executive and was first elected to a statewide office in 1970 and is set to govern until 2019. He is also a pro-environment fiscal conservative and is a longtime champion for environmental causes, so it’s surprising he’s realised that going off-grid is the way forward!

According to plans for the house, “landscaping shall be designed and installed so as to not use potable water.”

The fourth-term Democrat and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, sold their previous home in Oakland Hills this year, after giving up their Sacramento loft and moving into the renovated Governor’s Mansion. Brown will term out of office in 2019.

Hoover said he will start working on the solar panelled palace as soon as he gets a permit. “(Brown) wants it done now,” Hoover said. “They’re very anxious to move up here.”

We’re excited for you to move off-grid too, Jerry!…

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September 20, 2016 No Comments