It’s no secret that everyday life is stressful – from working long hours at jobs, we don’t enjoy paying outrageous rent in places that no longer thrill us.
Then there’s the social media pressure, where we frequently compare our daily lives to other people’s highlights.
We’ve wasted hours browsing before we realize it, and our minds are overloaded with incessant materialism.
What a wonderful thing it would be to get away from it all. Why don’t we pause momentarily and return to our roots?
What Does it Mean to Live Off the Grid?
Living off-grid is a liberating lifestyle in which you do not rely on the grid. You are self-sufficient and not reliant on the conventional infrastructures of metropolitan existence.
Living off-grid allows you to reconnect with nature by producing power, water, and food.
Ultimately, this way of living lifestyle decreases our negative environmental influence while still giving us unparalleled independence.
15 Reasons For Living Off the Grid
If you are considering a lifestyle change and think living off the grid could be your next best step, look below for many reasons to take the plunge.
1. Live Sustainably
It all comes down to living more sustainably. If you do not constantly drain resources, you will produce more than you consume. This offers the added benefit of supporting your family and providing for your community.
2. Become Self-Sufficient
Living off the grid involves leading a self-sufficient lifestyle that is not reliant on outside resources since you generate your own, minimizing or eliminating your reliance on an infrastructure that could go down at any time.
3. Living Debt Free
A big house, fancy cars, and designer bags are all things we are told to want (and buy) once we are successful. But the truth is that many of us are willing to go into a mound of debt to keep up with the neighbors.
Establishing a home on land without incurring debts can free you from those money chains! Let’s face it: living in today’s society is expensive. Moving your life off-grid helps you eliminate many of those unnecessary expenses.
4. Say Goodbye to Utility Bills
Who decided a few massive corporations to hoard today’s energy and make us pay outrageous amounts to power our homes? You don’t have to be a slave to them.
Living off the grid includes finding alternative means of energy, such as wind and solar power – two things big companies can’t claim as their own. This means you can power your life without lining somebody else’s pockets.
5. Letting Go Of the Clutter
Everyone is entitled to those sentimental items that bring back good feelings and memories, but take a minute to think about all your stuff.
Do you own it, or does it own you? Our possessions slowly possess us, taking up space in our homes and creating attachments to things rather than people and experiences.
Living off the grid makes you reconsider the purpose and intention of the belongings you choose to keep in your life. You don’t need much when you live off the grid, and letting go and finding freedom becomes much more accessible.
6. Minimize Your Footprint
There is no denying that living in today’s world takes a lot of energy – and not just from ourselves. Electricity, plumbing, cars, the list goes on – we consume energy constantly, and the nature and wildlife around us are usually left with the bill.
Living off the grid lessens our initial footprint and encourages resourcefulness and recycling. This means that you are more inclined to make the most out of things and minimize wasteful tendencies.
7. Learn By Doing
Many skills we learn today are taught through online classes and books but lack genuine hands-on application and exploration. When you move your life off the grid, you are responsible for many more daily functions.
You must grow your food, rear animals, learn how to dispose of waste responsibly and sanitarily, and harvest and conserve water.
These things aren’t challenging to learn, but you will have the chance to deeply tune into sustaining your life.
8. Change Your Diet
Living a clean and holistic lifestyle is not only challenging while living in the system but it is also discouraged. Most people move their lives off-grid to welcome a more wholesome and healthier lifestyle.
Many of today’s chronic illnesses and ailments stem from our overly processed diets, which consist of foods filled with chemicals and who knows what else. Growing, harvesting, and preparing your food restores your control over what you put into your body.
9. Connect with Nature
Living off the grid allows you to reconnect with nature. How often do you have the chance to lie in the grass and stare at the sky? These experiences help us live in the moment and bring greater peace and harmony.
Moving your life off the grid will take you further from the industrialized world and allow you to reintroduce yourself to the beauty of the natural world.
10. Ditch Expensive Habits
Shopping, eating out, parting, trips to the nail salon – how many mindless habits do you let consume your week? Sure, these things can be fun once in a while, but they tend to lose their shine when they become a means of distracting yourself from living your life.
When you live off the grid, much of your time is dedicated to sustaining your lifestyle. This not only helps you reconnect with yourself and the present, but it also helps you reduce waste and save money!
11. Become Your Own Boss
Even if you like your job or employer, you are still at the mercy of their needs. Your decisions revolve around how they will affect your job or performance. Everyone says they want to be their own boss, which is incredibly possible with off-grid living!
You don’t have to be the head of a Fortune 500 company to reclaim control over your professional life. Those who live off the grid find a way to earn a sustainable living while maintaining their freedom.
12. Experience New Places
In today’s world, finding places that haven’t yet been reimagined in human vision is challenging. Living off the grid allows you to explore untouched places and less-populated areas full of adventure and new experiences.
Setting up your new off-grid home in remote areas lets you get to know your space in an entirely new way. Talk about a fresh perspective!
13. Master Necessary Survival Skills
When you move your life off the grid, you will eliminate many of the support and safety systems offered by communities and cities. This means you will have to rely more on your survival skills.
This is difficult for many people, but anyone can cultivate the skills needed to live a happy and healthy life far away from “the system.”
Start learning more accessible essential skills and practice them as you become more familiar with nature. Before you know it, you will have plenty of confidence in your survival skills.
14. Reconnect with Loved Ones
Moving off the grid does not mean becoming a social recluse. Consider how much time you spend with your family and friends now.
Is it even possible with all the hours you put in at the office or the hours you spend running errands on your days off? When you do spend time, is it quality time?
Living off the grid liberates your schedule and lets you choose when and how you interact with those you care about most. And when you do spend time together, it won’t be tainted with stress and distractions.
15. It’s Rewarding
Few people can say they live in a home they made with their own two hands or make their meals using fruits and vegetables grown in their garden. These things take work and dedication, but nothing beats knowing you have constructed your life.
Your hard work isn’t enjoyed by those whose bank accounts you are growing, and you enjoy it!
Final Thoughts
Moving your life off-grid is difficult, but nothing else is like it!
What else can give you total freedom, the time to explore the world around you, access to nature, and a healthier lifestyle?
Change may be challenging at first, but it is often the most rewarding surprise in life. Happy living!