Here’s the thing…
You don’t have to build your own home, hunt your own meat etc., nor do you have to be a billionaire like Bill Gates to be off the grid. These are the most common perceptions of off grid living. I live off-grid in ottawa, canada with my wife, two year old and another one of the way. We have a mortgage, full time jobs, kid in daycare etc. We built a normal home, we power it with solar energy and are totally off the grid. Off the grid does NOT mean being a hermit, in my mind. We are not talking about extracting ourselves from society, but we are talking about greater self-reliance and greater stability when it comes to power and heat. I am no longer concerned about big snowstorms shutting down power lines or anything like that. We did no sacrifice anything, nor did we break the bank on the home…there is a middle ground that can be easily achieved. Your “average” person will not be able to build their own home (nor will they have the time), and your “average” person does not have millions in the bank to build a huge energy system…
