Another Step In My Journey!

It's June 24th, and that means the 4th of July holiday is quickly approaching, but it also means that I am about one week away from taking another step in My Off The Grid Journey! By Friday, July 2nd, I will be on the road to stay with some great friends in Manassas, VA. I have all my belongings locked away in storage down here in FL and will set out for yet another season of doing hail repair.

This time around I am going about the season a little differently. Since I have so much going on in the way of life changing decisions, I am going to start out staying with friends, while doing a little left-over hail work in area. I will get to use this time to visit with people I have hardly seen in the last twenty years, before they too set out on another step in their journey to serve this great country of ours.

In my free time I hope to get to explore the eastern side of VA and maybe squeeze in a hike or two on part of the AP Trail, but the biggest use of my free time will be going toward finishing my re-defining of my goals and wish list for going off the grid. I have received a lot of good ideas and information from the people on the forum at Homesteading Today.com so now I want to apply that information toward my goals and wishes and try to come up with a defined short list of towns to explore when I do leave Manassas, VA.

Some things I am working on at this point in time are; researching more information on employment or business opportunities working with Aeroponics, researching different colleges to try to lessen the learning curve for Homesteading or Alternative energy and to help future employment. I am also trying to define the locations I am interested in, while trying to find a new career that would be better suited for this lifestyle. It's a lot going on, and more then I would wish to take on at any one time, but I feel that a career change and relocating are both times of new opportunities and are best planned together.

What Are You Going To Do There?

What are you going to do there? This seems to be a general question I get from people. Some I think mean to ask about income or a job, other's might look at my choice as being out in "no man's land" or "B.F.E." So this Post is more or less to clarify what it is or why it is I choose the place(s) I do or more of what I see my daily life being like in these places.

First thing I know for sure at this point in time, I do not see myself "working the land" so to say. I do see myself working in a Greenhouse environment around table-top / waist high work stations with my Aeroponic systems or even some Earthbox containers for growing the items that do better in soil.

Before I see myself even getting to into the Greenhouse, I see me building a small shed-like building to store all my tools and belongings as soon as I take ownership of the land. This will free up the money I spend each month on storage units and will allow me to have my tools where they do me more good, that's close to me!

The next item of priority, since I will still be renting a room / apartment, will be to start the main part of my shelter. This building will consist of the kitchen area, a pantry, at least a 3/4 bath and the main dinning / living area, with plans for an expansion of a master-bedroom off the side at a later time. In the early part of the developing of the land, this will be more of a hurter's cabin. As long as I will still be renting an apartment, I will only be at the property to work over the weekends, evenings, either way I will be able to "rough it" with a solar showers, and other camping style amenities.

Other buildings and Items of priority for the property are:

-Enlarge Solar / power system.

-Greenhouse

-Workshop

-Office (might become part of the workshop)

How You Going To Pay For All This?

How you going to pay for all this? This has to be about the most common question I get asked right after I get done explaining my plan to go off the grid. I get this feeling from most people that when they hear the plan, they think of it as all one big piece. Like $10,k for this, $37,k for that, another $8,700 for this thingamabob, they add it up in their heads and then ask where are you going to get two trillion dollars to pay for all this?

Like anything that is worth doing, you have to take it one step at a time, start small and pay as you go. If you sit and wait for the day that you will have all the money, items, and skills that you need before starting, you might be sitting there for the rest of your life. As time goes by, and you get new information, you may change the plans. Do you start all over and wait to have all those items that are needed for the new plan?

Plans change, different opportunities come along, so you may find that what you started out to do is better used for something else. Or, you may not enjoy it as much as you did before. I am keeping this in mind when looking for my first piece of land. I may get it all wrong, or I may end up with a property that is better used for one of my other plans or for someone else and sell it off, taking that profit (hopefully) and applying it to a piece of land that is better suited for what I need. It maybe an extra step or two, but at least it was a starting point for me instead sitting and waiting for the right time.

Employment, Since I do not have any land yet and I am looking to change careers, currently I am looking for a new basic job to use as a transition to my new location. From that basic job I will be able to see if I want to stay in the area or find a new place. I will also be able to start networking with local people and companies to see if there is a market for my Furniture /woodworkings or selling my Mother's Canned recipes.

To answer that main question, How am I going to pay for all this? The Comedian inside me wants to answer by saying "With money, of course!" But Since I ask myself the same thing, I can say that I plan on working and saving until I have enough to start with a piece of land that will get me out of renting. Then as soon as I can afford enough to build even a small space to set up my woodworking tools, then I will be able to bring in extra money and plan to add each part of the plan as the money comes in.

Like the early Pioneers and Settlers, things are going to be rough for some time. They always are in the beginning of any new adventure, but as more work comes in things will grow and get easier. This is why I knew I was setting out on a "Journey" and not just building a Cabin in the woods. To me, going "Off The Grid" means more then just not having utilities, it is a change in the way I am living my life.

Property Details

The property size and general information of the land is something that I am still researching on how much the entry-level acreage is for different parts of the country. I think most people would want "as big as I can get" but being realistic, and trying to do this on a shoe-string budget, all I can say at this point in time is one acre is a minimal size, but shooting for something in the five acre size. I know some of the areas I am researching have minimum lot sizes, and some counties put restrictions on wells or septic systems for lots under "X" amount of acres.

The guidelines on price that I am starting with are made up of a self-assessment of "land prices" across the US. I see plenty of tracks of land for sale in all different parts of the county for around the $1000 per acre price. Some tracks of land go up into the $5,000 per acre. Right now I am trying to weigh the Pro's and Con's for pricing, so I can't add much more at this time. I will add a post down the road once I do figure out how to compare each lot.

Other defining needs are as followed:

- I am looking for land that is not too heavily zoned

- Zoned for multiple uses or Agricultural with a home business

- Has to be Zoned for Agricultural, allowing crops and animals

- Lower taxes.

- Works well with Solar, south-facing if hillside.

- Soil is not a big deal if I am going to use Aeroponics to grow my crops.

- Needs to have enough "Build-able" areas since I am not looking at building one large building / home.

Location, Location, Location!

Since the three most important things in real estate are Location, Location, Location! I guess I should start with this. For me, location has two main defining parts. Physical location and Climate. I will start with Climate since it is the easiest for me to define.

Climate, after living here in Central Florida since 2003 and in the Midwest most of my life, I am really wishing to be some place a lot less humid. Since I do not have an office job, it is getting old dealing with the humidity. So I am looking for a place with enough annual precipitation so there are trees that are green most of the year and that there is water falling on my roof enough times of year to collect rain-water if I choose or if the law's allow me to rain-harvest.

I know I am not looking for some place that gets cloudy and stays cloudy for days on end. I like a good rain storm as much, if not more then the next person. I have made my living for the last 14 years off of repairing hail damage on vehicles, so a good storm to me is like handing a new iPad to a Geek. However, I do not want the weather to get all gloomy and not rain. Plus, I need the sunshine for solar production!

With the less humid air means average daily temperatures do not matter as much to me. 75 to 90 degrees through the summer months is ideal, with the abnormal 100 degree days a couple of times in July and August is not going to be a problem. The winter months can be cold, but I would prefer the daily highs to not be below 10 to 15 degrees on a daily bases.

Snow fall will be welcomed since my theory on snow is, if it's going to snow, it better be enough to play in it! I enjoy a fresh white blanket of snow covering the ground and trees. Even better if it happens in time for a white Christmas. I can't believe I am talking about snow and Christmas in June while it's 85 degrees outside right now.

I am also looking for a change in the general scenery or topography. Again,living in Florida you do not get to see much change in the land or elevation. There's an area on I-75 towards the northen part of the state that reaches an elevation of around 500 feet if I remember correct. It's my favorite part of my drive north through the state. So I am looking at giving the bigger mountains a try. Since I enjoy Snowboarding, Skiing, Rock Climbing and I'm looking at exploring climbing some of the Colorado 14'ers in the near future, I think living in that type of environment will be a welcome change from the flat beaches of Florida.

A little about the local population and general proximity to the nearest town and stores. Since I will be building everything from the ground up, I will need to have some stores like a good lumberyard, hardware, or a Farm & Feed store within driving distance that doesn't take the whole day to go shopping. Also, having something like a Sam's Club or a Walmart handy will save on gas cost for buying the basic daily items. Since items from Sam's or Walmart would be purchased in bulk, their location does not need to be in the closes town, just close enough so it doesn't require an over-night stay to go shopping.

The size of the closest town for gas, and basic items I hope is not much bigger then around 25,000 +/- a few hundred people. Again, after living here in FL through the winter-time when all the tourist come down, I am not looking forward to any place with a lot of traffic. I'm looking for a place that has more Squirrels or Cattle then people!

Dreams Is Spelled With Three R's!

When it comes to "dreams", there are three important R's in the word, Rethink, Redefine, and Relocate! Even though I have already started this journey I am finding myself needing to rethink or redefine my dreams or goals.

My opening statement was enough to launch my journey to search for more information, but now, as I make progress I need to sit down to Rethink and Redefine so I can Relocate! I am going to dedicate the next few posts to breaking down my plans, and then define as many steps or goals as I can within each step.

Two of the three R's are pretty much standard for anything you want to change in your life, but you might be saying to yourself "But I'm not relocating or moving anywhere?" Relocating doesn't have to mean you are packing up your belongings and physically moving from your home. To some, you can look at it as a metaphor for just getting up and doing somethings.

I believe it was Newton's First Law of Motion that said " An object at rest will stay at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it." So in other words, if you don't get up and do something, you will still be in the same place doing nothing tomorrow! So go relocate yourself in front of all the things you need to get done, but don't forget to check back on my blog! :)

The Overview of what I am trying to achieve is;

1. Location

-Climate, Hot / Cold, Humid / Dry?

- Snow, Rain, four seasons?

2. Property

- Big, Small, City, Rural?

- Use, Personal, Farm, other?

3. Employment

- Current, Business or Job?

- Future, Business or Job?

I will add to this list as I work through the planning process, but this will be a good start. So let's get started with Rethinking, Redefining, and Relocating!

Forum, Solar, and Property

I have found a new Forum (new to me) for Homesteading and it's been a major help for all the things I want to try and need learn to help get me Off The Grid. Homesteadingtoday.com is a forum with pretty much any kind of information you could need or want, from growing your own food to using alternative energy. It's clearly laid out so you can focus your time in one area. Some topics get broken down into even more direct topics, like "Raising Animals" gets broken down into Goats, Poultry, etc, so you don't have to read a 1oo post about Chickens if you are only interested in raising Goats.

Right now I have been spending my time looking for some ideas on where the best, over-all place would be for me to get started. With all the great information I have found on Homesteading Today I have learned that I need to learn a lot more and that a person's first place is more then likely not their last, but we all need to start some where.

In the last couple of weeks I have narrowed my search for my first place. I have learned a lot about what's important to me in my journey to get off the grid. Some things have changed a little, but I haven't lost total sight of my main goal. Since this is going to require taking smaller steps, I feel I will have to give a little on some of the luxuries for now and focus on the things I can not change or do without.

My shortened list of areas has been reduced to the Southern Region of Colorado or it's High Rockies region. The Southern region has to be one of the better zoned regions for solar use, and it has some cheaper location for land prices. Like I say, I can have two out of three, and in this case it's the lack of water / precipitation.

Southern Colorado is a "Zone 2" according to the Solar Insolation Map which means, unless I want to live in the Death Valley area, "Zone 1" it doesn't get much better. Florida is a Zone 4, so I would have to use / buy more PV panels, to make up for the less production according to U.S. Solar Radiation Resource Maps if I stayed living here.

The High Rockies loses a little solar gain, so it's a Zone 3, but has better employment options. Although better employment means higher cost of living. So it all comes back down to the best "two out of three" of my needs. Since I will need to rent some place to sleep while looking for work, etc, I think the High Rockies will win out for now and it will give me time to look around the general area for land.