I know it is probably hard to believe but living off the grid isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. Have you ever heard the saying, “the journey to the top is a lonely one?” The same thing applies here and the biggest disadvantages to living off grid stem from that particular fact.
You will have people that don’t believe you can make the transition as they try and hold you back and keep you within society limits. This isn’t done out of spite but fear of the unknown and there are also other considerations, your mental health, impending loneliness, health, what to do in emergencies etc. All of these are disadvantages to living off grid that you need to know about!
Pioneer
This is what you become when you decide to live off grid, you open up and explore a new area previously unavailable to you. If you like video games think of it like and RPG and going to a new part of the map, that has been darkened up until this point. Yes you have experience in the areas that you have been in but this new area comes with different perils, goals and enemies. It will require a different skill set than you are used to and the hardships will seem other worldly.
Although being a pioneering is exciting you will face the unknown that is the disadvantage. You don’t know what you don’t know, so how can you prepare for it? That is what we will do today.
Mental Health
This is a tricky factor because it depends person to person. The main benefit for me living off the grid is being away from everyone in totality, however this is not the case for most people. I have experienced the worst of human kind and wanted a line drawn so I could decide whether or not I felt like dealing with them again. For you it may just be financial freedom you seek or a refuge either way your mental health will ebb and flow based on your inner strength.
The key is staying busy and not thinking about it. You came off the grid for a reason, after hitting that goal you will attain a certain peace and either make new goals to surpass or bask in your success. Getting to that point is the hard part, especially in the beginning, So stay focused meditate if you know how, learn how to if you don’t, stay on track and get results
The Quiet
Loneliness will creep on you depending on how you lived your life up until this point. If your entirety has been spent in the bustle of city life, in apartments with neighbors a foot away, with roommates or loved ones etc. Going off the grid will be a drastic contrast.
You don’t know quiet until you are the only person around for miles, you don’t know darkness until the only light are the images of forgotten stars above you. Feeling alone in a crowd is vastly different from experiencing that isolation in a world of your own. It will get to you and it will haunt you if you let it.
Learn to find solace in the emptiness, invite friends and family over to help you, get a few pets to share your new life with. This are some of the many options to allay this feeling
Physical Heath
This is a big one and needs quite a good deal of consideration. If you do have insurance know exactly what carrier provides. Make sure there are doctors in this new area that you have access to, make sure ambulatory services are covered since if there is an accident the odds of you driving yourself 40 miles to the closet hospital are slim if not impossible depending on the issue.
Beyond insurance and actually reaching out for others to come to help you, make sure you have the necessary items off the grid to help yourself. You have to understand depending on how you lived before you now have a myriad of ways you can get hurt that were not factors in your previous life. You may be tending to plants with sharpened spades, building a small house using circular saws and, hammering nails, possibly 12 feet high on a roof putting up fascia board etc. All of these things can cause minor- serious injuries and may require some form of medical attention. If you step on a large nail near your apartment it isn’t a big deal, uber to the hospital and they will get you squared award, off the grid it’s not that simple. You get a deep enough cut and you may bleed out before you can get off the unpaved roads and onto the main street.
For this reason, it is best to have a comprehensive medical kit with you. This isn’t that little white box with a red cross your parents have filled with soggy Band-Aids and 17 inches of gauze you need something that can deal with a wide array of minor to severe injuries in totality.
Here are some great options to consider:
1. Scherber First Responders Kit
- MSRP $139.99
- 1 x Tweezers,1 x Kelly Forceps 5.5″,1 x Bandage Shears, 7.5″,1 x Bandage Shears, 5.5″,1 x Reusable Penlight – LED,10 x Ammonia Inhalants (Ampules),
100 x Adhesive Bandages 3/4″ x 3″,50 x Gauze Pads 4″x 4″,2 x Stretch Gauze Bandage Roll 2″,2 x Stretch Gauze Bandage Roll 3″,2 x Stretch Gauze Bandage Roll 4″,2 x Self-Adherent Bandage Roll 2″ x 5 yds,2 x Elastic Bandage Roll with Self-Closure 2″ x 5yds,2 x Combine Pads 5″ x 9″,2 x Combine Pads 8″ x 10″,1 x Cloth Surgical Tape 1″ x 10 yds,10 x Povidone Iodine Prep Wipes,10 x Alcohol Prep Wipes,1 x Triple Antibiotic Ointment, 0.5 oz tube,2 x Instant Cold Pack 4″ x 5″,2 x Oval Eye Pads 1-5/8″ x 2-5/8″,2 x Triangular Bandage, 36″ x 36″ x 51″,1 x Eye Wash 1oz,4 x Nitrile Sterile Exam Gloves,1 x Finger Splint,1 x Glucose Gel, 15g,10 x Sting & Bite Pads,1 x Sphygmomanometer Blood Pressure Cuff,1 x Sprague Rappaport Stethoscopes,1 x CPR Rescue Barrier Mask Kit,1 x Oral Airways (Berman), 40, 60, 80, 90, 100, 110mm Kit,1 x First Aid Guide Booklet,2 x Hydrogel Impregnated Gauze Dressing 4″ x 4″
2. Bleedstop Blood Clotting Powder
- MSRP $35.00
- MSRP $24.99
Maintenance
Another disadvantage to living off grid is the physical toll it takes on an unprepared body. If you haven’t lived a life of hard physical work this may shock you entirely however, even if you have worked hard this will be harder because you won’t be paid and it will be constant in the beginning.
You have to maintain some sort of physical shape. Being healthy and fit will be apart of your life and if it isn’t make sure to add it to your daily routine. Go for walks, runs, lift weights etc. Take care of yourself. You need to eat well and I also recommend taking vitamins. I know a lot of people that go off grid go with limited funds so avoided trips to the doctor/hospital are paramount. This means maintaining a strong and able form.
Here are my recommendations I take all of them outside of the versions specially for women but they are all great. I was a personal trainer at some point in life and these are top tier within the price range and category.
Multivitamin
Broad spectrum health, gives you a little bit of everything you need. Most require a pill multiple times a day as your body excretes the excess in your urine, follow the instructions.
- MSRP $55.99
- MSRP $29.99
- MSRP $42.92
Collagen
Helps with a lot of bodily functions but mainly gut healthy, skin, hair, nails, bones, joints and tendons. It deals with elasticity for example, your knees bending, your skin dealing with wounds, flexibility for the arteries in your heart!!
- MSRP $27.64
- Without Biotin MSRP $22.99
Fish Oil
Reduce inflammation in the body, Gives you a boost of omega-3s for heart and brain health, as well as healthy skin and hair
- MSRP $21.03
- MSRP $52.99
Pain Reduction:
Willowbark– What aspirin is derived from, I personally believe in embracing pain but if you don’t share that sentiment, get your pain reduction at the source. Also has fever reducers
1 Now
- MSRP $11.99
2 Naspirin
- $22.99
- Extra Strength
Toxins Management:
Removes toxins from your body.
Chorophyll- Prevents damage done by harmful aflatoxins. Also decrease oxidative damage
- MSRP $ 26.99
- MSRP $18.86
Activated Charcoal- Used to treat poisoning and overdose in the medical field. It binds with toxins and gases and eliminated them in the stomach before they can be absorbed t=by the remainder of your body.
- MSRP $26.99
- Hardwood Charcoal
- Powder
- MSRP $22.28
- Coconut Charcoal
- Pill
Other
Apple Cider Vinegar– Antimicrobial and Antioxidant effects. Helps kill harmful bacteria and can aid with weight loss, diabetes symptoms-reduction of blood sugar levels, and cholesterol reduction.
- MSRP $15.98
- Liquid Form
- MSRP $17.09
- Pill Form
Emergen-C– Immune system support and basic wellness.
- MSRP $17.24
Mood/ Mental Clarity
These supplements assist with clarity and focus of the mind. They may also give you energy while alleviating depressive symptoms
Rhodiola Rosea– Improves response to stress, and can reduce depression symptoms
- MSRP $24.97
- Pill Form
- MSRP $22.96
- Powder Form
Saffron– Antioxidant dense, reduction in depression, increase serotonin (mood boosting neuro- transmitter)
- MSRP $17.99
- Pill Form
- MSRP $22.47
- Pill Form
Take Initiative
These are all disadvantages to living off the grid that can be easily combatted with information given. It is the unknown that is dangerous, the knowledge of it reduces the harm
- Stand up in your life as a pioneer and forge your own path, take the necessary precautions and prepare for your own success.
- You know your own metal health better than anyone else, so make sure you do what you can to empty that vessel and fill it with purpose. Make the purpose moving off grid and loving the life you build.
- Make sure to either embrace the quiet or disrupt it in a way that bends it to your own desires.
- Be aware of your own limitations and do your best to avoid situations where serious injury can occur, however be prepared to deal with it if it does
- Take care of your body and mind with a diet that give you energy and peace of mind and supplements that fill in the gaps. 2 is one and 1 is none. (Always plan for one thing to go wrong, redundancy is the answer)
Let me know what you think below, will you be taking precautions against the disadvantages to living off grid?
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