I don't see it as harder... Simpler maybe, but certainly different - And preferable. I've got some nice digs going here - Just a half acre about a mile out of town, with a nice, cozy two bedroom cabin - But it's got a sweet water well, and I am just about to put in the garden and an aquaponic greenhouse... Got a wood shed going up and solar/generator coming soon. I'll still be on grid, but I won't need it.
And the back porch is going to have an outdoor wood fired kitchen, soon as I settle into what I want - I make my own bread, so I am fighting with myself over whether a a pizza style oven or just get a wood burning stove... and it will have a hot/cold smoker and a place for grilling (of course) All done up nice in stone masonry... Makes for a great place to do canning and bread making in the heat of summer, so the house will stay cool, and if SHTF and the inside kitchen doesn't work, well I can just go out to the porch, see? Who am I kidding - once I have wood to cook over, I probably could just forget about that inside kitchen... The food is that much better.
I don't NEED any of it - I am an old geezer (53) and kinda getting gimped up... I figger to stay closer in - So like I said, all the amenities are here - But I WANT all of it because that's how it's done as far as I am concerned. I like the self-sufficiency of it, and I aim to be as self-sufficient as I can be.
On the other side are those of us who don’t see the point of interfering because those people want to live the off grid self sustainable lifestyle-of course, that means the guy has to pay for his water-and it doesn’t seem to matter whether we are rural or city dwellers-but most of us do appear to have lived or presently live a rural life, off grid or not. Either way, none of that group seems to be interested in imposing nanny rules or anyone else’s lifestyle on those people, and we don’t think the people have committed any crime of abuse or neglect-it is a fascinating contrast, assuming that everyone here is conservative and for personal liberty and responsibility...
Yeah, All y'all... Texas rural folks... are my kind of folks (Y'all bend yer hats funny down there, but still). You still retain that civil-libertarian strain the Rocky-Mountain West is so ingrained with, and I admire that in you SW desert folks. Live and let live, and help each other if you can... Northwest Montana would welcome such as you. If y'all can't make it to Alaska, you might look here up the Yaak or the Bitterroot. I was gonna wander off down to Nirada or up the Yaak, or maybe down the Swan, But like I said, I am not as young as I used to be... And even here in the Flathead Valley, I could walk off of this piece and be in deep woods before nightfall.
I have only been to your state once, but it is a beautiful place. However, my ancestors came to what is now SW Texas from Mexico in the late 1700’s-a few of them rode on to NM, but most stayed here-so my feet are rooted in Texas-sense of adventure aside, I’ll be staying here.
The nearest town-it has less than 900 people-is 18 miles away. There is a bigger town 22 miles away to the east in the next county, and a small city-about 18k people-about 30 miles away in the next county north. The nearest big city is SA, 38 miles to the south, 2 counties away. I haven’t been there in over 2 years...
As soon as I get it all in order, I’ll be finding 7-10 acres suitable for goats, chickens, large garden space to sell produce from. I lease this 5+ acres with a house that is mostly an old mobile from someone out of state-the place is their long-unused vaca cabin, very basic shelter and is not suitable for livestock or garden with more production than my own needs-since the clannish, semi-trashy old hippie/self reliant character of the area and residents is just perfect, I’m only going up the road a bit.
Your cabin sounds great-it is pretty much what I’m going to do, with the solar-in addition to a well, I’m also going to do rain capture, and gray water re-use-I do that now, as does just about everyone else. I’m not young-older than you-but I will continue work at making a modest living till my last breath like my relatives all do. I enjoy construction work much more than I enjoyed being a case manager anyway-my customers don’t whine as long as I provide good service...
I prefer to heat my house with a fireplace or wood stove-there’s plenty of wood around here just from limbs fallen in storms-and I grill the meat I eat over that or charcoal most of the time. I’m busily looking at available solar systems and storage batteries-may I ask which one you are going to use?