Recently me and my partner have come back from staying in an off grid village (won’t share name here for privacy reasons) which was quite a transformative experience. The opportunity fell into our laps when the timing was right as we had been wanting to visit for a while but wanted to wait for the real invitation to do so and naturally it came along when the circumstances felt most aligned for what we needed.
Currently the village feels more vacational rather than residential as although the place can feel like a total paradise there are sure some set ups that could do with incorporating to attract longer term residents. Privacy and space issues being a factor which I had to learn to navigate myself… especially as I find myself to be someone who likes their own space. So with this people do tend to pass through the place and not many make it a longer term living situation. Although the village has been established well over a decade ago so it’s good to see that it is lasting as long as it has.
Volunteers very often come to the village to help out with the maintenance of the place which I got involved with too. There are tasks such as: watering the gardens, feeding the chickens, collecting chicken eggs, herding the goats, collecting goats milk, planting seeds, harvesting food, cooking, little bits of construction and whatever else that comes up. Being there I learned more about about how to live in that way.
The village really is off grid. Accessing the internet was worse than I anticipated. There was no internet unless you used mobile data and hotspot (and I only have a small amount of data on my phone contract) which wasn’t the easiest with my design work that often requires internet. Although it was nice to get further away from internet too and not always follow the itch of checking the phone or laptop whenever I felt like it. And I did quite enjoy feeling more ‘off the radar.’ Also here there is no hot water, not much electricity, compost loos were used, showering using the hose pipes in the gardens and limited access to resources such as food. Although the large gardens provided a lot of food. It taught me more to work with what’s available when it comes to eating. Being there, off grid, you would have to learn to let go of certain luxuries! I won’t pretend that it will be easy for many people.
I have to say… when first arriving it did feel difficult and I thought I would be here only for a few days or a week. It was a bit of a shock to the system at first. But then I started to fall in love with the place and was adapting to an extent with the challenges that came up. The location is truly beautiful and see so much potential here with what’s already been built. Me and my partner couldn’t leave the place anyway as we arrived by having a lift by someone who was only staying for the day but we had no means of having a lift back home. Plus the location is very remote and tucked in deep among the mountains. There was only 6 volunteers here including us 2 and none had a car to get out. The volunteers were more prepared for getting out whenever as they were backpackers so had little luggage and were able to walk out if they pleased. Me and my partner were pretty much dependent on someone to turn up here with a car. This meant we were also relying on the timing of nature to show us the opportunity when it is time to leave so we had that trust and were able to be in the present moment.
I feel too this place has such high frequencies – it was like stepping into another dimension. The village is located right next to a mountain that has legends of gold and other mythical stories about it (name of mountain will be kept private too). Processes do come up. The light is strong but also the shadows can be strong too as there are things that need to come into more alignment in this place although it turns out it is starting to attract the right people in recent times. Drugs here, as an example, was hugely problematic in the past but apparently that has improved although there was still some unhealthy drug frequencies running at the time of our stay here. There were certain ‘interdimensional’ issues me and my partner had to encounter. It was quite fascinating for me too seeing what was playing out seemingly on the energetic levels of the temporary community here. There was a lot of stuff that would only be shown on the surface levels but I noticed my sensitivity heightened and became quite acutely aware of what was playing out well below the surface in ways my mind cannot grasp. To be honest life here felt like one big ayahuasca trip. Everyday was different and was a real task of navigating the energies we could feel and taking care of what our fields needed. As I should have foreseen, I had turned up for more than just ‘off grid living’ as, of course, there are so many other layers than what’s just practical and on the surface.
Something I truly enjoyed was having the opportunity to be closer to animals again. For the first time I was herding goats. I was also looking after some baby chicks whose mother got eaten by a predator. Luckily after a few days we were able to figure out how to get a hen to adopt the chicks as her own and protect them. I will cherish the memories of the cute little cheeps the chicks constantly made, their soft fluffiness, how soothed they were when they were given attention like just resting my hand over them, having them run up my torso with their tickly claws while I was trying to do some work, and the way they always followed you around. I definitely enjoyed being a ‘mother hen’ and took the role seriously 😉 There were also some kittens too the village cat had recently given birth to. So I was able to indulge also in my love of cats and kittens. Prior to this life it was a rarity I would be around animals so I appreciated having my love of animals get ignited.
After nearly 3 weeks of living off grid, in true natures time style, me and my partner were spontaneously given the opportunity of a lift to leave the place without a whole load of notice. The timing felt right. I must say I feel quite humbled from living in a place like this and enjoyed the feeling of being more immersed in nature. I can feel a large love in me has been cultivated for the small village. It has inspired me and I do feel it would be great to see more villages like this pop up around the world as they really do seem to cause less harm to the Earth and also teaches us to slow down and live more simply closer to nature. Being there has changed my outlook on life. I feel more relaxed than I used to and don’t feel the same person I was as when I first arrived in the village. It sure does feel like some stuff that wasn’t me simply has just dropped away since my experience there. I have long heard about off grid living but haven’t really known what it’s truly like until I’ve lived it. Now I can see more of what’s possible. I notice ‘natures time’ is more present there as my sense of time seemed to shift and change here as though stepping into a portal.
The beauty here too is astonishing as so rich and abundant in forests and plants and surrounded by valleys and mountains. There was a large blanket of stars at night as no light pollution and you could see the milky way just slightly. There were thunder and lightning shows where there would be lightning every few seconds which was captivating to watch. It really was a paradise there and a haven tucked away from the usual demands and artificialness of society. I already miss the village and do hope to return to it at some point.
4 thoughts on “My first experience of off grid living – By Kate Priestley”
Feeling the high frequency of the village, particularly through the photos. Wonderfully challenging, it seems.
Thank you! Glad you can feel the frequency of the place. It definitely felt like it had something special about it.
Thank you for sharing the Kate, such a lovely read and a beautiful picture of you with the chicks 💖
Thank you for your lovely compliment Fae 🥰💜