An Introduction

Just your typical dreary rainy morning in the San Luis Valley, no Photoshop here, this is what it looked like. (C) Pieceofnowhere 2012

This blog is meant to be a chronicle and (hopefully) a guide to others looking for self-sufficiency, fulfillment and innovative living. The purpose of this blog is a focus on DIY, self-made structures, tools and techniques, as well as a coherent documentation of my ongoing structural, gardening and other experiments. I've scoured the web for useful information about the projects I want to pursue, and while I've found a lot of the information I've been looking for, much of it has been difficult to discover and a good deal of it is technical in nature. I want to both use and share what I've found to lower the barriers to entry for others hoping to take the same steps.

I'm the sort of fellow who's never been satisfied by sitting still. For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by how things are made, how they function, and how to make them better. This led to an interest in archaeology and architecture, accompanied with a myriad of other fields.

Now that I'm an adult, this interest has taken a form beyond idle contemplation. It seems to me (as it has always seemed) that there is an inherently happier, more efficient and healthier way of living than the working life that many pursue. A career never interested me very strongly, since I've always been drawn by a number of varying interests and always assumed that the point of working a job you disliked was to be able to retire and enjoy yourself. With this in mind, I decided that my primary goal was to retire, and I'd figure out what I wanted to do after that.

I'm now in my early 30's, and finally putting the finishing touches on my retirement. I have a large plot of land in the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado, and I've been working on an off-grid house. In the end, the house and property will be completely self-sufficient, with no outside power or water, a greenhouse and a workshop.

I've done this all with very limited resources, limited by nearly any standard. Technically, my income puts me well below the poverty line, but I'm fairly judicious in how I spend my money, and have never been particularly hard up. I bought my land without any great financial strain, and my monthly payments (in the $250 range) are easily manageable in nearly any circumstance. I designed and built my basic house frame with both beauty and expense in mind, and in building it entirely by myself, I spent ~ $3500 building it so far, using all new materials (I'd love to have used salvaged materials, but I simply didn't have the time to spend on the initial structure).

Even the contemplation of true independence and off-grid living can be daunting. Most don't have any idea of where to start their journey or where it will take them. There are specifics available on the web about parts of independent living, but few sites that offer a comprehensive picture of what it requires and what it costs. This is my attempt at changing that at least a bit. My goal is to be able to show ANYONE how to do this if they want to, regardless of income, savings, education, class or beliefs. If I am capable of this, so is anyone, and perhaps this blog will give some the bravery they need to make the leap and pursue their dreams as I am doing.

So please, come read, contribute and share in my experiment and my joy.