{"id":113417,"date":"2022-10-19T10:12:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T15:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=113417"},"modified":"2026-09-12T20:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T01:31:28","slug":"how-to-live-off-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/homeownership\/how-to-live-off-grid\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #622: A Guide to Getting Off the Grid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Note: For fall break, the McKays are attempting their first familial backpacking trip. Kate and I have been before, but we&#8217;ve never brought the kids, so this will be fun. While we&#8217;re out of touch, please enjoy this rebroadcast with Gary Collins about going off the <span class=\"il\">grid<\/span> for a much longer period of time. Gary unfortunately passed away this fall, but he left a lot of great tips on simplifying your life in this episode.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Many dream of leaving the city and all its tethers and obligations and creating a simpler, more independent life farther from the mainstream population and entirely off the grid. But how do you go from that daydream to making such a move a reality?<\/p>\n<p>My guest walks us through the process today. His name is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesimplelifenow.com\/\">Gary Collins<\/a>, he made the leap himself and now lives off the grid in Northeast Washington, and he&#8217;s the author of several books on off-grid living as well as simplifying your life. We begin our conversation today with why Gary decided to leave his conventional, urban, 9-5 existence to find a freer lifestyle, and how he defines being off the grid. We then get into why Gary thinks you should make the move to living off the grid in a series of steps, the first of which is to simplify your existing life in three main ways. Gary then makes the case for why living in a RV should be the next step in your journey, before discussing the process of finding land for your off-grid home, and the factors to consider in picking a locale. From there we get into how those who live off the grid take care of water, sewage, power, and internet, how they construct the house itself, and what to know about the start-up costs involved. We end our conversation with a discussion of getting off the grid in a more metaphorical way by quitting social media, and why Gary thinks you should pull the plug on those platforms, even if you&#8217;re an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note: For fall break, the McKays are attempting their first familial backpacking trip. Kate and I have been before, but we&#8217;ve never brought the kids, so this will be fun. While we&#8217;re out of touch, please enjoy this rebroadcast with Gary Collins about going off the grid for a much longer period of time. Gary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42277,156,42259],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeownership","category-podcast","category-skills"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Go Off-Grid and Simplify Your Life | Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many people dream of leaving the city and creating a simpler, more independent life farther from the mainstream population and entirely off the grid.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/homeownership\/how-to-live-off-grid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #622: A Guide to Getting Off the Grid | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many people dream of leaving the city and creating a simpler, more independent life farther from the mainstream population and entirely off the grid.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/homeownership\/how-to-live-off-grid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-19T15:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-13T01:31:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/622.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett &amp; Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #622: A Guide to Getting Off the Grid\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-19T15:12:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-13T01:31:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":352,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/622.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Homeownership\",\"Podcast\",\"Skills\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Go Off-Grid and Simplify Your Life | Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/622.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-19T15:12:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-13T01:31:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"description\":\"Many people dream of leaving the city and creating a simpler, more independent life farther from the mainstream population and entirely off the grid.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/622.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/622.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/skills\\\/homeownership\\\/how-to-live-off-grid\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #622: A Guide to Getting Off the Grid\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\",\"name\":\"Brett &amp; 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