Changing my, and my Family's Life Forever....

[Wolfwoman]

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Yeah.. but how far are you from a store , etc.?.
Having no electricity or running water is one thing...
Having no place to buy supplies and animal food is another thing....
That would be the big scare for me... no supplies near-by...

Right now we're within driving distance, 30 miles or so, but moving to Chicken there wouldn't be.

What happens in the 'bush' as Alaskans call it, is you get your supplies once or twice a year, you have to know how much you need/want and buy accordingly. You can always have things flown in for emergencies, but that's spendy. In the smaller towns and villages there are small general stores that stock up and get their supplies flown in. In Chicken, there isn't (at least last time I talked to someone there there wasn't), so you really have to plan for supplies. If you know you use 50lbs of feed a month, and that winter is 7 months long, you buy 8-10 bags of feed to be safe.

I could easily live that way, given more of an opportunity, I will.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Yeah.. but how far are you from a store , etc.?.
Having no electricity or running water is one thing...
Having no place to buy supplies and animal food is another thing....
That would be the big scare for me... no supplies near-by...

What country are you thinking about?

We have a mom and pop store across the road. The owners have become our friends and we exchange garden produce with them and join them for meals. The villages are full of such shops. We have a town close by that has two food markets every day, a supermarket, two animal feed store, doctors' surgeries down nearly every street, a vet who calls (around US$2 per visit including medication), hardware stores, opticians and many other shops. About 20 miles away is a big town with shopping malls, restaurants and every type of shop you can imagine.

Believe it or not, we have electricity, a choice of two sources of piped water, telephone lines, mobile 'phones, satellite tv (cable in town), bottled gas, gasoline and diesel.

Here's another feature of life here. When there's a wedding, a son becomes a monk or joins the army, someone dies or a new house is finished, a few hundred people turn out to mark the event. The whole thing might go on for days.

Not everyone lives in caves!

 

[Wolfwoman]

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No, but the OP is talking about Alaska, not Thailand and here in Alaska, there AREN'T all the conveniences of which you speak. The OP is thinking about living remote bush, subsistence - she is talking about living the way people did 200 years ago before there were these type things to make life easy. SUBSISTENCE lifestyle in Alaska isn't easy, but it's well worth it. There won't be a mom and pop store where she wants to go, there probably won't be a neighbor for 20+ miles, there won't be any of which you speak. But, there will be peace.

 

[thaiturkey]

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No, but the OP is talking about Alaska, not Thailand and here in Alaska, there AREN'T all the conveniences of which you speak. The OP is thinking about living remote bush, subsistence - she is talking about living the way people did 200 years ago before there were these type things to make life easy. SUBSISTENCE lifestyle in Alaska isn't easy, but it's well worth it. There won't be a mom and pop store where she wants to go, there probably won't be a neighbor for 20+ miles, there won't be any of which you speak. But, there will be peace.

I know but I suggested Thailand the other day and I'm still plugging it! I don't know Alaska but it seems an awful long way north to me. I wouldn't want to live in a country colder than the one I was brought up in. If the OP is seeking an alternative lifestyle there's a big, big choice to consider. Wasn't Egypt mentioned in one post? Not my cup of tea but I wonder what life would be like there.

 

[Wolfwoman]

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If you've never been here or lived here, you'll never understand

 

[Wolfwoman]

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Yes and that reason is most people CAN'T HACK IT, nothing more. Bush Alaskans are a special breed, like no other.

 

[mordarlar]

We bought 50 acres of raw land in a small town. My advice...have a workable road. It take a LOT of materials to do the things you are planning. Those materials are often difficult to transport using the transportation methods you have described. Our land has recent logging roads but needs work to be able to drive a typical vehicle on. We spent days hauling concrete by hand. We quickly realized that a functional road is priority. This is a bigger job than it seems. We are in the process of buying a travel trailer for temporary housing until we can finish the road and actually have realistic access to our permanent home site.

As for the getting away from it all, there are ways to be close and "far away from it all". This allows for easier access for emergencies, shopping...It'll blow your mind how often one needs to run out for things like screws, nails, tool replacements, rope...and it is incredibly frustrating to put off a project for a week because of unforeseen necessities that can only be purchased.

Aside from these points i say that the changes we have made to our life are worth all the difficulties, adjustments and struggles. It wears on a couple if both parties are not COMPLETELY on board because it takes a lot of commitment. Things ALWAYS take longer than you plan and flexibility is imperative.

Best wishes to your family.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

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Unfortunately very true. A lot of the remote (IE; affordable) land in Alaska is severely lacking A) Land that is high and dry, B) Trees of a sufficient size to use for building or C) Clean year-round water supply.

If those things are all in place, they are typically fly-in or boat-in only.

But then again, maybe you have some land resources I haven't found yet!

If you really want to do this, I would look for something in a less popular part of that state that is not too far removed from the road system. My aunt and uncle have a place outside of Eagle, AK. They like it there and live similarly to what you describe, raised one boy that way and he's fine as far as I can tell. (A little weird, but who isn't, these days?) They trapped and sold furs, subsistence fishing and hunting, raised a lot of chickens and rabbits, etc, but ultimately had to rely on guide work and the occasional extreme dog sled tour in the winter to survive. You will have to have SOME source of income. Some I know that live off the grid work online. Some had money saved. Some take a couple of months off a year to go into civilization to work.

Also, I would skip horses. Goats are great at surviving on whatever is around, horses not so much. Hay is expensive up here for a reason: because the weather is not friendly to it. I saw a whole cutting get blown away yesterday, and if it's not the wind, it's the rain. A would probably keep large goats like Alpines. Those suckers get BIG and can make fantastic pack animals and are a lot more thrifty than horses. The does are great milkers, too.

I would also throw rabbits into the equation.

They are worth their weight in gold for making and improving poor soil, and can survive (through the summer, at least) on weeds and very little feed. Also extremely efficient meat producers, and very cold hardy.

Just a few things to think about. If you ever want to meet up and talk self-sufficiency, I'm here! The way I look at it is do what you can with what you have, FIRST. There is a lot to know before moving into the bush. Better to conquer the learning curve with a "dry run" while you still have the safety net.

Edited to add that when I say get together to talk self-sufficiency, I say that in more of a brain storming and learning together kind of way. I have never lived in the bush, but also wish to and plan to some day.

 

[HaikuHeritageFarm]

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Yes and that reason is most people CAN'T HACK IT, nothing more. Bush Alaskans are a special breed, like no other.

Ok, WW. Where's the good land with good trees and good water that you can hike in to?! Oh, under $3000 an acre, please! That's what I call affordable!

 

[Wolfwoman]

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Yes and that reason is most people CAN'T HACK IT, nothing more. Bush Alaskans are a special breed, like no other.

Ok, WW. Where's the good land with good trees and good water that you can hike in to?! Oh, under $3000 an acre, please! That's what I call affordable!

It's been awhile since I've looked at land (no time, no money) but when we first thought about it, this site http://www.remoteproperties.com/
had a lot of property from cheap to sky high

Just gotta look... hard!