Only a certain kind of someone can move completely off-grid and set up a 128 square-foot house in the middle of the Texas desert. John Wells is one of those types. For a while he lived on 35 acres in upstate New York, where property taxes rang in at $1,000 per month; combined with a mortgage and other bills that totaled close to $4500 per month, his life became more stressful than he cared for and he knew it was time for a change. That’s when he decided to move to Southwest Texas where he purchased a bit of land for cheap and consolidated his monthly expenses down to just $200.
He writes regular updates on his blog, 365 days a year, and details all sorts of aspects of his life, from the terrifying storms that tear through the land, to the ebola virus, and setting up resources to live a sustainable life. Despite the first impression you might get from reading some of his blog posts, he’s adamant that he’s not a prepper, and didn’t move to escape from the government. Instead he credits his motivation to reading a series of letters his great grandmother wrote. She left Baltimore to move to the Ohio frontier in search of a new freedom, one that she could design on her own terms. If anything the motivation was spurred by a desire to embrace individualism and self-reliance.
I encourage you to check out his blog, The Field Lab, to learn more about his fascinating journey.