Is it possible to live alone out in the wilderness???

I've had this idea for some time now. I'm often thinking of leaving civilization for a while at some point. The only big challenge I forsee is that it could be quite difficult to live out in the wilderness. Like it might be rather uncomfortable. So the alternative I was thinking might just be to start by trying it for the summer months only which would allow me to get a feel for what it's like. I've just grown so tired of modern city living. I just can't stand it anymore.

Essencially cities (even towns for that matter) are essencially nothing more than large open prisons. It's essencially where the free-range prisoners live. Like it dawned on me that a free range hen is in a wide enough space it thinks it's free. A city and it's people are no different at all. The people living there don't really know they're trapped, nor do they know that they're being used, ie: to rob them of energy, in this case money. It's just such a sick and sadistic way of life once you see it for what it really is.

But again my only road block I forsee is that life in the wild could be a big challenge. Like what if a bear comes and eats you. People think it's rare, but it could happen. I've done a lot of overnight camping in the wild and I ran into some awfully large bears. They could kill you so easy if they found you. So my solution to that was either build a treefort or else dig a bunker as my shelter.

I'd still want to live close enough to a small town, at least at first, so that I could make runs into town for supplies and to socialize a bit. But as far as living, well totally off grid and out in the wild. I think that's a good compremize. I think living fully off grid would be extremely difficult. Like where would you get food? Like that's maybe the next phase of things down the road.

But anyway what do you think of this idea?? Any advice???

Food,water,shelter, vehicle access are probably the main things to start out planning so where you want to live and can you buy some land so you can get started? other things to consider local taxes?, fires, floods, 20ft deep snow storms etc

Will you have enough cash to be able to head into town to buy a few beers?

Even cavemen lived in tribes.
Isolation is not freedom.

I too have toyed with this idea, but slightly differently in that could it be possible to self sustain a small community, almost like The Shire. You could look into Permaculture and growing your own food for your climate. Keep bees. Container housing perhaps. Ground water, stream water, rainwater collectors will be required. Solar, wind and hydro power for your power sources. Don't know how to solve the bear problem or where the poo goes - converted into manure perhaps. Septic tanks? $800k for 200 acres. Get 20 people to chip in and they can come and go as they please. Just don't devolve into a kool-aid commune. Where could one get land cheaper than that?

a reply to: lavatrance

The wild can have a kind of romantic lure to it but like you allude to is something to go at with eyes wide open .My suggestion to you to try out would be to get a good Kayak and camping supplies and do some water routes .You should be able to find fish and other foods to to keep you alive .Usually there are springs that run into the streams so having water is important . A good book on wild editable plants would be a good companion . Depending on where you choose ,the bear issue will vary .The east has black bears and if the hear ,smell or see you then you probably wont see them .The Mom with cubs is what you really need to take care not to infringe on . Its not a eat you thing but a beat the crap out of you .

Travelling water ways will or should give you miles of wilderness while still finding small towns on the banks ...I will suggest New Brunswick Canada as there is still lots woods and streams that lead to the sea. It sounds like a good adventure and you may get through it with a different outlook on the world . Being alone in a crowd is something some have come to experience and accept ....best of luck ....peace

a reply to: lavatrance


The bottom line in leaving all forms of civilization is...
...What Is Your Point?


...Some sort of ultimate freedom in eating worms and berries? How do you benefit and grow as an individual if nothing from humanity impinges upon your life but your own personal needs? And those needs, out alone in the wilderness, will be so constant and over-powering that few philosophical thoughts will have time to appear, be pondered, let alone acted upon.

a reply to: lavatrance

Yes and no.
Even this guy could not escape loneliness.

South american hermit.

Since 1965, Faustino Barrientos has lived alone on the shores the lake, in a house built from the remains of a shipwrecked fishing vessel. He's a pastoralist, living mostly off the land and his livestock, with few modern amenities. His nearest neighbors are in Villa O'Higgins, a small community of several hundred people, 25 miles away, accessible only by a two-day horseback ride through rugged mountain animal paths. Every few years, Faustino makes this ride to sell his cattle in town.

Personally, I would go the route of a cheap, rebuildable, live-aboard, seaworthy sailboat, then pimp it out for self sustainability.

You could have fresh water, solar and wind power. Food everywhere, traveling around the world, but focusing on areas with the best weather. Such as, the Bahamas and BVIs

Seeking out new life, and new civilization, etc, etc...

You are completely mobile, for the most part, in a shelter already, with drinking and bathroom facilities.

I love camping and hiking, but by day 2 I'm usually over it and ready for a hot shower and bed.

To live fully off the grid? Yeah If your anti social/tough it can be done..But it's the boredom that will get to you.Especially if you're fond of the internet,tv,etc..

Find clear high ground with easy access to water and good views, dig a large 8 foot diameter circular hole 3 feet deep (high ground above the water table), line it with stones in a dry stone wall, each foot using the stone's and into the ground place a 12 foot flexible birch or similar tree as a post, weave the next three feet from the ground up like you would a large basket with flexible branches then after finishing this cut the uspstancing birch half way from the outside so that they can be bent over and secured at the atpex forming a circular hut, use more weaving to roof it then turf it over leaving a 2 to 3 foot diamter hole at the centre, make a small cuppola over it or weave it over but with more space between the branches and leave it unturfed, build your hearth right in the centre, use the fire to smoke meat and fish as well as warm the hut and cook with, the smoke will help to keep pests out as well, if you cut the wood of the posts at an angle upward you can leave enough to make a slight overhang as well and leave a space above the lower wall (Which you can extend the dry stone up outside of as well) to add more ventilation and even allow slivers of light in through.

You will be using the hearth for light and the smoke to keep most vermin away but you shall still need to keep replacing your bedding etc, the average person swallow's four to eight spiders per night even in a modern house in Britain, admittedly they are probably very small spiders etc while in this sort of environment you can expect larger house guests etc, if you want to make your house more wind proof at the expense of less ventilation especially in colder climates daube your wattle wall's with mud or preferrably clay (the viking's and saxon's used pig and even human poo in there daub as it was stickier and lasted longer - ever stood in a pile of cack and notice how hard it is to get off), the spoil from the original excavation can be used to build a low defencive wall with sharp stakes lining it to keep animals out.

Now you have your neolithic/bronze age starter home you also have to remember that it is important you have a varied diet, this is more of an early agricultural type home and you may want to keep your prized pig in there with you to protect it while you fatten it up, other than that you need to have land to plant some vegetable's and to learn to cycle the land leaving one of your three fields fallow each year, fish the river or hunt for meat to supplement your sparse vegetable diet with some protien, you may want to find a source of salt as well or at least start with a sizable stockpile of salt.

Another factor is the way you would like is very much dependant upon where in the world you are such as climate, resources, available food's etc.

Take the Aboriginal people's of Australia, though this life is nearly extinct today some of them still know how to simply walk and eat from the land hunting small game to add protein etc, the bushmen of Africa are another group and then there are the Jungle tribes.

But living on your own add's another set of problem's, Health, Injury, Loneliness with mental problem's.

But anyone can live on there own for a short time, it is the long stretch that is impossible as living alone without human contact means you will live a shorter more brutal life at the mercy of the wilderness and with no one to nurse you through those crippling injury's and bad time's.

I enjoyed the documentary filmed by this guy!

a reply to: superman2012

There are other interesting people that did well in the bush . Farley Mowat being another .. en.wikipedia.org... I think choosing a place that the environment is bearable is one of the biggest decisions .Who wouldn't want to be living on a tropical desert island where black-flies and mosquitoes are no where to be seen .Unlike the north where the flies can be unbearable at times ...

a reply to: lavatrance

Like what if a bear comes and eats you. People think it's rare, but it could happen.

Just last night I watched a movie called backcountry (based loosely on a true account). The bear scene and everything else after scared the crap out of me!
I haven't seen revenant, yet, but if that bear scene is even remotely close........

I think living alone, off the grid, is very possible but, I don't know what sort of human you would wind up being after very very long.
Short spells, like you mentioned in your OP, may be okay and doable.
I would think lots and lots of prep work, studying, practice, and making sure that someone knows where you are even if you don't want to be contacted would be essential.

Just my 2 cents, good luck!

a reply to: superman2012

Excellent documentary by Richard "Dick" Proeneke.

Alone in the Wilderness was amazing and i attempted it in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky.

You're trying to go from one extreme to the other. Now, you live in a city, surrounded by people 24 hours a day. Noise, cars, pollution...to being completely alone, in the middle of nowhere, doing every little thing for yourself. No more turning a tap for water or flushing a toilet with the push of a handle and all the little convenient things we don't think of, that are at our fingertips.
Why not try moving to a small, quiet town? I've lived in small towns all my life. I've been to and lived in [ for a short time ] big cities and I can't stand them. When there's more concrete than grass and trees, I know I'm in the wrong place.

a reply to: DAVID64

I agree.

Small town living (less than 2000 population) is a great compromise between modern day conveniences and the peaceful serenity of being surrounded by nature.

My particular town is located, quite literally, at the end of the road. If you drive 15 minutes north of our town the pavement ends and you hit wild bush country for thousands of miles where the only access is winter ice roads and/or fly-in.

The trick is to be at least 2 hours away from any large metropolitan areas in all directions... this way you don't get any traffic travelling through your town. It becomes it's own little world/haven away from all the chaos and mayhem that high-volume populations bring to the table.

a reply to: lavatrance

Yes, it's possible but not recommended.

If you are in North America you've got hundreds of thousands of square miles of uninhabited wilderness, which does sound appealing - but bears, snakes, and serial killers would put me off.

I've got this pipe dream of buying a crofter's cottage in Scotland, where there are large expanses of virtually uninhabited wilderness...no bears or serial killers, but a few snakes and water rats, loads of ticks, midgies, and mayflies.

Wherever you decide to go, you would need the protection of bricks and mortar.

Essencially cities (even towns for that matter) are essencially nothing more than large open prisons.

With you there, bud.

a reply to: lavatrance

There are a number of things to consider before dropping everything and leaving.

Firstly, Homo sapiens are a social species. Nearly all of us have an urge to be communal and social to some extent. When there are cases that a person is forced to be secluded for a long amount of time from others, a lot of psychological damage can occur.

There are some who can surpass this need, and some simply born without it, but it is usually accompanied by a personality disorder.

Secondly, safety is an obvious concern. My family lives way outside in the country and has a neighbor who lives by himself. For some reason, one year they didn't see him for months on end, despite his vehicle still being there. The man never had family over, and wasn't social with the other ranches near him, nor did he have a phone or any other way of communicating.

It turned out that he had broken his leg accidentally, and his vehicle wasn't functioning. So he patched himself up and waited for the leg to heal all by himself.

The same kind of thing can happen to you. It may not be a broken bone, but you could get sick, you could get an infection, or you could simply get yourself in a situation where you are trapped.

Thirdly, it sounds like you're taking the right measures to prepare yourself for the lifestyle, which is great. Research anything and everything about how to survive with nothing, how to make a long-standing shelter, how to trap, forage, and grow your own food. Learn about the weather patterns and how to predict the weather. Learn how to survive in extreme weather if it comes about. Learn how to navigate. So on and so forth.

I own this incredible book about mountaineering that you should definitely consider purchasing. It is loaded with information from the technical stuff to the primitive stuff (I'll have to link it to you later today, I'm on my phone right now)

Fourthly, know that if you ever decide to come back to society, you will have nothing.

You will have no equity, no money, no societal working skills that you didn't already have before your venture, you will have nothing at all and will have to start from scratch in order to have a place back in society.

Lastly, I think you have the right idea when you suggested to take a few summers to simply go camping. It is a great way to get yourself acclimatized to the situation and what you will need to accomplish. But, don't just do it in summer when everything is easy. Intentionally go out of your way to go out and live with nothing in the harshest conditions.

Start with a tent and gear, then gradually reduce your gear until you are comfortable just going out for a hike with nothing for days or weeks on end.

It is not impossible to achieve, but it demands absolute respect for the dangers you will face, and the experience, luck, and knowledge needed to achieve such a feat.

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: lavatrance


The bottom line in leaving all forms of civilization is...
...What Is Your Point?

Your entire post is an extremely narrow minded, close minded view on anything.

You don't come off as humble and intrigued, and the irony is that you already answered the question in the rest of your post.

Why would someone want to seclude themselves from others?

Many reasons. One very common one is how much judgement is received from people like yourself.

Why would someone want to leave society?

Because not everyone lives a lavish lifestyle that they were born into or could afford. Some people find society materialistic-oriented and others simply do not have a drive to become a massive consumer.

Why would someone want to go out and live on their own in the wilderness?

It's because it's difficult. It can be a test of ones own abilities. It can be a way to escape the plastic on our lives and connect with where our roots came from. It's a challenge. It's exciting. It's adventurous.

Just because you fear all these things and are comfortable living in a society designed to keep people in debt, to work until you die for a small group of people who hold the majority of all the wealth, in a place where inequality is rampant, doesn't mean that others share those same traits, nor should they have to.

You don't like getting muddy? That's fine, you have your individual right to your likes and dislikes. But why put someone else down simply because you don't understand their mentality, even if it clearly effects no one but themselves?

Sometime's they just give up, remember how many US soldiers could not live among people since they suffered from post traumatic stress after the Vietnam war as well as the constant barriage of movies depicting them as murdering civilians, they never had the luxury of being seen as homecoming hero's and this also affected there mental state.

Some of them gave rise to the story's of crazy guy's living out in the wood's as the US for a time turned it's back on the men it has sent into hell after they came back to it's shores.

But even in the rest of the world some of us long for seclusion as well though in the end we all need people no matter how much that me time seem's alluring, no one to laugh with, no one to share our thoughts and concern's, our like's and dislike's, no one to argue with so we end up having to argue with ourselves etc.

There are many hermits even today though, this guy used to be one but then got too old, he had become something of a celebrity though.
www.theguardian.com...

listverse.com...

Religious hermits of course are different in that they have such faith in the spiritual presence of God that they are not alone in there own mind's just away from other people while they meditate on there belief without distraction, I could possibly hack the life of a monk but not a hermit or an oath of silence.
listverse.com...
www.oddee.com...
random-facts.top5.com...