After a few years of full-time travel, we decided to plant some roots in northern New Mexico.
We had hiked across the country – north, south, east and west – and had fallen deeply in love with the high desert tucked away in the Rocky Mountains.
During our travels we had been living in a van full of solar panels, and we wanted to find a home that would help us continue our self-sufficient lifestyle.
We found a beautiful, off-grid, straw bale house tucked away on 40 acres with its own solar panels, well and septic tank. It felt like we hit the jackpot… but there were a few inconveniences we weren’t prepared for.
Surrendering to the vagaries of the weather had far-reaching consequences
When it snowed heavily, our solar panels completely blocked. Jayme Serbell
When my husband, John, and I invited our families to stay at our off-grid home for the holidays, we envisioned cozy dinners around our wood stove, our house full and warm.
Unfortunately there was a malfunction. We recently moved solar panels from a stand next to the house on our roof. This gave us better coverage, but we didn’t expect how heavy this setup would be in the winter when the snow completely covered our panels.
Blocked solar panels meant no power, which meant the water pump in our well stopped working. No working water pump meant no running toilets.
Before we even knew we had a problem, two family members had already used both bathrooms.
John’s father and I shoveled snow from our yard into buckets, while my sister stirred the soupy ice until it melted into a stew of dirty water and twigs. John then took the melted slush and poured it into both toilets until they could flush.
We wanted our city visitors to experience the adventures of off-grid livingbut this was a twist, even for us.
Taking out the trash was a huge pain
Waste and recycling are common obstacles when you live somewhere off the beaten path. Believe it or not, garbage trucks don’t always travel on long, rural dirt roads.
So, what should you do? Easy: we had to collect all our trash and then drive about an hour each way to the dump.
We kept plastic bins away from the house, where we separated recyclables and waste. We had to make sure the garbage lids were completely closed – otherwise we would wake up to the local critters having their version of a frat party among our trees.
On the plus side, jumping through all these hoops to get rid of our own waste has made us acutely aware of how much we were consuming, moving us away from disposable items and toward less wasteful habits.
We’ve had to deal with a lot of unexpected critters
One time we were walking around our property, near a second building that we used as a workshop. Our dogs were running loose through the trees when our pit mix started acting bizarrely.
I stepped near the workshop when I saw a hole underneath and a huge head hovering below me, glaring at me. It was a badger.
I had never seen one before, but I knew they hated dogs. We had to get our puppies out of there quickly.
Later that evening, a local game warden gave us the ins and outs of getting rid of unwanted guests. Human urine and mothballs successfully helped deter them.
That said, being off-grid made our lives easier at times
We didn’t have to worry about major power outages. Jayme Serbell
Despite all the inconveniences, living off-grid occasionally brought unexpected benefits.
One day we walked into our small town store and found it as if everyone in town was hanging out there. Our town only consisted of a post office, a volunteer fire department, and “the general store,” so we knew something was up when we noticed the crowd.
It turned out there was one huge power outage. We had no idea. At home everything ran exactly as it normally did.
Sure, living off-grid meant we had to transport our own rubbish, chase away badgers and occasionally melt snow to flush the toilet – but every now and then the rest of our world would lose power, without us even noticing.
