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Stepping Off of the Grid?

Posted by Cliff on from the going-nowhere-fast-and-loving-it dept.

torpor asks: "Has anyone on Slashdot ever stepped off of the grid? I don't just mean long yuppy vacations to pacified islands, but seriously gone from 'tech-dedicated' to 'doing my own thing in the middle of nowhere for a while'. It's that time of year again. I've killed my TV, and I'm finding myself looking for adventure and mayhem in distant quarters. Have any of you ever done this, and returned with interesting stories to tell?"

3 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify... by Iced+Cubicle · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've been doing this for years... I work as a software engineer during the week, but weekends and vacations are all about backpacking and climbing. I've done one 22 day through hike in the CA Sierras, all without technology. In a year or so I'm going to quit my job and backpack the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. After that it will be some new adventure. Obviously not for everyone (especially the hardcore /. crowd) but being in the outdoors without all the things we've come to rely on so heavily brings a certain clarity and purpose to my life that I just dont find while pounding out code.

    --
    I don't know how to live, but I've got a lot of toys.
    1. Re:Simplify, Simplify, Simplify... by nytes · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I've done one 22 day through hike in the CA Sierras, all without technology.
      I'll bet you did it without electronics, but not without technology. You probably used a qualofill (sp?) sleeping bag and a ripstop nylon backpack on an aluminum pack frame and some freeze-dried food.

      Make the same trip with a couple of wool blankets, a sack full of dried corn and forage for food on the trail (not that the USFS would appreciate that last part). That would be leaving technology behind.

      [Disclaimer: you've still done more than I've got guts to try.]
      --
      -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  2. Re:Stepping off the grid by Alan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe someone found the bodies^w skeletons in his closet? :)

    Sounds like fun, but for a lot of geeks, maybe not practical. IE: to live and survive you need to make money somehow, and most of us (/. readership) work in computers, so you'd probably end up back in a job working with computers to make a "new" living. That kinda kills the "step off the grid" thing.

    Of course, if the grandparent emptied their bank account to get $$ to live without working, then yea, go for it. Just make sure you have a job or skill you can come back to (assuming you want to come back).

    Not hugely practical after you hit a certain age though, I doubt my wife and cats would appreciate me just disappearing one day :)