That and my wife are strongest deterrents. I do have a Satellite phone for emergencies from either end. 6 people in the world have the number.

I’m ready to leave the city but not society as a whole. I have to many friends to go completely dark.

Not saying you are wrong but that would require more introspection then a i suspect i am capable of.

Im 30 miles to town, three gates off the road. Closest full time neighbor is over a mile. 400 SF home with power.....heater, water heater and indoor terlit. While not 82, I have lived with the outhouse, woodstove, and baths in a #2 washtub. I'll keep the solitude and the amenities and still be away from the silliness of townfolk as Creek described.

I realized many years ago........I wasn't made for town.


And.........enjoy your time with your spouse. Tomorrow will be one year since mine went Heavenward.

Hirogen, some days, I'm with you. Our place isn't completely off grid, but it's a lot closer than where I live currently. If I could talk my wife into it, our house would be up for sale tomorrow.

Condolences. I myself have never lived in town except for 6 years while i did my undergrad and masters (long time ago). Our place now (not the 2 off-grid properties) is on 70 acres about 7 or 8 minutes from town. It is however inside the commuter range of the Greater Toronto Area and over the last 40 or 50 years has changed so much as to be not recognizable. Not the place i grew up in where i knew every farmer and family for 10 miles in any direction and where as a child i would pedal around on my bicycle to fish in their ponds. Now it's mostly former urban citiots who have no concept of rural family values.

Where my 2 off-grid places are though i still know everyone within a 15 mile radius of my place and i don't even live there. My closest neighbor at my lake place is more of a friend and someone i will spend a Friday night with more than anyone around my permanent residence. We help each other out more than anyone does at my year round. Two months ago he knocked on my door in the middle of the night because the mooring line on his boat snapped in a storm - so we went out in the dark, in a storm and recovered his boat. That's the kind of culture i want.

My home town… town is what it was is all grown up. I’d love to live in the sticks but I still need a paycheck and the wife wouldn’t go.