Introduction: I’m 73 years of ages, practical, conservative on many problems, Purple Heart Vietnam veteran, and a prepper for ten years. That’s me.
— After retiring from flying a news helicopter 8 years earlier, I decided to move to a rural, more prepper-friendly location and subsequently bought an off-grid log house in a really remote location. There is no mail or package delivery, trash pickup, and even cell service up here. Two sides of my property join National Forest. You do get beaucoup more home for your money when you move out of the huge city.
I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for adventure. In spite of my age, I’m not repairing to pass away anytime quickly and still embrace obstacles and learning.
I ‘d never lived in a comparable environment before. It was a little scary. I believed I would discover the lifestyle satisfying but recognized that things are not always as they appear. Sometimes, you believe you will like something and then, when faced with the reality of it, maybe you don’t. Here I was, putting all my eggs in one basket. Part of my inspiration to make the relocation was that I figured the way of life would force me to be more physically active. And it’s done that in spades. Manual work. Lots of manual labor. I do delight in working outdoors and on the limitless tasks: fire preps, enhancements, upkeep. Doing roadway upkeep– not a lot. There’s 4 miles of rough dirt roadway between me and the county roadway. In some cases that road requires raking in the winter.
It’s not all puppies and unicorns. I’ve been snowed in, had my roadway obstructed by mudslides, downed trees, and snow, had the main highway blocked by flooding, and I left due to a threatening fire. Fire season is a demanding time and one can constantly do more fire preps. Fire insurance coverage is very pricey. Oh yes, and there’s ticks, together with other critters that would like to consume me. Then there’s preserving a log structure. I renovate the exterior every 4 years or two which’s 4 to five weeks of full-time working alone; a great deal of it on top of a ladder or a lift. Well, that’s not totally true. The wasps keep me company.
My earnings is moderate but I have absolutely no financial obligation so everything works. My singular regular monthly expense is for phone and web service which’s how I mean to keep it. Any ongoing monthly charge is anathema to me.
There are a lot of abilities I have actually discovered considering that moving here and so a lot more that I wish to obtain. You can’t understand too much. One needs to be quite dang self-reliant when living in a remote area, especially alone. Now I can operate a chainsaw, bake bread, plow the road, and have gotten a variety of building and construction and repair work abilities. YouTube videos and SurvivalBlog have actually been a big help. I’ve made my amateur radio and emergency medical technician licenses. I was on the location volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance driver. Through those, I satisfied a number of people and found out a lot.
I’ve become an excellent fan of diesel fuel. My truck, house heating unit, generator, and backhoe all run on it. Diesel lasts longer than gasoline and is less volatile. I get red-dyed diesel provided so there’s no need to pay road taxes on it. Solar panels and a backup generator offer electricity and run my well pump.
I live alone and people ask me if I get lonely. There are so many situations and tasks that torque my brain and challenge me physically that I truly do not have much time to be lonesome. Often I lie awake in the middle of the night believing, “How worldwide am I going to do that?” Then I may turn on the light and write some notes about possibilities. Somehow, it always gets done.
People might assume that I’m a hermit or misanthrope. Nope. I’m actually quite friendly. I developed an “old western” saloon that appears to have actually ended up being the de facto community meeting place for the limited population of durable souls that survive on this mountain. The squirrels definitely like it. And I have parties a minimum of a number of times a year. Far-off buddies often pertain to check out, in addition to the residents. I’ve never had so many over night house guests prior to. My sweetheart and I see each other a minimum of once a month. I go there/she comes here. We have actually been making it work for eight years.
When you reside in the boonies, your neighbors become truly crucial. We depend upon each other. There is a nearness and sense of team effort that one does not typically experience in the city. Most of my tasks have actually been accomplished “With a little help from my friends.” Most of my neighbors are liberal and we sometimes have robust discussions about politics. Often it gets loud. Usually, I’m surpassed. I don’t believe I ever change their minds and they definitely do not change mine. However it’s good to try and understand the other’s viewpoint. Fortunately, we constantly part as pals. Perhaps the whole country could find out something from that.
There are times when it would be actually useful to have somebody else around such as when I’m using the chainsaw or going up tall ladders. Worst case, I’ll “flight follow” through phone with my girlfriend or one of my neighbors. “You should hear back from me by …” My home is multi-story and I think about every journey down the stairs to be a life and death proposal. If I fell and broke my hip, I could yell all the time and nobody would hear me. It’s part of the threat I take living where I do. I recognize that I can reduce the danger however can’t remove it. This connects to the rest of the story …
Eight months ago, after 72 years of eating basically the same diet with a lot of meat, fish, and dairy (and, of course, pizza), I chose to change my ways.
I didn’t have a weight issue. My medical professional hadn’t recommended a diet plan modification. I did it for my own health and longevity factors. What ignited my interest? While visiting my sweetheart in the big city, her neighbor took place to drop in. I was impressed. Over the years that I had actually understood her she had actually been overweight and now looked great. I had to ask what she had actually altered. That’s when I found out of the benefits of a plant-based diet and began to check out it.
Wow. The advantages were compelling and I chose to give it a go. One week after beginning the diet, I had actually lost 8 pounds and my BP dropped 10 points. My energy increased. I have a water tank for the house. To inspect the water level, I require to climb part method up a mountainside. Prior to this diet plan, I would require to take a short rest break midway up. Not any longer. My doctor informed me that I might stop taking my BP medication. So now I take no medications at all– an excellent status for a prepper, and everyone. Every med, even aspirin, has unintended side effects.
In a best world, I wouldn’t take in any processed food, oils, meat, fish, poultry, dairy, or alcohol. Well, I’m not perfect. I do cheat a bit. I’ll utilize a little bit of olive oil to cook with and I simulate to have my afternoon beer. However I have actually done well enough to recognize significant health benefits. Old pet dogs can discover new tricks.
When you’re not consuming meat and dairy, you do not require as much refrigeration. I drink almond milk which has a long shelf life if unopened– no refrigeration required. I do utilize non-dairy cheese, butter, sour cream, etc and they’re not bad at all. And you save a lot of money because animal items are expensive and becoming more so rapidly. Although, in a survival circumstance, you can wager that I’m going to eat whatever is available. Like I stated, I’m pragmatic.
Yes, I’ll admit it. Your food can seem a bit dull without all the other “things.” I’ve found out more about spices and vegan alternatives and now I’m liking my food much better. My girlfriend and I started a garden inside a greenhouse I developed. Really fresh natural vegetables are the best!
I have actually read a fair bit about entire food plant-based diet plans and have found out that so many American causes of death are largely preventable or can be reduced in intensity; cancer (I had prostate cancer when I was 54), Alzheimer’s (which my mother died from), coronary artery disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (which my father died from), strokes, kidney disease, liver illness, and the list goes on and on. And we can’t forget the American weight problems epidemic which adds to the majority of the foregoing.
What astonishes me is that no doctor had ever told me about the major advantages of a plant-based diet. I had actually thought about vegans to be some sort of weird hippies.
Think about that medical facilities and physicians make great deals of money by doing tests and procedures. The more tests and treatments; the more chronic the illness; the more money they make. Think about big pharma. You get a persistent illness and need to take their medications for the rest of your life? Ka-ching!
I think that money is the primary motorist behind the American diet plan; not nutrition and health concerns. Why are most food ads pressing unhealthy food and processed food? Since there isn’t almost as much cash in pressing vegetables as there remains in meat, dairy, and processed foods. Huge ag has an effective lobby. Why do you think the USDA food pyramid lists animal items? Curious about that? Enjoy the documentary What the Health on Netflix.
The majority of people believe that they need to get protein from animal products. But where do most animals get it? From plants, obviously. So, when you consume meat, you’re getting pre-owned currently processed plants. It would be a lot more affordable and more effective to go straight to the source of that protein. See the documentary The Video game Changers on YouTube or Netflix if you think you have to eat meat to be strong.
Consider water. In the west where I live, we are in the middle of an extreme multi-year drought. It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef. Hmmm. A great deal of alfalfa is grown in my area. It’s an extremely thirsty crop. What’s it mainly utilized for? Animal feed. Think about just how much water would be saved if we consumed fewer animal items and about the major health benefits we ‘d likely realize in the process.Will this diet
stop me from dying? Naturally not. However I’m optimistic that it will enable me to do what I do longer and live a greater quality of life. I wish that I had started it fifty years ago however, better late than never. It’s really fantastic how quickly your body reacts when you stop putting toxins into it.
In my view, if you’re a prepper and/or have a body you care about, a plant-based diet ought to be a slam dunk.
Two outstanding books on the subject:
– How Not to Die by Michael Greger, M.D.
– The Engine 2 Seven-day Rescue Diet Plan by Rip Esselstein