Where could I live away from society?

Posted by Overall_Musician_364@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 47 comments

In a few years (maybe 6), I envision myself living in a wooden cabin in the forest, far from society. My plan is to have a garden, raise animals, and focus on different hobbies. I’m a software engineer, so I could work on many projects, like automating the garden or managing the laying hens.

I’m also considering doing a vocational training course in machining, as those skills would be useful for working with wood, carpentry, building mechanisms, or doing welding. That’s my ideal life. Right now, my priority is to save enough as an emergency fund and then live that way. At first, I’d work remotely, and after a few years, I’d leave that job.

I want to have financial security because I might want to return to society for some time. I’ve thought about a few places for this lifestyle, like Poland or Alaska, with Poland being the one that fits me best.

Do you know of any places where this way of life would be possible? Any suggestions or input are welcome.

[-]

yearsofpractice@reddit

Firstly, unless you’re Polish or American, both countries would take a very dim view of you just turning up then disappearing into their countryside. I know we migrating Brits prefer to view ourselves as “Expats” rather than “Immigrants”… but foreigner-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods type situation would probably be giving “Unabomber” rather than “Ray Mears”.

To be slightly more constructive - if you’re serious about this, I suggest doing “Off Grid Lite” to understand the challenges and see if it really is for you. I mean something like the following:

Save a years salary to ensure security
Take the necessary courses in field craft etc you’ll need
Negotiate a 6 month sabbatical from your current role
Find somewhere really remote to live in the UK - I’m sure there’ll be somewhere available that needs a caretaker
Live the life and see if it suits you

[-]

originaldonkmeister@reddit

sigh the old expat Vs immigrant chestnut... Every sodding time. These are two different things. Both involve moving from Country A to Country B, but that is where the similarity ends. Plenty of expats in the UK also. They (or rather their employer) pays for their healthcare, they cannot claim or even get access to pensions, benefits, housing, they can't start bringing random dependents over, and when their contract ends they have to leave. If you want to apply ex-pat rules to immigrants, well... We will have very few (legal) immigrants.

[-]

yearsofpractice@reddit

My lived experience of residency in Spain for over a year, working in Gibraltar during that time and living in a self-styled expat community begs to differ. (PS using “they” and “us” is an older, much more rancid, worry chestnut BTW)

[-]

originaldonkmeister@reddit

Ah, the old "argument from authority" fallacy... Until 2020 Brits in the EU were not expats, they lived and worked as EU citizens.

No idea why you are querying my use of pronouns though.

[-]

yearsofpractice@reddit

I think you’re confusing “argument from authority” ie “the boss says so” with “direct, lived experience from which an informed point of view is formed”

Also, choosing to be suddenly confused around the power of words is telling too.

[-]

originaldonkmeister@reddit

So your entire argument is "expats and immigrants are exactly the same, trust me bro I lived in Spain once upon a time". Got it. 👍 Well I don't know how to respond to such a well-constructed argument 🤣

I am genuinely clueless about why you've raised the use of pronouns in my post - spell it out for those of us struggling to understand your concerns.

[-]

yearsofpractice@reddit

I’ll treat this as a learning opportunity - sadly, I’ve lost you on the first point as it seems you’re looking to “win” rather than debate/learn and have resorted to a straw man (I too was once consumed with the “I’ll show them!” rage - the logical fallacy toolset seemed such a neat method at the time).

Regards the second point “we / their etc” (which, just as an aside, your use of “us” is a sideways “argument from authority”….) - I see your original point. I was trying to validate that everyone had equivalent motivation(?) in my Expats construct… which isn’t actually the case. So fair enough on that one.

Academic_Project654@reddit

Scottish highlands

signol_@reddit

Shetland. Though the weather might make a dissuasive argument.

PoutineRoutine46@reddit

Ah. A log cabin on an island with trees.

Genius.

cougieuk@reddit

Yes there's jobs on islands in Scotland that could be a halfway house to your dream.

Competitive_Art_4480@reddit

If blackwater hasn't already bought the lot there's plenty of remote parts of Ukraine that have land that can be bought for fuck all.

Wait till the war is over, buy some land and earn a bit of cash doing building and infrastructure work.

PowerApp101@reddit

An anti-social software engineer? Who'd have thought. There's a bus in Alaska that's been available for a few years.

Responsible_Voice526@reddit

They removed it a while back actually, good reference though

I think you need an allotment.

taulish_paul@reddit

Good way to test and train for a significant part of your plan. There's a lot to learn.

Indeed. And he'd need a huge plot for year round food. And not sure how many wooden cabins have so much land plus connected to the grid for IT work and welding kit?

PikeyDCS@reddit

The further you move away from where people live the more inhospitable it gets, simple economics. The world isn't empty in remote places anymore so you need exclusive, which is expensive. Provide a budget, a timescale and search for land.

Kapika96@reddit

If you're a software engineer I assume you plan on working remotely? In that case look into visa options. I believe a bunch of countries offer a ″digital nomad″ type of visa, those countries would be your best bet.

If you don't plan on working anymore, your options ard basically stay in the UK, or have enough money that you can ″buy″ a visa to live elsewhere.

The_Salty_Red_Head@reddit

There is a guy that's done it here. He's on tiktok and makes content about what it took to do it and the realities of living 'off-grid'. It's not an easy life, no matter where you pick.

dontsteponthecrack@reddit

A guyi know did this in Sussex

pipe-to-pipebushman@reddit

You can buy very cheap housing in rural Sweden and Finland.

My family own a summer cottage in the woods and small private island in the nearby lake. Great for getting away from it all.

TheGodisNotWilling@reddit

Link to similar private islands? Sounds interesting. If you know the agent they bought through, would be great. Thanks!

https://www.etuovi.com/kohde/584363?haku=M2165261524

Here's a small island with a cottage on for 25,000€

Previous_Process4836@reddit

Look up crofting… an old boss moved to the Hebrides to do just that

Vectis01983@reddit

Yes, well, haven't we all thought this at some stage of our lives?

It's a fantasy, a daydream.

How are you going to get electricity, just as a for instance, to power your welder that you apparently want to use? What exactly are you going to be welding, and where's all the metal coming from?

How are you going to get running water? What are you intending to do with your body waste and general waste? You can't just dump it in a hole in the ground or have your body waste going into a river.

Where's your fuel going to come from? You can't simply chop down any tree you want, and how would you do it, with an axe presumably as you'd have no petrol for a chain saw?

Where's your food coming from? Oh, some hens. Right. Whose going to clear the land, that you've presumably bought, and cultivate it? And, what with, an ox?

As I've said, we all have these thoughts at some stage but most of us keep them inside our heads and don't go public with them. And, there's a reason for that if you just think about it.

So, as others have said, try it out first. Go camping in the middle of winter some place cold and see how you get on. Oh, and take a mobile phone with you, which you wouldn't have in the scenario you've explained, for when there's an emergency and you need rescuing.

Equivalent_Ask_1416@reddit

It's admirable that you have an ambition to live like a human being and not a social media drone like most of us here in the UK.

asttocatbunny@reddit

Can i suggest you go camping in the northumbrian forest area - kildar forest - for a try out before you do anything permenant? Btw theres an observatory that way that may interest you.

HenshinDictionary@reddit

Poland or Alaska

I feel obliged to point out that the Polish and American governments might object to this, unless you're an EU or American citizen.

KeyLog256@reddit

You could move to Poland quite easily if you meet the requirements. Always been that way (well, since the Cold War ended). I have a friend who did just that very recently and like OP, is a software guy.

Even getting a Green Card in the US isn't that hard.

Exciting_Fix9444@reddit

It’s not that hard to get a Green Card? Is my American citizenship really that worthless for visa marriage exchange?

I thought if you were offered a US job you could get one quite easily, and OP sounds like he has that potential.

I'm not having a go - I've been through the Spouse Visa thing here in the UK myself.

bars_and_plates@reddit

The difficulty is in finding an American job that is doable whilst living in a cabin. If you can long game it and work for 5-10 years in a city, sure.

MeanCustardCreme@reddit

I don't know why you feel obliged though.

Aggressive-Bad-440@reddit

Oh this is everyone's dream, you just want the world to provide you with WiFi and water and food and electricity and not have to work for it, right?

NettIeship@reddit

Have you watched Ben Fogle's Lives in the Wild? Lots of people on here have done this talking about how they did it etc.

EconomyCaptain4378@reddit

I'd start with a weeks camping, in the middle of winter, somewhere miles from anybody.

You'll be more than happy to return to civilization after that, with things like tap water, central heating, flushing toilets, a phone signal, gig internet speeds, pubs, shops & people.

ARealTim@reddit

Okay, you've got the makings of a plan here...

I live in Greece and there is no shortage of land and properties in rural areas. I'm sure it is similar in other areas of southern Europe. If you are going to work remotely you need electricity and internet. You also need a water supply and some way of heating where you live. For me mains electricity would be a minimum but you could get by with solar (in some areas) and a generator. For internet Starlink is a realistic option in many areas.

As a Brit you would not be able to live and work in the EU without a visa. Some southern European countries offer a 'digital nomad' visa which would allow you to work remotely.

If you plan to stop working after a period then you would need to think about the basis on which you would remain in your chosen country. The rules vary from country to country and can change.

If you establish your lifestyle and stop working then you may be able to live 'under the radar' for quite a long time but there would come a point when you needed to engage with the state where you are living - medical services for example. Also if you returned to the UK for any reason you may not then be able to get back to where you were living if you had been flagged as having previously overstayed.

IpromithiusI@reddit

Isn't Alaska littered with the bodies of yuppies with no idea what living off grid actually means?

INEKROMANTIKI@reddit

It's just like glamping, but in a cabin, right? N you've got to travel 3-4 miles to get a Starbucks

Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit

I wouldn't want to go somewhere where the language barrier is huge. I've lived in Poland and it is not at all an easy language to learn. You also need good Internet service for your means. Have you thought about a particularly wild part of Scotland? Maybe an island?

GreedyRip4945@reddit

Iceland

Vireosolitarius@reddit

You are thinking about this wrong.

Where do you have or do you have a reasonable chance of obtaining a right to live?

It doesn’t matter how badly you want to live in the middle of nowhere if nowhere won’t give you a visa …