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Reduce waste. Attend workshops. Read about topics that could help you live off the grid. Book a stay at a rural cabin. Decide how far away you want to be. Choose your level of communication.
When living off the grid, all you energy, food, and water use should be carefully monitored and maintained. The more of these precious resources you use, the more reliance you will have on others. Easy ways to reduce waste include: Keeping your showers short and not watering your lawn. Unplugging appliances when they're not in use. Turning off the lights when exiting a room. Learning to love leftovers. Start a compost pile so you can get some use out of unused food. Workshops on topics like growing your own garden, starting a compost pile, and repairing your home might be useful when you move off-grid. Check the community events calendar of your local newspaper or library for a list of such workshops. If you plan on growing a garden, for instance, run a search for how to do so using your search engine of choice. There are countless videos and articles online about how to live off the grid. Alternately, visit your local library and check out some books on how to live off the grid, grow fruits and vegetables, and manage your solar array. Renting a cabin in a rural, isolated place might provide you with a taste of what you can expect when living off the grid. Call several cabin rental agencies in a location near the area you intend to live off the grid. Spend a week or so in one that most closely approximates the sort of home you plan on living in. While the amenities and features of a particular cabin might not be exactly the same as those that you'll include when moving off the grid, spending time in such a cabin could help you better determine what you're looking for. Use the experience to decide the location, size, and amenities of your off-grid homestead. Living off the grid doesn't mean you need to be hundreds of miles from civilization. You could choose to move to a plot of land that is isolated and rural but still within easy reach of stores, hospitals, and family. On the other hand, you could live in a totally self-sufficient home or trailer far from anyone else. The distance you choose to remove yourself to depends only on your preferences and personality. Travel to a number of different locations before selecting the site of your off-the-grid homestead. Living off the grid typically means dramatically reducing your level of interaction and communication with the outside world. However, the degree to which you choose to do this varies depending on your own personality and desires. For example, you could choose to get rid of your phone, computer, and radio altogether. Alternately, you might keep your radio, but ditch your phone and computer. There is no right or wrong way to decide how to limit your level of communication.