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Comment by UltraSane | Hacker News Reader

What is the appeal of living off-grid?

Sometimes the appeal is not in the "off-grid" itself, but in living in a remote location where having access to the grid is impossible or inconvenient (it does not have to be too remote either to not have easy access to the grid).

This is what I observe as a Realtor and living in a somewhat rural area - there are some people who like the idea of living the self-sufficient lifestyle, there are others who are convinced Armageddon is upon us and they are going to be ready, but mostly its because they found a beautiful location that speaks to their soul and the only way they can make it work is to use off-grid resources.

You don’t have to be around other people, and all the hassles that human society and population density entail.

Some people are really into that. I’m really into same-day Amazon delivery and 30 minute latency on fresh pizza that I didn’t have to cook.

I just wanted to say thank you for the phrase “30 minute latency on fresh pizza”

I’d never considered it latency but you’re right and it’s hilarious.

Taking time to cook elaborate meals is enjoyable if it isn't getting in the way of some other demand on your time. Living off grid you're probably going to have a lot less of those.

Living off grid means off the electrical and water/sewer/gas utility grid.

In almost no case does it mean off the internet now given Starlink; thus I think it’s silly to assume that a) being connected to the internet and b) having to admin all of your own utilities and associated equipment means you’re going to have fewer demands on your time. :D

Separately I love cooking as recreation, but don’t have much recreation time these days given my project-load (most of my projects being a form of recreation notwithstanding).

One of the reasons I am building a (mostly) off-grid place is because I like adminning infrastructure recreationally. I can’t wait to hook up my solar system to Home Assistant and Prometheus/Grafana.

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