Intro: I’m 73 years old, pragmatic, conservative on most issues, Purple Heart Vietnam veteran, and a prepper for ten years. That’s me.
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After retiring from flying a news helicopter eight years ago, I decided to move to a rural, more prepper-friendly area and subsequently bought an off-grid log home in a very remote area. There is no mail or package delivery, trash pickup, or even cell service up here. Two sides of my property adjoin National Forest. You do get beaucoup more property for your money when you move out of the big city.
I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for adventure. Despite my age, I’m not fixing to die anytime soon and still embrace challenges and learning.
I’d never lived in a similar environment before. It was a little scary. I thought I would find the lifestyle satisfying but recognized that things are not always as they seem. Sometimes, you think 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 motivation to make the move was that I figured the lifestyle would force me to be more physically active. And it’s done that in spades. Manual labor. Lots of manual labor. I do enjoy working outdoors and on the endless projects: fire preps, improvements, maintenance. Doing road maintenance – not so much. There’s four miles of rough dirt road between me and the county road. Sometimes that road needs plowing in the winter.
It’s not all puppies and unicorns. I’ve been snowed in, had my road blocked by mudslides, downed trees, and snow, had the main highway blocked by flooding, and I evacuated due to a threatening fire. Fire season is a stressful time and one can always do more fire preps. Fire insurance is very expensive. Oh yes, and there’s ticks, along with other critters that would like to eat me. Then there’s maintaining a log structure. I redo the exterior every four years or so and that’s four to five weeks of full-time working alone; a lot of it on top of a ladder or a lift. Well, that’s not entirely true. The wasps keep me company.
My income is moderate but I have zero debt so it all works. My singular monthly bill is for phone and internet service and that’s how I intend to keep it. Any ongoing monthly charge is anathema to me.
There are so many skills I’ve learned since moving here and so many more that I want to acquire. You can’t know too much. One needs to be pretty dang self-reliant when living in a remote area, particularly alone. Now I can operate a chainsaw, bake bread, plow the road, and have acquired a number of construction and repair skills. YouTube videos and SurvivalBlog have been a big help. I’ve earned my amateur radio and EMT licenses. I was on the area volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance driver. Through those, I met a number of people and learned a great deal.
I’ve become a great fan of diesel fuel. My truck, house heater, generator, and backhoe all run on it. Diesel lasts longer than gasoline and is less volatile. I get red-dyed diesel delivered so there’s no need to pay road taxes on it. Solar panels and a backup generator provide electricity and operate my well pump.
I live alone and people ask me if I get lonely. There are so many situations and projects that torque my brain and challenge me physically that I really don’t have much time to be lonely. Sometimes I lie awake in the middle of the night thinking, “How in the world am I going to do that?” Then I might turn on the light and jot down some notes about possibilities. Somehow, it always gets done.
People may assume that I’m a hermit or misanthrope. Nope. I’m actually quite sociable. I built an “old western” saloon that seems to have become the de facto neighborhood meeting place for the limited population of hardy souls that live on this mountain. The squirrels certainly like it. And I have parties at least a couple of times a year. Distant friends often come to visit, as well as the locals. I’ve never had so many overnight house guests before. My sweetie and I see each other at least once a month. I go there/she comes here. We’ve been making it work for eight years.
When you live in the boonies, your neighbors become really important. We depend on each other. There is a closeness and sense of teamwork that one doesn’t often experience in the city. Most of my projects have been accomplished “With a little help from my friends.” The majority of my neighbors are liberal and we sometimes have robust discussions about politics. Sometimes it gets loud. Typically, I’m outnumbered. I don’t think I ever change their minds and they certainly don’t change mine. But it‘s good to try and understand the other’s point of view. Fortunately, we always part as friends. Maybe the whole country could learn something from that.
There are times when it would be really useful to have someone else around such as when I’m using the chainsaw or going up tall ladders. Worst case, I’ll “flight follow” via phone with my girlfriend or one of my neighbors. “You should hear back from me by…” My house is multi-story and I consider every trip down the stairs to be a life and death proposition. If I fell and broke my hip, I could scream all day and no one would hear me. It’s part of the risk I take living where I do. I recognize that I can minimize the danger but can’t eliminate it. This relates to the rest of the story…
Eight months ago, after 72 years of eating basically the same diet with plenty of meat, fish, and dairy (and, of course, pizza), I decided to change my ways.
I didn’t have a weight problem. My doctor hadn’t suggested a diet change. I did it for my own health and longevity reasons. What piqued my interest? While visiting my girlfriend in the big city, her neighbor happened to stop by. I was amazed. Over the years that I had known her she had been overweight and now looked great. I had to ask what she had changed. That’s when I learned of the benefits of a plant-based diet and began to read about it.
Wow. The benefits were compelling and I decided to give it a go. One week after starting the diet, I had lost 8 pounds and my BP dropped 10 points. My energy increased. I have a water tank for the house. To check the water level, I need to climb part way up a mountainside. Before this diet, I would need to take a short rest break halfway up. Not anymore. My doctor told me that I could stop taking my BP medication. So now I take no meds at all – a very good status for a prepper, and everyone. Every med, even aspirin, has unintended side effects.
In a perfect world, I wouldn’t consume any processed food, oils, meat, fish, poultry, dairy, or alcohol. Well, I’m not perfect. I do cheat a bit. I’ll use a bit of olive oil to cook with and I do like to have my afternoon beer. But I have done well enough to realize major health benefits. Old dogs can learn new tricks.
When you’re not eating meat and dairy, you don’t need as much refrigeration. I drink almond milk which has a long shelf life if unopened – no refrigeration required. I do use non-dairy cheese, butter, sour cream, etc. and they’re not bad at all. And you save a bunch of money because animal products are expensive and becoming more so rapidly. Although, in a survival situation, you can bet that I’m going to eat whatever is available. Like I said, I’m pragmatic.
Yes, I’ll admit it. Your food can seem a bit bland without all the other “stuff.” I’ve learned more about spices and vegan alternatives and now I’m liking my food better. My girlfriend and I started a garden inside a greenhouse I built. Really fresh organic vegetables are the best!
I’ve read quite a bit about whole food plant-based diets and have learned that so many American causes of death are largely avoidable or can be reduced in severity; cancer (I had prostate cancer when I was 54), Alzheimer’s (which my mother died from), coronary artery disease, diabetes, heart attack (which my dad died from), strokes, kidney disease, liver disease, and the list goes on and on. And we can’t forget the American obesity epidemic which contributes to most of the foregoing.
What amazes me is that no doctor had ever told me about the major benefits of a plant-based diet. I had considered vegans to be some sort of weird hippies.
Consider that hospitals and doctors make lots of money by doing tests and procedures. The more tests and procedures; the more chronic the disease; the more money they make. Consider big pharma. You get a chronic disease and have to take their meds for the rest of your life? Ka-ching!
I believe that money is the main driver behind the American diet; not nutrition and health concerns. Why are most food ads pushing junk food and processed food? Because there isn’t nearly as much money in pushing vegetables as there is in meat, dairy, and processed foods. Big ag has a powerful lobby. Why do you think the USDA food pyramid lists animal products? Curious about that? Watch the documentary What the Health on Netflix.
Most people think that they need to get protein from animal products. But where do most animals get it? From plants, of course. So, when you eat meat, you’re getting second-hand already processed plants. It would be a lot cheaper and more effective to go directly to the source of that protein. See the documentary The 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 midst of a severe multi-year drought. It takes approximately 1,800 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef. Hmmm. A lot of alfalfa is grown in my area. It’s a very thirsty crop. What’s it primarily used for? Animal feed. Think about how much water would be saved if we ate fewer animal products and about the major health benefits we’d likely realize in the process.
Will this diet stop me from dying? Of course not. But I’m optimistic that it will enable me to do what I do longer and live a higher quality of life. I wish that I had started it fifty years ago but, better late than never. It’s truly amazing how quickly your body responds 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 should be a slam dunk.
Two excellent books on the subject:
• How Not to Die by Michael Greger, M.D.
• The Engine 2 Seven-day Rescue Diet by Rip Esselstein