Category: Retreat Locales

The Expat Option, by Sandy X.

I am a 65-year old male expatriate (“expat”) from the US. I have lived in Costa Rica, Singapore and now Panama. I am thinking of moving to Chile, but I would go anyplace for the right opportunity. I have traveled extensively and love the expat lifestyle. It is definitely not for everyone, but if you are considering it, here are some things you should know. What Is Expatriation? The word just means the act of leave your native land. (Unless otherwise noted, I will be limiting my comments to Americans.) It is important to note that expatriation does not require …


Letter Re: Solar Panel Restrictions are Another Reason to Hate HOAs

JWR: This television news segment was disturbing: Should HOAs restrict solar panel use? They cited “architectural standards.” The family made the mistake of challenging the authority of the homeowner association (HOA) to pre-approve all changes (including tone of roof shingles, type of planted grasses, whether or not RVs can be parked on your property, et cetera) and impose their notion of right and good on you and your house, at your expense. HOAs should reduce the market value of a house by 40% at least, IMHO, for anyone contemplating surviving a grid-down, phones-down, plumbing-down situation. Why would anyone subject their …


Letter Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale

James, I felt compelled to write this letter response to Thomas K’s post from January 18th. I found his second point to be racist at worst and ignorant at best. I must first point out that I am not a politically correct minded person nor do I wish my letter to come across as Jessie Jackson-ish rhetoric. I am married to a Manila-born Chinese/Filipino who moved to the US when she was a year old and has spent about the last 20 out of her 27 years as an American Citizen. I had a chance to visit the Philippines in …


Letter Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale

JWR: The recent letter about Alaska as a Retreat Locale brings up many good points, and I as an Alaskan certainly hope survival will be possible here if society collapses. But the trouble with predicting the future is that there’s no way to know how events are going to play out. The author assumes that oil will still flow, that there will still be an economy of sorts, and that the military will be friendly. These predictions might or might not be accurate. The Alaska pipeline must have a flow rate of at least 70,000 barrels a day to remain …


Letter Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale

Dear Mr. Rawles, I just finished your novel novel “Survivors”. It was a good book and it spells out a lot of things that might happen. I have been an avid reader of your books and materials for some time. I would like to point out that Alaska is a better survivor island than many of the other Western States. First: Alaska does rely on products being imported but it has the capacity to manufacture its own fuel. Presently we have three refineries within our state but they concentrate on the manufacture of Aviation Gas because it has the highest …


Letter Re: A Gardening Zone Mapping Tool

Sir,   I am interested in moving to the American Redoubt. As an avid gardener, I am looking for the most promising areas in terms of zone and eco-climate. While trying to find a detailed agricultural plant zone map of the United States, I stumbled upon this site: PlantMaps.com  When I checking a listing for a property, I can enter the zip code and the site provides significant climate information about that specific location including precipitation levels per month, drought index, average temps as well as a wealth of area maps.  It is easy to discern the effect of elevation …


Letter Re: When The Ancient Mayans Got Out of Dodge — All The Way To Georgia

Dear Editor: I’m sure that the readers of SurvivalBlog will find this quote of interest, from an article entitled Ruins in Georgia mountains show evidence of Maya connection: “In July of 2011, Waldrup furnished a copy of the 2000 Stratum Unlimited, LLC archaeological report to People of One Fire members.  Those with experiences at Maya town sites instantly recognized that the Track Rock stone structures were identical in form to numerous agricultural terrace sites in Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. Johannes Loubser’s radiocarbon dates exactly matched the diaspora from the Maya lands and the sudden appearance of large towns with …


Letter Re: How I Survived an Attempted Murder

Hi James, In reference to A.’s recent article “How I Survived an Attempted Murder”, we lived in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the early 1990s. I taught at the American School in Guayaquil called The International Academy. We bought an Isuzu Trooper and drove over 20,000 miles during our stay there. We visited many areas on the frontier with Columbia and Peru that were described to us a bandit country, often drove out into the mountains to distant villages that seemed to have hardly had any contact with Europeans or Americans. Several times drove all the way east of Quito over the backbone …


Letter Re: A Mail Forwarding Service in The American Redoubt

James Wesley: We have opened up Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center in Kamiah, Idaho. (I consider Kamiah the unofficial capital of the American Redoubt).  Part of our services are private mailbox rental.  As a long time SurvivalBlog reader and contributor (you’ve seen my posts under the bylines B.H. in Spokane, Western Washington and North Central Idaho) I am quite familiar with the need for OPSEC and the desire for some individuals to begin to establish ties to the American Redoubt.   We are offering 5” x 12” mail box rentals for $10 per month.  A 12-month pre-paid rental gets you …


“I Can See You” — A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations, by Dave X.

Foreword:  I design and operate databases for a living.  The newest of these are assembled on analytic platforms structured to “draw conclusions” for clients in a wide (and formerly random) variety of scenarios.  One of my developers is an analytic tools assembly expert who also works for some “security, emergency, and enforcement” government agencies in Washington, DC – all formerly separate agencies, and because of advancements in the technologies — now “interoperating”.  I am also a prepper with a Bug Out locale that fulfills my “survival vision” and inherently has most of the natural survival essentials on site, but one …


Letter Re: Western Nebraska as a Retreat Locale

James, As a regular SurvivalBlog reader and a prepper, I would like to say western Nebraska is as close to the American Redoubt without being there. I have considered the reasons you have not include Nebraska, and though they are valid for eastern and central Nebraska, I believe if you stick to the western section, the Platte River Valley and the Sand Hills offer an attractive option. The main things I find appealing, inexpensive fertile crop land, good plentiful clean water, a plethora of wildlife (Elk, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, and Turkey) great fishing holes everywhere, and few people per …


Self-Sufficiency Gardening in Climate Zones 8 and 9, by David G.

Unemployment is rampant. The government is bankrupt. Foreclosures are everywhere. And one day soon, you may find your local grocery store has closed and shut off your supply of Hot Pockets. Most of us have never had to grow our own food. Those that have grown their own generally do it as a hobby – or as a way to get a vine-ripened tomato without selling a kidney.. Climate zones 8 and 9 [found in much of Arizons, parts of Florida, and the regions at the north end of California’s Central Valley] are not a gardening paradise. If you go …


Taking The Gap–Your Move to The American Redoubt

I will soon be interviewed by John Jacob Schmidt on Radio Free Redoubt. The theme of this podcast hour will be “Taking The Gap”. My goal is to exhort listeners to re-prioritize their finances and set a goal–with a date attached–to make the move to the American Redoubt. (This region includes Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.) I urge preparedness-minded Christians and Jews of all races and from all walks of life to make the move, soon. I sincerely believe that the American Redoubt the will be the safest and most free place to live in North Americas in …


Buying Land in the American Redoubt, by G. in Virginia

I have been involved with the buying of land and homes since I was able to carry a hammer or a two by four. While I have worked many different jobs, I have always returned to my love of real estate over the years. Currently, I own several houses, and my proudest achievement, is the acquisition of 40 prime acres in Montana! This is after almost a year and a half of searching in The American Redoubt for the piece I wanted at the price I wanted with the restrictions I wanted. Now that I have my slice I would …


Prepping While Unemployed, by Paul H.

I am writing this because I have talked to so many people who believe that there is little they can do to prepare because they have no job.  There is a difference between having a job and working and although I have not had a real job now for over three years, I continue to work six days a week.  I had already been unemployed for almost a year by the time I started reading your books.  Having moved to this small city for a job in finance, I paid cash for an old mobile home in a trailer park …