going off-grid

The first in a series on the whats and whys of our off-grid, caravan, mountain life

This week we went window shopping. For actual windows. We are building an extension/porch/kitchen/weather break onto our old, falling to pieces, tiny, 18ft caravan—our home for this winter. We bought the caravan in the summer, in a hurry, as the sale of our house was going through and we needed somewhere quick to lay our heads while we moved onto the land.

A move that was a long time coming, but crept and sprung upon us almost by surprise. An opportunity, unprepared, chaotic, last minute, as per our usual race against the seasons and everything else life throws at us. We got here when the devil’s bit scabious bloomed, marking three years since the land became ours. Three years of being stuck in a limbo of to-ing and fro-ing but never getting anywhere, tied by the distance between the land and livestock, our home, our work and families.