Off Grid Behaviors
Off Grid Behaviors
Embracing the Off-Grid Adventure: Self-Sufficiency and Storytelling in Puerto Rico
Did you know that Puerto Rico was a strategic port during various wars? My desire for over a decade to visit San Juan overshadowed the history embedded in this Caribbean safe haven. Perhaps this is an example of how many of us take basic liberties for granted as if they couldn’t be lost or taken away. Puerto Rico was devastated by hurricane Maria in 2017 and took nearly 11 months to recover, while nearly 200,000 people have left the territory in search of more stability in multiple areas of their lives. The grid on this tranquil island has been less than efficient and aging before Maria, but the nearly 3,000 fatalities and $90 billion in damages was more than enough reasons to seek a better electrical infrastructure. Prior to delving into this research, I noticed the vast number of houses with solar panels. I asked the driver about this as he explained with excitement how the government assisted some families with this project. The geographic location of Puerto Rico creates the ideal position for solar and surpasses four times more of residential needs.
Without more details about climate change and how it is affecting the world, I recommend you continue to review your personal infrastructures at every level. I didn’t expect to get a history lesson or reminder of how my Off Grid Behaviors are making more sense every day, but I am darn grateful for my daily experiences.
Hey folks, welcome back to Off Grid Behaviors, where being abnormal is completely okay and highly recommended. Hey, I'm your host Smith. Again Welcome back. Thank you for tuning into my channel and to my podcast, off Grid Behaviors. So for the past several weeks I've been talking about this trip to Puerto Rico and finally got here.
Speaker 1:So, just to be clear, the whole idea about Off Grid, as I mentioned before, off Grid Behaviors is the title, because living Offgrid is tough and if you've ever tried it, you guys understand what I'm talking about. It's not easy at all. Working a nine-to-five job, where you go in for someone's job and you do your work and you're done for the day, that's pretty simple. But having to be responsible for everything like all day, all night, that's a little bit different. So I mean from water to electricity, food name it is is it's endless, basically, when you're dealing with, uh, living off grid or starting a farm or anything of that nature. But first of all I want to talk about a couple topics that I have experimented with or did some research on in the past few weeks. Hopefully I'll get back to the topic and please forgive the audio because I'm in a hotel room and I don't have my travel set. I do have a road microphone kit that I'm working with, uh, the wireless go to. They are pretty nice and I highly recommend you getting them, because I have some less expensive ones and they just didn't do the same job. But, uh, at the end of the day they are still really good. So I highly recommend the road mic three, mic two or wireless go. Try something anything other than a on-microphone or on-camera setup.
Speaker 1:So I want to talk a little bit about what I've been watching on the TV. We talked before about the Walking Dead content and the ones that lived. Then I'm with Rick and Michonne, so I watched that and it got super intense. I don't want to be a spoiler, but it only had six episodes, so you take that how you want to. It only had six episodes, but I enjoyed it. I won't talk too much about details, but there was one scene where they showed this facility's compound that had these IBC totes.
Speaker 1:No matter what you do in this world, you're going to see those IBC totes where they're 275 gallons. Some people list them at 275, 250, or 300. Whatever it is, you're going to see IBC totes, no matter where you go, whether you have water in it grain fuel, chemicals, soap bodies, whatever. You're going to have those IBC totes no matter where you go, on or off grid. So, and I noticed on the highways, when they're building these new highways and everything else with construction, I see those along the road as well. So you can't get around those totes. Some people say they're food grade. Again, I have two.
Speaker 1:I haven't started raining much. I still haven't got all the funnels that I need to get to make that happen to capture water. But once I get back there, a little bit more into it, no pun intended, or what those big funnels I can capture, more square foot of the rain is coming down because I don't have these Small little gadgets and trying to catch water in four inch diameter pretty much a waste of time. So I don't have a roof runoff into it. But I just haven't made the time To dig into that just yet, mainly because I was getting prepared for this trip, because I was getting my house ready for the Masters rental, speaking of, which got out of town just in time.
Speaker 1:The Masters starts today, which is Monday, but over the weekend they had the Women's Amateur Championship and the kids putt golf and chip the putt, chip and something drive, putt and chip, the putt chip and something drive, putt and chip event on Sunday. So the guys haven't really come in just yet. And also over the weekend was the NCAA Women's Championship, which was on Sunday, and USC Gamecocks Lady Gamecocks won that 37-0. Unbelievable record. So back to the Masters traffic. It was terrible on Friday. I am so glad to get out of there. And once getting back on Thursday I'm'm still gonna have to make some moves to avoid that traffic getting out to the farm and away from the city and just make sure everything in the house is taken care of as far as the cleanliness, the cable, the everything else. So, um, just making sure. I spent a lot of time getting the house prepped for that.
Speaker 1:Secondly, I want to talk about this no-dig gardening. Somehow or another I got caught up and started watching the videos about no-dig farming, where people were taking excessive amounts of cardboard boxes, laying them on the ground and then putting compost and wood chips and everything else on top of the cardboard to build this garden. So when I first started my research on this was when I was talking about silage tarps. I looked into silage tarps and how they could be used to kind of burn up the crops or the roots or the weeds before you start planting. So depending on what you were at or where you were at, or how much land you had, what would your technique be? So I'm still up in the air and just a matter of doing experiments with if I'm going to use silage, tarp, raised garden beds in-ground, and I guess I'm just going to use variety, because I do have the space to do a variety of things, and I just want to do the experiment with building some boxes and see which boxes work best, just for trying to help people out. So if you don't have space where I could help build something, such as garden boxes from palace or whatever else, I just want to be a source. So, whether I use those full-time or not, because I have 12 acres to use, but I don't want to have to buy too much expensive equipment to go into the ground, like maybe a tractor for example, those aren't easy to come by, but when you're dealing with farming and things like that, you can always deal with co-op and so forth.
Speaker 1:So the above ground or the no dig farming with cardboard that's a lot of cardboard. So I watched this guy in the video and some other people. They were talking about it Just laying all this cardboard out. Of course, one downside to the cardboard is if a wind comes before you get everything laid down, you're going to be looking real weird trying to put a brick or a rock on every piece of cardboard until you get your area. So I would imagine you have to square off your area, measure everything out, spray it out and then start laying your cardboard out. But to each his own.
Speaker 1:So the guy had all this cardboard for one thing he had to collect all that and then got some wood chip, put it on top of that, then got what else was it? Compost and start building the beds. And I'm just thinking like, well, he had a nice yard out there and I can't really wrap my head around it. I need to do some more research about why he did all that. I mean, I guess maybe you just don't want to destroy I wouldn't say destroy, but just kind of tear up the ground that you had because he had a backyard. So I don't, I don't know what reason for that was, and maybe you could do your own research and maybe just because the land that it was on just wasn't fertile. I mean every, every land that you have. Every part of the United States is not necessarily the best place to grow. So some stuff grows in the South or the West or whatever the case may be. So I wasn't sure where he was at. So perhaps he had a soil test done on his property and he just wasn't going to get any growth from it. So that's all I can come up with.
Speaker 1:So again last year I tried to do a pH test with this little cheap set I got from was it Lowe's? I couldn't really get a good feel for what the pH test was so or what the levels were, so I just kinda used those raised garden beds for what I was growing and experimenting with. So again this year, once I get back, I'm gonna do a little bit more composting and I did put some tarps down outside, probably about, let's say, 30 feet by 20 feet. Maybe I have some tarps put down just to see what it's going to do by the time I get back, and surely it will have rained and it may not be hot enough to really burn up the soil or the roots like I wanted to just yet, but from the videos on youtube it said that it could take, you know, at least four weeks. It's been about three to four weeks so far, but my goal is just to get that land prepared for the fall crops. So in June and July it'll be plenty hot, plenty, whatever to get that out of there Just in time to start growing some fall crops. And again, it's just experiment and I have the time and the means to do so. So that's what I'm working on at this point so far.
Speaker 1:So back to the silage tarps, and I don't know what's better, and again it's just experiment with professional or branded silage tarps or the ones I'm using from Harbor Freight. So again, experiment. I tried to do some research and find out, but of course experience is one of life's best teachers. So what works for some may not work for others. And I know that I didn't need 100 feet long, times 40 feet wide. I know I didn't need that type of area just yet, although there's a part of the property that I may use, but that's just not now. I don't have that kind of time and I don't have the need for that much produce at this time. So once I get back we'll go from there, and I'm sure during this time of year in Augusta, georgia, it always rains, so I'm not during this time of year. In Augusta, georgia, it always rains, so I'm not concerned about the water and I do have those tomatoes and some peppers that I'm waiting for to get prepared.
Speaker 1:So back to Puerto Rico. So back in here in Puerto Rico. I've only been here for a day and a half or so and driving is going to be a challenge. I think people drive really interesting here and I remember when I was looking online at one point it says something about having to take a medical exam to get a driver's license in Puerto Rico. I'm not sure about that, but you probably need more than a medical exam, like patience for one thing. So it is a little bit different.
Speaker 1:So right here by the beach in here in Del, where am I? At Coffee here? Great coffee, I can't think of the name of them at El Dorado it's a little bit away from San Juan, so the main city. So I have to drive in 35, 40 minutes just to get back to the airport side. That's more of the touristy side versus the resort side. However, at the resort here, a lot of golf and a lot of pickleball.
Speaker 1:Pickleball is a phenomenon. I introduced that to some friends of mine at an event I did a few weeks ago and I gave out some pickleball equipment because I know, as we get a little bit older, the basketball, the footballs and the things we used to do are no longer with us, especially and really speaking for me. So pickleball is to be a thing and it looks. It's not too exerting, it's not and it's fun. It's not like super competitive. There's an extreme learning curve when it comes to tennis and most sports and I'm not saying that pickleball is any easier, but it's just not the same. It's just. I mean it's a little bit slower and it's just. It's just.
Speaker 1:If you've ever played tennis or baseball, trying to hit in time a baseball or tennis ball with a proper footwork is it's really tough, whereas with pickleball it's not as much footwork necessary. It's pretty much reach and grab, if that makes any sense. So the footwork is there. You need to be able to stand up, for goodness sake, but as far as having to move your feet to time your shots and your hits, it's not. So with everything else, whether it's baseball or basketball or football, there's a little bit more timing involved with your footwork and that's there, whether you're catching the ball or throwing the ball or hitting the ball. Here's with pickleball. What I've seen so far is just it's a little bit of upward motion, but you don't have to be the best at footwork to make a connection and, again, it's really fun Not super, super exhilarating, but it can be fun for all ages.
Speaker 1:Which brings back to the idea of which would you have on a campsite or off-grid? Are you more likely to have a basketball court or a pickleball? So no different from cornhole. When you're going on a campsite or wherever else, you're always going to have cornhole, no matter where you go. So I would imagine that pickleball would be something pretty inexpensive to put together and of course, you need a flat surface. But from what I saw, they had a gate, like a tennis gate, if you will. It had like six or eight courts inside this area, which was, you know, not too terrible, I mean smaller than a basketball court. So smaller than a basketball court, with about six to eight pickleball places to play. I think that's pretty exciting and whether you have just one on your facility, again a lot less expensive and you could actually put it.
Speaker 1:If you had a basketball court on your property, you could actually put that on there and a half. The other half could be a pickleball court. So look into it. I'm also looking at trying to put some type of miniature driving ring on my property. We're still looking at 12 acres and I'm not at the point where I can drive the ball that far, but it's something to think about. I mean, if I ever, just even with just maybe a three if you know anything about golf, I don't know a lot about it, but just not necessarily driving a club, but something just to get the ball out there, hit some balls, just to relieve a little, I don't know a little mind relief or whatever relaxation, just to do something a little bit different, because being on a campsite can, or off-grid can, get a little bit monotonous.
Speaker 1:Which brings us back to this story here of being Puerto Rico. Is Puerto Rico off-grid? No, it's not. Is California off-grid for me? No, it's not.
Speaker 1:The idea of me going off grid or living off grid is my foundation, because just living in a house in the city and being, I wouldn't say house poor, but just being at a point where, okay, you're next to your neighbors all day and you're in the city with a lot of traffic. It allows me to just have a simple life, more so than having to be in a rat race. Am I gonna? Maybe not. I'm still on a five-year plan. But in the meantime, on that five-year plan, I am about to sign a contract where my primary residence will become a full-time rental. It started out just with a master's rental for the week and led into the Airbnb and then led into a seven-month rental, but I've gotten accustomed to not being there and traveling more, so now I'm looking to get it on a two-year contract with a management company that we don't have to deal with, you know, just anything, the maintenance or whatever else and I'm willing to do that. And then perhaps in a couple of years I will get that next property or vacation property, whether it be in the United States or somewhere else or I don't know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, do I want to spend 100% of my time off grid? No, I don't. It's just being able to have choices, and I think being able to travel this world and not being stuck on 12 acres, you know, growing my own food is ideal. So the money that I'm saving I don't know $2,000 a month or more to live off grid so I can travel more. I think that's the way to go. So, whatever your reason is for wanting to live off-grid or try this lifestyle, it's totally up to you. But for me it started out just wanting to get away from where I live, as far as the traffic in my neighborhood, so that was the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:But now it's come to more of seeing what's out in the world, because, having been in the military and the Navy, I've traveled to a lot of places, but I didn't really get a chance to experiment or experience the full thing, because we were only there for a day or two I would say three days, three days, four days and didn't really get a full chance to experience everything. And although I lived in Japan for six years, my ship was pretty much forward deployed most of the time. I endured two of the Gulf Wars, if you guys are familiar with that, starting in the 90s, so we spent a lot of time underway at sea is what we called it. I was stationed in Jacksonville, florida. That was my first station when I was young, when I first joined, but I didn't know a lot. And then, of course, my last few years I was stationed in San Diego. California Got a lot out of that.
Speaker 1:But there's so many places just in the United States alone. I mean, take for example here, puerto Rico, like who would have thought? But there's so many places to see just in the United States alone. There's so many places. And I haven't been to Colorado yet, as I mentioned. That's somewhere I want to go. I've been to Arizona and I've been to New York for a little while, but there's so many places I haven't even been back to my birth place yet, wichita Falls, texas, as I heard that Dallas is. The state of Dallas is growing major in major ways, a lot of going on in Dallas, but there's so many things, so many places I want to see and do.
Speaker 1:And I'm still working on that rig and you guys remember me talking about my five by 10 enclosed trailer that I started building. So it's about done and I wish there was a way for me to really and I wish there was a way for me to really I guess there is a way to actually package up my there's room in there. If I don't put too much, I can actually put my ATV inside that trailer. I don't know what, the weight, capacity and things. I need to do more research, but it's like the thing about it, once you put an ATV inside of your camper smells like gas a little bit maybe. But I think that's something I would like to do is just kind of put it in there.
Speaker 1:But of course, this summer, in June, looking to do some more traveling, as May is pretty much booked up. And remember I was talking about the homesteading event that's in Florida. That is the weekend of the 26th in April. It's in Hapsville, florida, and I will do some more research and send you a link on that. But I'm excited about that. I'm actually going to be doing some vending. Hopefully I'll get a couple more subscribers. And again, thank you all who have been taking a look or listening to this podcast and hopefully I have maybe inspired you guys to dig a little bit more into what you're doing and why you're doing what you're doing. And if you're into the podcast thing, as I mentioned, there's so much equipment out there and the more you do it, the better you'll you'll be and the more fun you'll have.
Speaker 1:In front of me now I don't have any show notes. Typically I have some notes that I'm going by, but now I've kind of, you know, on a solo podcast, I knew I had a lot to talk about today, starting from just being here in Puerto Rico and the travels that go along with it, my housing adventure and the masters and so on, and the other off-grid or the homesteading conference that I'm going to. So I had a lot really to talk about the course of Walking Dead. So I had a lot to talk about. So if you're looking at doing a podcast, whatever the topic might be, after a few episodes and just doing some more research and listening, you'll kind of get your feel for it. And again I apologize if the audio is not perfect. I'm in a hotel room and have air conditioner blowing and all that, so I'll have some clips of the video, but it's not going to be perfect either, because the lighting here is terrible. I'm using a light bulb or the lamp that's in here.
Speaker 1:But going to do some sightseeing today, going to go down to the Old San Juan and try to get some good food and some good something to drink. Yesterday we went to a restaurant and it was probably quite exciting. However, I didn't know that we had to pay for every guacamole that we got or every salsa that we ordered. It was like two bucks for every salsa or guacamole dip that we got. But that was a part of life. I mean two bucks here.
Speaker 1:But uh, as, talking with people, we met quite a few people who were, um, kind of tourists, but same people who were here visiting but but living in mainland like. We met a couple who were from miami, but actually from here but because of work. But she says she makes sure she comes here often and I could definitely see um coming here at least once a year. There's so much to see so far, and because it's a complete island, it means like three hours from Atlanta through plane but more houses than not, I saw, with solar panels on top, which takes us back to this off-grid stuff and I guess because I don't know if the power grid is just unstable, because it's just whatever the hurricanes can come through. But I remember there was a big one that came through some years ago I can't remember the name of it, but that's got to be interesting just knowing that there's certain seasons where you're just surrounded by water and just whatever hurricane come through. So many houses that I saw so far had the solar panels on top, which makes a lot of sense. I would imagine that having solar panels and generators is pretty much the norm for an area like this. That makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1:So again, back to that basic stuff of off-grid behaviors. If you have a generator, if you don't have a generator, if you don't have solar panels or batteries, I highly recommend you getting a couple. I mean it'll cost you a few hundred bucks, but it could be way more convenient than anything else. Remember that those go bags in your trunk, in your storage or a storage unit that you have between your job and your house. You just never know. So I'm going to do a little bit more sightseeing today and again get out there and see some stuff. Again, off-grid behavior is not for everyone, but I recommend, if you have a chance, to just really Give it a shot. I mean, why not? That's what life is all about. Experimenting and life is experience is your best teacher and, of course, as usual, no-transcript.