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4 Best Places to Live Off the Grid for Preppers

No matter where you are living, or what your survival plans may be, there is no way to tell when and where a major disaster will strike. Even if something happens hundreds of miles away from your current location or distant bug out homestead, problems will eventually spread to almost every area imaginable.  As a result, when it comes to searching for off-grid locations, you may need to think outside of favored ideas on this matter.

6 Features to Consider for Your Off-Grid Location

As you may be aware, if a major crisis occurs, you might never leave your homestead again once you arrive there and establish yourself.  By the same token, if you bring children along or have younger family members living with you, future generations may also need to be able to live there without ever leaving the homestead.  There are six features that you must consider so that you and your loved ones have the best chance of being safe and secure for as long as possible:

  • Pollution free – ideally, the location you choose should not have factories, commercial farms, drilling operations, mining operations, or any other kind of industry within 150 miles.
  • Nuclear Risk-free – choose a location that is at least 300 miles from a nuclear power plant, and at least 200 miles from hospitals, medical waste facilities, and any other area where nuclear materials are used or stored.
  • Good source of underground water – Today, many people look for ponds, streams, and other above ground sources of water thinking they will have water right away and easy access as time goes by. Unfortunately, above ground water can also draw unwanted visitors, and be easily polluted or contaminated by all kinds of diseases or any chemical pollutants that may eventually find their way to your land.  On the other hand, underground water is likely to remain free of nuclear and other forms of contamination as long as the general area is also clean.
  • The ground must be good for planting and building underground shelters – since underground shelters offer the most in terms of protection and ease of building, it is very important to choose an off-grid area where you can dig deep into the ground. Needless to say, soil that can be used for food crops and wood is also very important.
  • Little or no zoning laws – in general, the further away you are from society, the better off you will be.  From generating electricity to hunting, the more people you have, the less you will be able to do on your own land.  While you may find it a bit hard to get started in some areas, it is well worth it if others are inclined to stay away.
  • Must be located away from a coastal area – oddly enough, many people look to the coastlines because they feel that there is increased access to water, plus the opportunity to fish and get food from the ocean.  On the other side of the equation, it is more than likely no longer to eat seafood and fish from the Pacific Ocean because of the radiation from Fukushima. Sadly, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are also extremely polluted.  To make matters even worse, coastal areas will also be the first to be attacked during a military invasion.  Finally, if the polar ice caps continue to melt, it is estimated that the coastlines of most nations will move more than dozens of miles inland; and many islands will simply disappear.  As attractive as a remote island in the Caribbean or some other tropical location might seem, the fact remains they won’t make a good off grid location.

Remote Areas of the United States

Alaska, the Ozarks, and higher elevations of most mountain ranges in the United States will make suitable off-grid locations.  While some of these areas may be under development, others are still hard to get to, and therefore not as attractive to large numbers of people.   Of all your options, this may well be the cheapest, however, you must never forget about property taxes and how those can be increased before a major monetary collapse occurs.

Northern Canada

If you can’t find a suitable place in the United States, then Canada may have more to offer.  Here are some advantages of immigrating that you might want to consider:

  • The population of Canada is much lower in general. Therefore, if you are looking to live in a small town, or even a city, you are likely to have fewer problems.
  • Canada is far less active on the international front, which means fewer chances of being attacked by enemy nations.   If you are concerned about nuclear strikes, invasions, or other problems, Canada is not likely to be seriously drawn into a fray until larger and stronger nations are engaged for at least a few years.
  • Canada has far fewer pollution problems that need to be accounted for when finding a safe place to live for long periods of time.
  • While Canada has restrictive gun laws, some guns are allowed in the most remote, northern areas.  Typically, guns in this area are used for hunting as opposed to concerns about crime.
  • As global warming continues, it is very likely you will want to move further north where the temperatures will move up to what you are more accustomed to.  Remember, no matter why the planet is heating up, the unusually cold winters are, in fact, an indicator that something is going on.  Simply think about what happens when you put ice in a glass of water (the water gets cold for a short period of time, then warms up again) and you will see precisely why global warming is something every prepper needs to consider when choosing an off-grid location.

Areas Near the South Pole

More than a few people are surprised when I say somewhere around the South Pole would be of interest to me as an off-grid location.  To begin, as with the North Pole, the temperatures in this region are also warming up fast. While it may take a bit longer for them to reach a recognizably comfortable temperature, the area will become at least hospitable in the next 10 years or so.

If you don’t have a lot of money and want to live completely away from others, the South Pole will more than meet your needs as long as you have the tools and resources to build a suitable shelter and provide adequate heating for yourself and any food you need to grow.  At this time, this region is usually only home to a few science stations, there are no taxes, and it is fairly hard to get to.  This is especially important to consider if you are concerned about rioters, military takeovers, biowarfare, and even nuclear warfare.

Since there are very few people in this area, there is no point to bombing it, let alone trying to take your stockpile from you.  If society completely collapses, it may take decades to centuries before anyone can even muster an expeditionary force to rediscover what exists in this part of the world.    That being said,  the South Pole and surrounding regions have the cleanest water on Earth.  While global warming may lead to an effort by other nations to tap this water, it will be very hard once the monetary system collapses.

Before committing to making a move to somewhere around the South Pole, you may also want to look at some civilized areas that can be used as a midpoint.  Australia and the southernmost areas of Argentina and Chile also have much to offer.  If you choose a mountainous or outback area, you may not need to go further south into the ice floes and the land areas that are being exposed as the glaciers melt.

An Ancestral Nation of Origin

As much as you may love the United States, the fact remains our nation is in grave danger.  Depending on your situation, you may or may not have the skills and resources needed to help this country get back to stability, let alone help yourself.  Under these circumstances, leaving this country may have a certain amount of appeal.  Unlike the United States, however, most other countries in the world have strict, and well-enforced immigration laws.  You will find it much harder to get long-term visas, let alone citizenship and a permanent place of residence.

Depending on your ancestry, it may be possible for you to return to your family’s nation of origin.  For example, in some countries, you only have to prove that a grandparent or even a great-grandparent immigrated from that country to the United States.  While you will still have to go through the same cultural learning process and immigration details, it may be easier than trying to get into a country where you have no cultural or familial basis.

While just about every country has rural areas, you will find this option more expensive than most of the others. In addition, even if your family moved to the United States within one or two generations, you may still find it hard to adapt to a different culture, and quite possibly, a different language. In addition, even if another country is not a target of terrorism, or likely to be attacked, that does not mean you will be any safer. As with moving to Canada, it can still be a very risky move to make.

If you have already purchased land for a homestead, you may want to rethink your choice in relation to modern problems that you may not have thought about at that time.  Needless to say, if you haven’t bought land yet, but have some ideas about where you would like to live, this is the perfect time to find out more about problems that may make the area impossible to live in during and after a major social collapse.  Please feel free to share more about your top off grid choices and why you think they will work best for you. While I am aware that some of my top choices are outside of the usual locations, I still love hearing about why other preppers choice more “conventional” off-grid places for possible homesteads.

2 thoughts on “4 Best Places to Live Off the Grid for Preppers”

  1. This country did not become the greatest the world has ever known by being established by quitters. I like the idea of the quitters (snow flakes) & others (dual citizenship holders) running to foreign & not so foreign shores. That’s why Barbara Bachman (sp) fell from the limelight after she got dual citizenship (Switzerland) by virtue of her husbands ancestry. I’ve been to numerous countries, and very few even came close to ours for all our faults. America! Love her & nourish her, or get the hell out!

  2. very good article the only problem is that because so many live paycheck to paycheck the idea of moving even after a crisis would be imposable. so many would only have government sources to help that it now isnt help but the problem. people would fight for the food and water provided. it would also be a finite supply of help.because we have the majority of people that has no skills that would provide for themselves millions would starve with food at their feet. millions would be on the move looking for the scrap of food that would feed them one more day. even if you have food and water it would be taken by force. it is possible that it would be government forces that would confiscate it to distribute. unless you had your food well hidden the chances of survival in a populated area is poor. even if you live in a rural area you will deal with the mobs that will take and ruin the food they would need to survive. not knowing how to use the land they will destroy it and any future resources it could provide. the only way I could see is that is to wait until the mob dies off.this would happen in a short time. now it would be the organized mob they are organized and would take by force what they want. will we have safe places? only if we stand as a community as a force large enough to oppose and work in unison to survive just like the communities years ago. when this happens government will not be your friend.
    Grampa

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