where to live

I need some help looking for a nice place to live off the land, maybe a island or small wilderness area, so i dont have to pay taxes. Well if you have any ideas for a good place to live tell me.

Are you dropping out of society by any chance?<br>There aren't many places in the world that are nice where you can live off the land, and at the same time not suffer the wrath of trespass, but if you're prepared to brave a true wilderness where only MEN fear to tread then Alaska is your best bet. If you want that wilderness experience without all the neo-liberal attitudes of what you can and cannot do then the virgin wilderness is your only bet. However, the price you pay is that these places are invariably [censored] harsh. If they weren't they'd be overpopulated and suffering the paranoia of 'this is mine' like everywhere else.

Let me just add that there are plenty of small islands in the south pacific, belonging to Australia, Britain, New Zealand, but these have their hazards like everywhere else. Besides the coral snakes and the monsoons you'll always find plenty of other dangers unique this this type of environment. Personally, I'd rather brave a northern exposure than suffer the worst of tropical conditions.

Actually i would like to live on a tropical island some where, but there's only one problem. Where do you get fresh water, you cant drink saltwater. if anyone's got any idea's about pure water, please tell me.<br> thank's,<br> Shawn

It's now technically possible to start settlements/colonies/whatever in places where they've never been feasible before for lack of fresh water- check out the "watermakers" (reverse-osmosis desalinators) sold to yachtsmen today. Sailboats use them to cut water storage requirements in half (safely) on ocean voyages. Some are amazingly efficient- it should be possible to power one with two or three square yards of solar panels in the tropics. That would provide enough water for drinking- not enough for luxury. The system scales up easily- not cheaply.<br><br>On the other hand, you would be staking your life on very high tech equipment, presumably a long way from anywhere. Sounds like you have a lot more research to do.

If water is your only concern, and assuming there are no fresh water pools on the island, then you're in luck. Take 3, or 4 if you can afford the weight of what Aussie bushmen call desert survival bags. These bags are in clear polythene, 600 gauge, dimensions 2m x 1m. You can read up on how best to use them, if you're not familiar. A word of caution, don't go using them over poisonous foliage, and take a roll of clear sticky tape in case of punctures.

yeah basically water is my ownly concern. i have always wondered about fresh water pools of water, are they common on tropical islands.<br> -Shawn

I suspect there will be water pools, provided the island isn't too small, and the vegetation too sparse, but it would be a good idea to take a few large water bags, to collect the rain. Ortlieb do a good line in these. There are always ways of finding water in arid areas. I even learned a new one the other day. One the kalahari bushmen use. There is another way of getting water, if you're near the shore, and the sand baking hot during the day. Build a solar still in the sand, and saturate the hole with sea water. This is really the only worthwhile application for the solar still. Elsewhere it's pretty useless, but the desert survival bags are your safest bet. You'll need to know your flora, since living exclusively off sea food is bad news. Get to know all the things that are poisonous. If it's poisonous it's probably deadly.

Shawn, your idea is not uncommon. People who succeed at this are . Most of the " wilderness areas" allready have indigenous populations who depend on those resources. What you should consider are the many opportunities to work for the many public agencies. These usually offer little more than travel expenses, room and board and a small stipend. What they give is a chance to experience the world without impacting it or yourself negatively.

Thanks everyone, i know where i'm gonna live. its a small island near alot of other islands. I hope to go there this summer and start building a survival house,( although i'm only 14 its, its sorta like my side of the mountain, except island). where island is on fresh water and there should be plenty of game. So if none of you here from me you know where i am. bye all.<br> Thanks,<br>-Shawn

May I ask why? Why are you going to do this at 14 years old?<br><br>it is one thing to live off the land.... I did for 3 years, but there is more to it than that. It is hard work everyday, and there is a human factor...that is the need that comes from being alone for a extended time..... maybe you have all the skills you need, and maybe not...... I really would like about a 30,000 word essay from you on this....... mac

why, all i can tell you i that i dont know why, i just want to live outdoors with the animals. i always dream about being there, like while i'm at home at school, etc. thats all i can really tell anyone. i guess i want to become one of those runaway kids that live in the wild for there hole life, and come back to a town and everyone is surprised there even alive. Well thats all i can tell you i guess.<br>- Shawn

Ok, then maybe get ready for a couple months first. gather all you think you need and make an arrangement for a 2 month trial run. 60 days can be a long time at 14 years old... I was 14 once so I know...... mac

ok good idea, but what do you mean just plan to go forever but if i dont like it after 2 months then go home. what did you mean when you said you where 14 once<br>-Shawn

I mean get a 60 day practice run in to learn what you will need later... I am 50 now, and I had dreams of being out in Alaska for all my life at 14. i don't know you, and I don't know your skills level, but if you have parents that love you they just might be a tad upset to find you missing.... if you tell them you want to try out living in a wilderness, maybe they will send you for training... maybe since I don't know you, you are a perfect outdoorsman now. Are you? Tell me what you intend to do with no computer, friends, and creature comforts that you have now?

Well i plan to live outdoors cause i like the outdoors. i really dont need friends, or a computer for comforts i will use the wilderness like the indians and teach my self. i dream about being in the wilderness hunting and fishing for food and surviving. i plan on taking only required gear like knife, flint, snares, survival guide (i case i forget about something), cooking gear, and some clothes, and some other misc gear. i want to live like the kids in the book " coming back alive", or like the kid in the book " my side of the mountain"<br>-Shawn

I don't know where you live either, but what about schooling and medical needs? Are you practiced with trapping and making things? Do you know how to start fire with no matches and lighters? Do you know plants well, and woods well? Can you ID wood type in winter, or with out bark and or with out leaves? Do you know how to make all the parts to a tip up with just a knife? Do you know how right now today to make bark fiber coradge to replace lost snares, and fishing equipment? Do you know enough about fish, and fishing to catch 100 fish every 6 hours? Can you make bread from cambium bark?<br><br>Maybe you can and more as you will need to.... Can you set broken bones (your own) can you sew your self up with no pain meds? I am not trying to challange you or even stop you! I would just like to know how you will live off the land.....<br><br>My personal opinion would be for you to try it out with a return date in mind..... get self educated woods wise, and return for a formal education, and then go be the type of naturalist to aid the same animals you wish to be with now...<br><br>I am not familiar with the 2 books you mention, but you need a copy of Tom Brown's Field guide for sure....I am waitng for a reply and will be each time you write so don't stop. Mac

yes i do know alot about all of that. i do have several types of survival, plant id, and tree id guides. i hope to get a medical book, although right now i have been reading off of website about plant medicine and how to make it into a medicine. i have been reading all of my survival guides lately. the survival guides i have are " NAKED INTO THE WOODS", "SURVIVAL, a military guide"," BOY SCOUT BOOK" and some others that i cant remember.<br>-Shawn

Are you saying you read it, or you can and have done it before?<br>May I ask if you have parents? and may I ask roughly what part of the world you are at right now? What is the area like where you live? What do you do outdoors now?

i have read it and can do it, i practiced survival skills. i live in michigan, USA. things i like to do outdoors are camping, backpacking, and just being outdoors.

Are you going to tell anyone where you are? What will you tell your folks?

i dont know if i'll tell anyone, i hope to meet some one out there that can maybe bring in supplies in once a great time and ammo for my gun. but if i find no one then i use a bow. i dont know what i'll tell my folks.<br>-Shawn

Ah you have a gun. What kind is it? And where is your island? Is it tropical, or closer to home...... I have a son and he is 21 now, but I would not like it if he slipped off to live in the wilds with out letting me know....

i have a 22 caliber, one gun is better then none. the island is near home.<br>-Shawn

Sure 1 gun is better than none. I was curious thats all... How will you get to the island? Have you been there before? What trees grow there?

i will use my boat to get there. i havent been there yet and i dont know what trees grow there. but if i dont like this island i can go to another one, the island i want to go to is around a bunch of other islands.<br>-Shawn

My guess is the 1000 islands. I have been to those and it is very nice there. it might be a great place to go too! You might even get a rowwing boat for that area if you look into it. There once was a very speacial type of boat for that area, but I don't know if that type still is around. I was a sailing dory and very fast for the size. I will try to look it up and let you know the name......

i heard about that place called ten thousand islands, in florida. i even thought about living there, but how do i get there i cant drive. got any idea's.<br>-Shawn

try checking this boat ST. Lawrence River Skiff<br><br>http://www.by-the-sea.com/indianpointboat/<br><br>This is just one place that i found real quick, and was made for the waters found near you. I have not ever been able to see a real one, but I have a very old wooden canoe which is some what like this, and my canoe sails with a home made sail and steering wheel to drive it..... I hope you like this boat... There are others too on the page that you might like.

look one reply up for the boat type, and I mean 1000 islands near to you by far than in Fla.... I lived in Fla for 2 years i hated it there. It was too hot and buggy all the time. The seasons never change, the deer are small, and the bears are too! Also the wild pigs and dogs will bother your camp, and the snakes can be poisionous there.... I don't think you would like Fla all that well. The water contains alot of sulfer, and smells like rotten eggs! yuko Mac

i thought this place was closer to you than it seems to me now.. http://www.visit1000islands.com/seaway/index.htm<br><br>but it is closer than Fla for sure... also you just might ask your folks about a primitive camp I know about http://www.abotech.com/ http://www.abotech.com/Events/RShistory.htm<br>now I think you would like that camp alot. There are others too<br><br>http://www.hollowtop.com/ check these out and search your area for more.... To my way of thinking you can get what you want, and need at schools like this with out being alone and get help when you need it....that is if you need any help at all...I gotta run for a while...... the woods is calling me ... Mac

Hey Mac man, you're crazy, if this kid really is 14. No government is gonna let a 14 year old kid live on one of their islands. Wait 4 more years, Shawn. If you haven't the patience for that, then you haven't the patience to survive in the wild. So stop encouraging him, Mac. This thread is starting to look like the stairway to hell. I think it has reached the bottom, don't you.

O.K. first I moved this conversation to the campfire where it belongs. Secondly, dropout please review the forum courtesies and rules. If forum members have a concern with another post please send a private message to the poster or to Doug or myself.

Thanks for moving the thread.....Sorry about that... i did not start the thread, or I would have started it here.. Sorry about tickin any one off too.....Mac

Shawn --<br><br> Where I live (St Croix US Virgin Islands) meets your definition of a tropical island, even if 50,000 people share it.<br><br> But on the water issue -- here, like in most of the Caribbean, standard building practice is to catch rainwater on the roof and pipe it down to a 20-40,000 gallon cistern under the house. That's all we have to rely on, since there's no "city water" on most islands. (No sewage either, so you have a septic tank.)<br><br> Comes a drought, the water trucks from the desal plant keep you going (or washing, at least.)<br><br> -- Karl

The closest i ever got to living that way was when I was horse wrangler for a wilderness youth camp sponsered by a large church org. Did it for three years. Lived in an army tent, had plenty of free food, beautiful nature surroundings, a little money but nowhere to spend it. I'll never forget it. I would suggest West Virginia for having a little less complications and expense of owning some land. My husband is from there and i would move from Orlandom,FL to there in a heartbeat.

Shawn, there's a book you should read, called "The Hatchet". Cant recall who it's by, but not many books by that name. I'ts at the public library. They made a movie out of it too. About someone your age who got stranded in the wilderness with nothing but a hatchet.