June 27, 2024
Day 1,000 of the Adventure
Today marks a milestone here at the cabin property. We closed on the purchase of it exactly 1,000 days ago. The moment would have easily passed in time had I not been keeping a journal of the process. Our goal was to create a self-sufficient way of life for ourselves with some "off-grid" potential. Have we accomplished that as of 1,000 days into it? Not completely, but we have made some very serious progress. I'd like to share some of it with you. 1,000 days is roughly 2 years and 9 months. Not everything is complete, but most everything so far is functional. Shelley and I were 60 and 62 when we started. We are 63 and 65 now. We not only wanted to do this life for ourselves, we wanted to document the process as an inspiration to others who are considering a similar kind of lifestyle. We've chose to do this primarily through a couple of YouTube Channels.
The Campfire Trail and
Life of Treasures. We would appreciate anyone interested in following the journey to subscribe to either or both of them.
Our first 6 months or so, included a lot of clearing for roads, building construction and infrastructure like a water supply, septic system and water sourcing. This took us from October 2021 through about March of 2022. From March, 2022, our focus shifted to getting our utility control building built and then the cabin. We got the cabin to "livable" (in a camping sort of way) by June of 2022. For the rest of 2022, we focused mostly on making the property a little more civilized. Attempting to complete things that were started but not finished. We also tried our best to learn to relax and not feel so pressured to produce any specific results. By Fall of 2022, we were gearing up for our first winter. This meant foraging for dead wood around the property to heat with.
2023 included finishing out more of the cabin interior with knotty pine wall and ceiling paneling. We took a couple trips into the Caribbean, one in February on a cruise ship, and another in May on Treasured Times (our kids ocean going ship) to catch our breath a little. Our oldest daughter Amanda moved back to Missouri along with her daughter and we spent time with them as we were able. We started the process for more permanent storage for firewood. One bigger structure for long term storage and a smaller one on the back deck for the weekly supply needed at the cabin. The year also included the construction of some fun things for the grandkids and a number of short road trips around the Ozarks. Shelley published a 2nd book of devotionals that year called
Treasures of Life 2. I published two books in 2023. One entitled "
Wealth Creation" based on our previous 15 years of business experiences. The other was called "
Back to the Land" which was written to help the reader formulate a plan or roadmap for moving back to the land (assuming that's what they want to do) The year finished up with our Florida kids deciding to buy piece of land near here to build an off-grid retreat for themselves and we spent a week or so helping them with that.
2024 has been dominated by the building of a garden area that has been very extensive. Now, as of the waning days of June, we have begun the busy process of food preservation as the garden is going into hyper-drive. The entire adventure is on YouTube going clear back to the beginning. It's been a fascinating journey for us and we think our viewing audience of followers have enjoyed it as well.
Adventure Quote: "Here's to having an Excellent Adventure, and may the Stopping Never Start!"
Base Camp Coffee of the Day: Lost on the Trail (Guatemala)
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