Living off grid was supposed to be about freedom. For us, as melanated people, it has often felt like a masterclass in navigating other people’s egos.
Our journey has been a string of hard lessons. We worked at a horse ranch where the owners neglected their animals and treated us like slaves. They were proud Trump supporters, blind to the irony of their cruelty while we tried to build something honest. We moved on to a “community” that barred us from shared spaces and offered no path to financial stability. Another spot felt like home until the solar panels mysteriously failed every time we had a disagreement with the owner, literally leaving us in the dark.
We even uprooted our lives, moving halfway across the country to what was promised as our dream set-up: a tiny home, a shower house, a future. But the foundation was built on lies.
It has been exhausting, searching for land while navigating the unchecked egos of those already on it. But we are still here. We are still living sustainably. We are still hoping to connect with more melanated people who understand that true off-grid living isn’t about escaping the world—it’s about building a better one, together.
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