Summary: <br> About Gary Collins:<br> Gary spent 20 years in Military Intelligence and as a Special Agent for the U.S. State Dept, U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services and the FDA.<br> After leaving the US Gov., He decided to pursue his passions and started a company promoting the primal, paleo and self reliant lifestyle.<br> He’s an author of 4 books on both Health and Fitness and off-grid living. His latest one details his off the grid project he has been working on for the last three and a half years in NE Washington State.<br> Why Should I Live Off-Grid?<br> We discuss how one person decides to create an off-grid home, and many of the troubles that he ran into. We discuss Gary’s new book, “Going off the Grid.”<br> Gary had done construction and remodels, so he wasn’t new to the concept of building a home. This helped him out.<br> Why a Book about Off-Grid Living?<br> Because he wanted to help others simplify his life, he decided to write his book about his project and the many lessons he learned along the way.<br> What Are the Main Challenges of Building an Off-Grid Home?<br> In the podcast, Gary tells us about many of his obstacles along the way, such as dealing with contractors, the time it takes to build something off-grid, going through the maze of the local permitting network, and even security issues he ran into quickly.<br> <br> <a title="TPP 131: Off Grid with Gary Collins" href="//www.slideshare.net/KenJensen8/tpp-131-off-grid-with-gary-collins" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TPP 131: Off Grid with Gary Collins</a> from <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/KenJensen8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ken Jensen</a><br> What are Some Lessons to Learn from Your Off-Grid Project?<br> Solar is really expensive, and was probably one of the most difficult pieces to the puzzle of an off-grid home. <br> Digging a well for the home was more expensive than the land itself!!!<br> The best advice for someone considering an off-grid project is to be patient! Be practical with the needs and timeline a build like this will take.<br> Be practical with the amount you will have to downsize as well. Consider downsizing in an RV as a test of how you will be in a small, off-grid home. Use this as an opportunity to visit the areas that you would want to build your home in.<br> If you can handle travel trailers, you can probably handle living in an off-grid home.<br> What is a Helpful Resource for Building an Off-Grid Homestead?<br> Backwoods home magazine was one of the biggest helps for Gary during his build. The magazine has been changing their label to Self Reliance Magazine at http://self-reliance.com/<br> Free Resources for Building an Off-Grid Home<br> Free Off-Grid Resource #1:<br> Gary and I discussed that we will provide a way for people to win a free copy of his book. The book is both hard-copy and electronic. Click the photo below for a chance to win a free PDF version of Gary’s Book, “Going Off The Grid” or go to <a href="http://theprepperpodcast.com/freeoffgrid">http://theprepperpodcast.com/freeoffgrid</a>.<br> <a href="http://theprepperpodcast.com/freeoffgrid" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> Free Off-Grid Resource #2:<br> Go to Gary’s website where you can download two different resources for living off-grid: <a href="http://www.primalpowermethod.com/offgridresources">www.primalpowermethod.com/offgridresources</a><br> Where to Buy Gary’s Book, “Going Off The Grid”:<br> (<a href="https://www.primalpowermethod.com/product/going-off-grid-hardcopy/">Buy Directly from Gary</a>)<br> (<a href="http://amzn.to/2ocPqec">Buy from Amazon</a>)<br> <br>
