For those of you who may have missed it, California has been having a bit of a power problem. Pacific Gas and Electric, or PG&E for short, is the nation’s largest utility company and supplies approximately 5.5 million Californians with power, but when about 500,000 to 2,000,000 businesses and residences go dark, it’s a problem. I’m finding that the number of customers that were affected by the shut off vary depending on what you read. Some had their power restored earlier than others so I’m not completely clear on the number, but I digress. Let’s just say it was a whole lot.
What was the reason behind the shut off? Safety. High winds posed a danger for some communities up and down the Golden State and being that investigators had found that PG&E power lines started the devastating Camp Fire on November 8, 2018 that claimed the lives of 85 people, destroyed over 18,000 structures and burned 153,000 acres, there was cause for concern. So off the power went.
Having your power supply cut off is certainly inconvenient for most, but not for us. To be frank, we really didn’t skip a beat. Boondocking (or dry camping, as it’s also known) is living in your RV or travel trailer without traditional hookups like water, sewer or electricity. Most trailers or RV’s are made for this type of living, and in my opinion for a great reason… to get away or disconnect and take a break from “normal life.”
Living the full time trailer life is a simple life, and when desired, or in this case mandatory, it becomes an “off grid” life. No problem, we’ve been there… multiple times. Parked in the middle of the Utah desert, at high elevations in Idaho or on the beach in the Gulf of Mexico we were living “off grid,” completely self contained or boondocking. We had battery power that was recharged and supplemented with a generator and a fresh water tank that can hold about 35 gallons or so. So when the blackout hit our current residence in Northern California…meh, no big deal.
Life moves slower when you disconnect. It harkens back to simpler times, and when I mean simpler times I mean the early nineties. You know, right before the internet. Sometimes it’s nice to get back to that time and just slow down. This reason among others is why my wife and I decided to give this life a try. We wanted to try something different. Our life felt stale, stagnant and well, kind of boring. So why not throw caution to the wind and begin to live our life to the fullest. Have adventures and experiences that we wouldn’t have had otherwise by being stuck or tied down to a multitude of responsibilities and engagements or by being buried by an avalanche of stuff and things that take up every nook and cranny of our sticks and bricks home.
So instead of succumbing to a traditional way of living we decided to blaze our own trail, give our kids and ourselves a different perspective on what it means to live a more fulfilling life full of adventure, experience and gratitude all while retaining the simplicity that we desire.
Excited to follow you guys!