Dropout 2020

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

This book is for people wanting to drop out and live a sustainable lifestyle as a framework for their lives. Some of you want to escape the rat race, work online or locally, and have a natural and peaceful existence with your family and loved ones. Others want to drop out and live a more serious, sustainable, and survivable existence. This book is for everyone looking for a new life in the country because they are not happy with the way the world is going at the moment, spiritually, economically, technically, and politically. It is a basic handbook outlining the basic groundwork of dropping out, with a mixture of information from my past as a dropout in the 1960s and modern-day prepping skills and technology. The reasons for dropping out have increased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed governments around the world as being unable and unwilling to support and nurture us in times of need and disaster. Simply and seriously, we must do it ourselves. We don't know the future for sure; what we do know is that we want to live long and sustainable lives with a minimum of interference from corrupt governments and corporations.

This book can help you build or restore your own house, grow, cook, and preserve food, and take care of your health and education. It also offers up spiritual insights and options, as well as living and working within a small community. What it does best is provide a good starting point for a new life free of the materialistic pressures of modern living while also returning to the basics, which are and always will be golden. Technology has only just started to enslave us; there is a lot more to come: AI, robots, space wars, digital money, surveillance, social credits, and more pandemics. A war between the ones with their hands in the till and us has begun. If you stay in the system, you will have little choice but to obey. Once you're out of it and relatively independent (plus a few guns), you should be able to live a good life with likeminded people.

In the past, I have built my own house, organized a watering system, developed a productive vegetable garden, and lived happily in a community of likeminded people, back in the 1970s. I have lived through the past and the future: no telephones, no TV, a few cars, no Internet, and now, a world full of people who can't wait for their next fix: playing a computer game and taking another hundred selfies. I am not Christian or of any other religion. I am like this because I want to keep an open mind and heart. I can say that many Christian beliefs and values are under threat, and that threat is coming from socialists and communists who have a history of killing and torturing religious people. I sincerely hope that the basic Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Native American, and Hindu philosophies, and wisdom are not lost. Without them, we will succumb to a world government that doesn't give a rat's ass about people, their lives, and their inalienable rights.

Living in Castlemaine was a struggle sometimes, but we loved the outdoor lifestyle and the freedom it brought. I would like to go back to those good old days after years and years of working at jobs and struggling to survive, getting crazier by the hour. Now that the future has arrived, there is no choice but to drop out and survive, or at the very least make a plan and find the perfect balance between a new life in the peaceful countryside, working online, and being prepared to survive any situation. The major step is to live somewhere peaceful, safe and nurturing. You must decide here and now if you want to be one of the top city dogs and be prepared to walk over anybody and anything to survive. I am not prepared to do that.

I hope the idea of everyone being born equal and having equal rights, and people working together to maintain those equal rights even if it means using a gun, is the new religion without any political, racial, or financial dogma. What I see in communist China is a mirage of rising living standards accompanied by a total loss of freedom. Perhaps they have a nicer home than before, and perhaps they have more food to eat, as well as more debt and stress. There’s no freedom if the Communist Party doesn't like you because of your religion or politics. Then you're screwed.

I hope you get a lot of valuable information out of this book. I will update it more and more over the next 12 months so I can cover every possible scenario that you may need to understand if you have dropped out and feel isolated. I suggest you save this file, print it out, or read it all and take notes on the specific things that relate to you right now. There is no other option. Whether you drop out with money or drop out with no money, it is much the same idea: a basic home, a basic farm, basic tools, basic animals, basic food, basic, basic, basic. That's because you don't want anything too complicated that's difficult to fix, maintain, and manage.

You need things that will sustain you: fishing rods that work; push bikes that don't break down; motorcycles that are easily fixed. You need to run everything on diesel and have a large diesel storage tank, and that storage tank needs to be hidden very well. Camouflaging it so people don't know you have a storage tank underground would be ideal, and now is the time to put in a tank. Make sure you have a diesel vehicle. I'm not sure about a diesel motorcycle, but a large amount of diesel could keep you going for years and years, including a diesel generator, a diesel water pump, a diesel truck, diesel lighting, and diesel heating and cooling. There are important things to consider, whether you are dropping out or are a prepper or farmer.

You should always consider Richard Overton. Following someone with a small footprint on the planet. Someone with a simple life and a simple philosophy about life and being happy. What brings you joy and what brings joy to your family? Going back to the basics means going back to being loyal to each other, loving your family, spending time with your family, cooking nutritious food, growing food, using herbs for your health, and educating yourself whenever possible. Stop playing computer games, stop watching movies every night, and get rid of your TV. I haven't had a TV for 15 years. 

You don't need a complicated car with lots of computerized parts. You need a simple farm truck, like a Ford F100, that runs on diesel and is easy to fix. Simple communications: a heavy-duty walkie-talkie and/or ham radio. a simple gun that is easy to clean and easy to maintain. Even wind-up clocks could be good. A wheat grinder; lots of bulk food; and knowing how to store the bulk food without it being damaged and going bad. Control your vermin. Make sure you have no rats, ants, or bugs in your house; they could ruin your food. I love baked beans, so buy as many cans as you can (or use navy beans to make them), which is a little bit on the prepper side.

Even if the world settles down in the future, you can always have baked beans and chili on sourdough bread smothered in cold-pressed olive oil. When it comes to olive oil, you'll need to stock up on large drums of high-quality olive oil as well as bags of wheat. When you are cooking, especially in the winter, you can cook on a wood stove (it will warm up your kitchen). I used to have a wood stove and could cook anything in it; all you need is some wood. If your house is near a forest or grove of trees, you can collect some dead wood. Firewood would be a fantastic option, so you're not having to depend only on diesel for your heating and cooking.

Somewhere to fish would be very helpful, like a river or lake not so far away. A place where you can ride your motorcycle, mountain bike, or even walk. You can dry some fish as well. In Asia, they salt and dry it.

If there are some rabbits, you can shoot some as needed. My father loved eating braised rabbits and curried crayfish. I dropped out for many years, and it cost very little to live on the basics. The amount of money we spend now on one night's dinner could keep us alive for two months. Now is a good time to change our philosophy on life. We have to look at the simple teachings of wisdom and love from many religions, follow our conscience, and do what's right.

When you drop out, it's a good idea to drop out of the systems running around inside your brain—the ones the system formed when you were young, innocent, and vulnerable. By your family, your school, religions, governments, and imaginary heroes You don't need any of that anymore. You don't need a religion, a sports team, or to follow anyone; you just need to prioritize yourself, your family, your environment, and your survival. You also need to understand that the word god refers to the energy in the universe. God can appear as a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, YOU, a Red Indian, an Eskimo, or an Aboriginal, among other things. God is not exclusive, but inclusive.

You can be happy and fulfilled without belonging to any team. Belong to your loved ones. We belong to a family that also belongs to the environment and the universe. We play an important role in inclusiveness.

You must be free from everything that creates confusion and negativity in yourself. Follow your inner voice; you are a spirit, you are intuitive, and you are a tree.

Love the Ones You're With

Love them more and more.

When I moved into the forest at Castlemaine, I was still scared of the dark. For many years, I stayed close to the house at night in case the scary goblins, witches, and monsters attacked me. This was when I had a partner. One night, after being single for a week, I had enough of being scared. I went for a walk; it was a full moon, and I said, yelled, and cajoled, Come and get me goblins; come and get me, witches, and nothing came and got me; they were more scared of me than I ever knew, until now. From that night on, I was free of all childhood scary things and could walk through the forest at night and go anywhere anytime, which was the most wonderful feeling ever. Build your lives together.

When you go and drop out in the country, maybe it's near a forest or in a forest, and you can't see a house anywhere, you feel all by yourself. When the night comes and the moon rises, you may be like me and run inside, lock all the doors, and hide in the bath. There is a better way: face your fears, go out for a walk just like I did, and embrace the moon, the stars, and the noise of the forest. Feel no fear ever again; after all, we are animals too, and all things natural are part and parcel of who we are too.

Catching sheep

This sounds a little crazy, and it was a little crazy. On my little block of land, I had five black sheep, and every year someone had to come and shear them. They were quite wild, and it was difficult to catch them, so I came up with a brainwave. I got an old blanket and walked into the small field where the sheep were and laid under the blanket with my hand ready to grab their legs when they walked past. I put some food around the edge of the blanket and waited for what seemed like hours. I can't remember if it worked or not. I'm sure it didn't work, and they made a complete fool of me, and afterward, I drank two buckets of water after nearly asphyxiating under the blanket on a hot summer's afternoon. If you are doing something sometimes and you think you feel crazy and you don't know what you're doing, just remember me and the time I was under the blanket trying to catch the wild sheep for the yearly shearing, and laugh and keep going.

Swimming holes

Because Australia is very hot and sometimes it is 45 or 50°, people like to go swimming, and all we had was a giant lake full of dirty brown water. To get to the water, you had to walk over rocks and mud. Once you were in, it was okay. It was wet and cool like there was water everywhere. After an hour of Outback Australian bliss, we got out and sun-baked on some rocks before heading back in. It was a far cry from surfing in the ocean where I was born. Yet, it's still a lot of fun to go to the lake and go swimming. I've gone skiing on it a couple of times. Out in the middle, the water is blue instead of dirty brown, reflecting the sky above, as if you were sliding on heaven, wow, until you fell off, and your heavenly dreams crashed back down to Earth. Water can feel hard at speed. It is good to get away from crowded beaches and swimming pools, have some fun and recreation and have a picnic by the river or at a favorite swimming hole. If you have a lake nearby, you can spend hours and hours relaxing, swimming, sleeping, and snacking with your family. It is an awesome thing to do.

Horse Riding

The second time I lived in a forest, my wife loved to ride horses, so I learned to ride horses too. We bought two horses and two saddles, and we would often ride out the gate out of town, up the hill, and into the forest without knowing or caring exactly where we were going. The horses would walk up hills, then run down the other side, and always try to turn and go home.

I recall riding with you one day. I remember one day we drove for four hours until we came to the forest's end, miles, and miles away. We climbed a mountain and saw a beautiful view of farmland adjoining the forest, all the way to the city of Melbourne. After a nice picnic, we rode back, and, oh, oh, the sun was already starting to fade, and we weren't sure how to get home. Never mind, we thought the horses knew how to get home by themselves, so we let them take us. The sun went out around halfway, and it was so dark that you couldn't see all the large spiders smacking into your face from their webs between the trees. You also couldn't see the branches that tried to poke your eyes out. All the way you could feel and hear the click, click, click of the horses’ hooves, dying to get home to eat food and rest after their long walk. Eventually, and amazingly, around 8 p.m., we saw the lights of town. Two crazy riders and two very tired horses shuffled down the main street, then into bed. We all slept very well that night. If you have enough food for them and acres of forest and mountains to ride in if you need to go bush for a few months, horses can be a lot of fun and practical.

When you drop out, you can do some fun things that might cost extra money but are good for the soul. Instead of riding bikes through your land to go fishing, you can go fishing and hunting with your horses. I guess if you're using a gun, you're probably going to want to use it off the horse, but there's no reason you can't ride your horse to the river and catch some fish and go swimming in the river. Going on a picnic with horses is truly amazing.

Water system

My water system didn't exist before we bought the small stone cottage, which sat on a small rocky hill just on the edge of the forest. There was no well, no river, no water tank, and not a lot of rain. In Australia, the summers are hot, and it never rains during the summer months. One day I saw what looked like a puddle of water, which turned out to be a sinkhole in the bottom of a dry creek near the house. I bought a single-stroke flywheel engine to pump water up to a tank near the house, which meant a trip down into the creek every couple of days to pump water. I was glad to have it, but sometimes the water ran out and it wasn't that convenient. The next step was to hire a bulldozer to dig a dam inside the forest and up the hill, allowing water to flow down to the house by gravity. This worked well, but it wasn't high enough to feed into a header for the house; it was OK for the garden, though. I still had to use the pump.

When you are organizing your water, you must think about what you would do if you had no electricity or power for your pump. This is a good reason to have a lot of diesel in storage and a diesel water pump. Say you run out of diesel and don't have electricity. Then you must think about gravity-fed, solar-powered, or windmill-fed water. If you have the resources and there's a good spot above the house between two hills with a small valley where you can put in a dam using a bulldozer, it will catch the water and it will gravity feed to your garden and your house; you can use it instead of pumping from a river or a well, and you can fill it full of fish. That's something to think about.

In Australia, people have dams everywhere; they are the only source of drinking water for cows and sheep. Windmills are often used to pump water from a dam to the house and domestic animal troughs. You can also use a windmill to pump water from an underground stream, by drilling down to it and sending a pipe down to the water. Windmills are very common in Australia. I don't know about the rest of the world, but they just run by the wind, and they creak, groan, and rattle as part of the natural environment and daily sounds and rhythms. Pumping water into a tank all day long for free. If you have gravity feed from a dam, a windmill, and diesel-powered water pumps, you will always have water.

Building

I have a large section on building your own house; this is an update. It is important to look at other buildings to learn how to do your own. It is possible to follow house plans, and you can make your plans, but the most important thing is to look at other buildings. Whenever you go to a friend's house or into town, look at how things are made, write a few notes, and start a recipe book on building. Make notes and sketches about the size of beams in the wall and the roof. Always carry a tape measure with you. Measure everything; oh, it's an 8x2 inch beam; OK, I know that now. And how do they attach the beam to the roof? And what size are the doors? Measure the doors—OK, that's a door—and look at the windows, and measure the size of the windows. When you're inside the house, measure the height of the ceiling. OK, now you know whether it's 8 feet, 9 feet, or 10 feet.

A recipe book for building may take you two weeks; it may take you two years, as long as you're filling it up with interesting little bits of information on how things are made. If someone has a barn, measure everything and sketch the beams and angles.

Now you know how big a barn is. 30 feet by 60 feet; how high are the walls; what did they cover the barn with? Is it covered with boards? What size are those boards—are they 6-by-1-inch boards? Are the boards natural, or did they put some kind of stain on them? OK, it is a black stain; what is that stain? Find out what it is if someone knows whether it's wood stain or old sump oil from cars that are good for keeping wood waterproof. Look at how the frames are made and if the poles are made of concrete, steel, or wood. These days, people use steel more than wood. If they are steel, measure the size of the steel, and before you know it, your recipe for building will give you a delicious and yummy building. Then all you must do is make sure everything is vertical and horizontal, using a spirit level and square.

Once you make sure everything is square and vertical, you can build anything, and when in doubt, make it bigger. I made some of the beams on my house bigger than they needed to be. It's better to be safe than sorry. You can build a whole house using a hammer, saw, trowel, spirit level, tape measure, and a chisel. Building a simple house is easy once you have your recipe book. Even if you do have plenty of buildings nearby to copy, you can also look on the Internet and look at other building books to get more recipes and ideas. Maybe you need to build a staircase; fill out your recipe book with a staircase recipe. What angle is it, what size are the treads and the risers, and how do they sit the treads and risers into the boards on the sides? How do you go around a corner, etc.?

You wouldn't cook a meal without a recipe, would you? Without a recipe, you have no idea what it will be like. High on your list of things to do is create a building recipe book, and if you already have a building or have bought an old house, you can start a renovation recipe book. You can fill it with lots of new ideas about what paint to use, how to get paint off, undercoats, how to repair broken windows, and how to replace broken tiles, and you can do all this from the comfort of your home. Many people will buy a property while they still live in a city and spend time getting everything ready before they move in, so this is a good time to get your recipe book in order. You only need to look up a peachy, I've got a broken window. How do I get it out? How do I put a new one in? How do I cut glass? What materials do I need? What tools do I need?

Recipe books

This book you're reading is a bit like the recipe book I'm talking about; you should make your own. You'll need a construction recipe book, a gardening recipe book, a fruit tree recipe book, a water recipe book, a security recipe book, and a fishing recipe book to build your life, future, knowledge, strength, and power. Not only can you use your recipe books to reference how to do something when you need it, but so can your family and children. They will value these very much when they can just go to the book, open it up to a staircase, and build one. Or open it up to a pizza oven; oh, now I know how to build a pizza oven; yay, we can eat pizza; open it up to spinning wool magic...

Relationships

It is important to have family meetings when you drop out because you will have time to work together as a team. I feel every team member should feel equal at these meetings, no matter how old. Many things can then be decided in a meeting, voted on, and talked about. The most important thing is what people want to do, and this should not be decided based on sex or age. If a girl or woman wants to build, she can build. If a man wants to cook, let him cook. In a traditional farm environment, you can imagine the woman baking cookies and the man out there riding his horse and bringing in the cows. That's fine if that's what people want. My idea of equality is choice; regardless of your age, your race, or your sex, all things can be done by choice.

But, given that all religions give power to men and that the religions were run and written by men to seek power over women, some corrections to this myth are needed. No one has power over anyone. People are people; maybe women and men come from Venus and Mars and do things differently for different reasons, sure, but never take away someone's freedom of choice based on what the Bible says, what your father says, what your mother says, or what you think is normal. Remember that our bodies are vehicles for our souls. They are different, like snowflakes and clouds. They do not reflect who we are inside. You should never let yourself be imprisoned by your body because your soul is not white or black, rich, or poor, female or male. Be open, support everybody, and do unto others as you would unto yourself, which is really, important when you drop out. You don't want any tension (carrying baggage) or unnecessary stress, pain, or suffering. You want to have the best of the best; you want to maximize your happiness and your joy, and there is no way you can do that without freedom of choice.

Meetings and conversations about daily affairs and no boss—absolutely no boss—only teamwork I believe children are smarter than we give them credit for. They are wiser than we give them credit for, and I think they are only small because they needed to come out of their mother's womb. Because their bodies are small, this does not imply that their brain activity or heart function is small. Over many years of working with children, I've discovered that if you treat them like a baby, they'll be a baby; if you treat them like an equal, they'll be equal. Children are what you make them; they can't fend for themselves. They don't know some things about the world, but you're feeding them and supplying them. Like a dog that is loyal to you because you give them food, the moment you stop giving them food, they will not be loyal anymore, so don't overuse your power. Don't think that you're the boss because you're an adult and you're so smart; children must do what you tell them.

If you are like this, you will not get the benefit of their wisdom or their creative genius. NASA conducted research and discovered that children as young as seven years old are natural creative geniuses who can tap into their souls and spirit. Much easier than adults, and according to NASA evidence, we should listen to our children much more frequently because they operate on an alpha mind wave level, which is more aware, sensitive, and astute, so don't be too proud, don't be too willful, and be humble. Dropping out is a humble way of life. Be equal; do not be better or worse than others. Enjoy your equality, enjoy your place in the world, enjoy being a cog in the wheel, and put your ego, your will, your sense of power, and your sense of fame on the shelf. Humble is everything; it is pure happiness; it is pure love; it is how we are born and how we will die.

Chapter 2: DWELLING, LAND AND LOCATION

Buying Land

40 years ago, I bought an acre of a rocky hillside surrounded by forest. There were two neighbors, about 1/4 of a mile away, and then none for miles. The forest had regrown out of the same inhospitable rock and clay that our small stone cottage sat on. In summer, the forest crackled and groaned under searing 45-degree heat. For the first year, the only water we had was in an old 44-gallon drum full of mosquito larvae, which sat horizontally on a few stones outside the back door. And to keep warm, we lit big fires in a big open fireplace. We cooked in an old pot over an open fire, usually lentil stew, and bathed in a sheet metal hip bath. We did sleep in a pretty good bed. No electricity, no radio, and no TV either. No mobile phones or Internet. I'm sure you can start better than this; if not, don't worry. I was content with the few material possessions we had because the freedom and peace that money cannot buy were priceless.

Some people want to drop out and start a small farm with a few cows, chickens, some crops, and lots of fruit and nut trees. Others will prefer a house nestled into a forest of trees with a small vegetable garden.

If I did it again, I would buy around seven acres of fertile land, surrounded by a creek and trees. I would have some nice neighbors and be a motorcycle ride from the nearest town with a population between five and 20,000. If I had enough cash, I would buy land with a house and barn already established on it so I could spend most of my time doing my work online or my art. And in my spare time, I would take care of a large vegetable garden, a fruit orchard, and my chickens and cows. Any spare cash would go into solar panels and batteries and lots of storable food.

Location

The first thing to consider when buying land is how many acres you want—farmland or forest, near family or work, and your general political leanings. Next, I would consider if it has Internet, trains for some commuting, and even an airport nearby. Does it have a church or temple that I like, and is there a national park nearby for hiking and fishing? The annual rainfall and accessibility to firewood and fishing spots are also important. Good neighbors are critical as well. You will need to get along for security and social reasons and help each other in times of trouble.

The cost of land and houses would also have a significant impact on my decision regarding my budget. Consider the weather and annual rainfall. Do I need regular rain for my crops, or do I like lots of snow or desert? Some people love to be close to the ocean. It is possible to find fertile land within a motorcycle ride of the ocean. And the ocean could be a great source of food in the best and worst of times, just as hunting and fishing are inland. Being close to rivers and lakes ensures that you will never go hungry.

Dwelling

There are four options for obtaining your new home. The first one is selling the one you are living in now, in a city, and buying 10 acres in the countryside with a house and barn already attached. The balance of the money from the sale is invested in gold, silver, and the upkeep of your small farm. It would be good to go somewhere where most of the locals, the municipality, and the government share the same values and beliefs as you and where there is some employment: nurse, police officer, teacher, etc. Also, if you are working or selling online, go where there is reliable Internet. You'll need a water supply (dam, well, pond, or river) as well as some wood for fires and structures. Some machinery and equipment would include a tractor, a windmill, solar panels, a diesel fuel tank, and a chainsaw.

The second option is to stay where you are in the city and save money to buy a few acres. Once you have the land, you can build a small house using stone, timber, concrete blocks, or bricks. The land is what gives you freedom—somewhere to go or stay in times of trouble and chaos. You can also save for the materials you need for your house, barn, and machinery for as long as you can work.

The third option for people who don't have a job or have little money is to ask family members, if they have any, for an acre of land to slowly build a house on. 

The fourth option is if you are renting an apartment in a place like New York and have no money and no family and want to get out. I would look at a map and choose where I want to live for the rest of my life, apply for any kind of job there, rent a house, save money, buy an acre of land, keep saving, and build my own house at weekends. After a few years of this, you will have a home.

Owning your own home outright with no debt is an incredibly liberating feeling. It takes a couple of years of hard work to achieve your goals and dreams. Your home would normally be a financial decision: the more money, the grander the house. It doesn’t have to be, though. It could be wiser to invest large amounts of cash in gold and silver for an uncertain future. Furthermore, the type of house suitable for dropping out and prepping differs from the party house. You would benefit from large cooling verandas, cellars for food under the house, lots of shelving, cupboards for preserves and bulk foods, and a large country kitchen for cooking all that natural, homegrown food.

When purchasing an existing house, the materials may not matter stone, wood, or concrete, as long as the land is good and in a good location and there are verandas and cellars.

If there is no house, then you will have to decide what kind of house you want to build. If it were me, I would build one using concrete blocks between concrete pillars with a steel roofing frame, a corrugated iron roof, a large pantry, and a cellar, as well as a tiled concrete floor. I would have a small backup solar system and use diesel to power some of the machinery I had. It is easy to build a house with concrete blocks. You buy around 8 to 11-foot-long, 6-inch-square concrete poles. Stick them around where the walls go by digging a 2-foot hole and putting them in concrete. Then pour the floor and the concrete footing at the same time. Lay the concrete blocks between the poles. On the top of the poles, weld steel all the way around and weld the rafters and battens. Then attach the roofing tiles or corrugated iron. Trust me, it is simple.

River

It is probably a good idea to have a nearby river where you can fish. It would also be a good resource for water in general and a great place to relax. It can generate electricity through hydroelectric power. Aside from fish, most rivers have other types of food.

Freshwater fish like bass, perch, bluegill, and catfish Migratory fish such as salmon, trout, and striped bass Many invertebrates provide food for fish.

Trout thrive in highland streams, while catfish lurk near the bottom of slow-moving water. Migrating fish, like salmon, must swim up to cooler, stony places to reproduce. Floodplains provide calm, shallow waters, allowing fish to grow larger before swimming out to sea. Even the smallest fish play an important role. Foraging fish swim upriver to multiply, then head out to sea, providing food for commercially valuable seafood. For example, in Louisiana, in North America, many people eat fresh crawfish, gulf shrimp, and even alligators and turtles from the river!

Rainfall and Temperatures

There are rainfall maps available on the Internet and from your local government offices. The average rainfall should be considered when deciding where to live, as well as soil, rivers, lakes, dams, wells, fencing, neighbors, work, airports, the Internet, family, friends, trees, and any dangers like bears, snakes, spiders, etc.

Temperature is another important consideration. Some people like it hot and others like it cold. Hot weather is beneficial for growing most things if you have water. You will need to insulate your house very well, to avoid using an air conditioner in summer. Cold weather will not grow some things and you will need to insulate your house very well to keep out the cold. It makes sense to live somewhere with moderate weather, not too hot or cold.

If you used Australia as an example for moderate weather, you would choose to live in the state of New South Wales, north, south, and west of Sydney. If you go further south to Melbourne, the weather is cold in the winter and surprisingly hot in the summer. North of New South Wales, in Queensland, it gets hotter and more humid. good for growing tropical fruits and old age.

Friends or Family

If you have moved from the country to work in a city, then it is good to move back home to be close to family and friends. They will be friendly and helpful, and they will have a lot of good contacts. If you have reservations about living close to family, remember what Jesus said: Forgiveness is yours, says the Lord. The cultures of many countries that are not originally from England, like Asians and many natives, are completely different. In Australia, most children are grown up at the age of 18 and are ready to leave the nest and not come back. Whereas, in Southeast Asia, families love being close and living together—go figure. If you follow what Jesus and Buddha have said about being humble, then it is easy to coexist with everyone because you have nothing to prove, lose, or gain. I am talking from personal experience here. I've been brought to my knees, and I love being humble because I can live in peace with anyone.

Work

The kind of work you do when you drop out depends on so many things. Do you have money saved up? Are you a qualified teacher, nurse, policeman, ranger, doctor, or preacher? Are you a handy person? Can you work online? Are you an artist, a builder, or a craftsperson who can sell your work locally or online? Do you know how to grow crops of food, wine, and flowers and then make products from them that you can ship anywhere in the country? Do you have healing skills like a herbalist, astrologer, masseur, or psychologist? Could you grow cannabis and make CBD oil? Are you a great chef and capable of creating nutritious food in your restaurant or packaging it and selling it all around the country?

It is important to prepare to drop out. A few years of planning will make the experience much more survivable. You will need to have money or save money to buy a few acres with cash. You will need more money to buy a house than to buy the materials to build one. This can be done in stages. Once you have enough money for the land, house, and setting everything up, you should invest money in your career. That means if you want to open a small Mexican restaurant, you will need to study to be a Mexican chef. If you want to grow and sell herbs, then you should take a course on herbs. Same with all the suggestions above. There are good, certified courses on all of the above and more. This will give you the experience and a piece of paper you need if you want to supplement your work with a part-time job in town.

The future will be a 50/50 balance of high-tech and traditional jobs. There will always be a need for a builder, nurse, herbalist, teacher, etc. If you are drawn to technology, then sitting at home and pumping out code could work for you. Many options have already been implemented as a result of the Chinese virus. For many people, this book is redundant. If you have plenty of Bitcoin stashed away, then you will pay people to do everything you need and buy whatever house and land you want. For people on the edge of the economic cliff that are vulnerable to being wiped out by external catastrophes, this book is relevant because it covers a gamut of survival from very comfortable to subsistence. And you never know, even Bitcoin millionaires could go bust.

This book could be relevant to everyone at different times.

In the past, I dropped out and lived on next to nothing, as explained in this book. I have had the experience, I have walked the walk, and even though there were no dramas in the world at the time, the simple and sustainable lifestyle is still (maybe more so) relevant in an uncertain and catastrophic future. And yes, I had no telephone or Internet. I did have a small portable 12-volt TV that I ran cables to from my Toyota truck—not that I ever watched it. When you are connected to a screen, you are not chopping wood, lighting a fire, cooking dinner, painting, writing, drawing, singing, playing guitar, planting vegetables and fruit trees, making a rocking chair, preserving food, playing chess, having a bath, fishing, hunting, riding a bike, shooting, baking, playing, swimming, loving, conversing, praying, contemplating, communing, breeding, building, sewing, sporting, fixing, meditating, yogaring, restoring, renovating, making, painting, sawing, massaging, herbaling and lots more.

To sum up, the more you can buy while you have a good job, the less you have to worry about later when you don’t. The main difference is that you will be investing in your future, not in designer clothes and gadgets.

Lake

It is good to have some water nearby: a river, lake, stream, ocean, or dam. You don’t need it for the views; you need it for food, water, and recreation. You should buy land within 1 mile of a good water source. Far enough away to be private, but close enough to walk or ride to reap the benefits. If you need water for your crops, then you will have to drill for it, make some big dams, or live adjacent to a decent-sized watercourse.

A lot depends on the price you can afford and whether you want a lot of neighbors or not, as well as a secure place to live and defend. If you are moving somewhere where you don’t know anyone, you will need to know the demographics. People’s politics, religion, etc. so that you can eliminate some negatives; you don’t want problems with the locals. Some people say their home is isolated, but they have four or five neighbors that all get along and are prepared to work as a team in times of trouble. This sounds like a plan.

I can imagine a lake would supply much the same resources as a river. Fish, shellfish, water, and recreation. It is likely to be more populated than typical farmland, with a river running through it, and it will not provide electricity. Being within a few miles of both a river and a lake could be a good option.

Soil

If you are planning on farming—vegetables, herbs, flowers, cows, chickens, wine, etc.—then you will need good soil. You will need to buy a small farm. If you want to only grow some vegetables, you don’t need a lot of soil. It is easy to truck in enough soil and chicken manure to make a vegetable garden.

There are rules about registering your food as organic, which means buying farmland that has been heavily sprayed with Roundup is not a good idea. There are organic organizations that can advise you on how to run an organic farm, including what to buy and what not to buy.

Organic Certification

USDA Organic Certification: What’s Involved?

Pre-Assessment

PJRFSI now offers Virtual Pre-Assessments

USDA Organic Certification In addition to its other food safety and quality standards, PJRFSI proudly offers USDA Organic Certification! The familiar USDA Organic stamp assures customers shopping for any product that the operation from which the produce was sourced met the USDA's stringent standards. Earning this sort of recognition from consumers can be exceptionally helpful to producers of all sizes and scales.

PJRFSI - Accredited Certifiers Association

PJRFSI is now a part of the Accredited Certifiers Association!

Organic certification is typically a simple five-step process:

Organic processes are adopted and implemented, a USDA-accredited certifying agent is selected, and applications and fees are submitted.

Certifying agent reviews applications and practices to verify compliance.

An on-site inspection of the operation is conducted.

Certifying agent reviews the application and inspection reports to determine compliance.

An organic certificate is issued.

Once certified, a farm or business must go through an annual review and inspection process to maintain certification.

FAQs:

Q: What is the cost associated with becoming certified organic?

A: As with all other types of certifications, costs depend upon the size, type, and complexity of your operation. PJRFSI is happy to offer free certification quotes to give a more custom-tailored answer to this question.

Q: Is there a transition period?

Yes, no prohibited substances may have been used on land used for the production of raw organic materials within the past three years. If the three years has not been fulfilled, no claims of organic may be applied to the product, and USDA seals may not be used.

Q: Do I need to become certified organic?

A: According to the USDA, operations (farms, handlers, processors, etc.) that sell over $5,000 worth of organic products per year and vendors who handle (package, stock, etc.) and sell products online (not brick-and-mortar) or otherwise deliver organic products should all be certified.

International organic certification may have additional requirements please see the USDA’s International Trade web page for further information.

Cellar

I have never had a cellar. The closest I came to one was my mother’s laundry. My father stored his wine and beer in it, along with lots of old books. This is not a subject in which I excel. A dedicated temperature-controlled room is essential for storing food and wine, as is a big pantry off the kitchen. You will need plenty of options to store all your bulk food. Some things could be stored in bins in a cellar and in jars in your pantry. When it comes to planning for an unsettled future, you can’t have too much. The good thing about learning how to buy and store things in bulk is that you can buy them much cheaper and don’t have to go shopping all the time. With a vegetable garden, free-range chicken eggs, and a few fruit trees, you can conjure a lot of food using bulk wheat, beans, seeds, and nuts. So, depending on the dryness of your cellar and the different seasons, it could be the hub of your new life.

A root cellar is an old-fashioned winter food storage and preservation method. In the broadest sense, cellaring is any form of storage that holds food in optimum condition for an extended period by controlling the temperature, humidity, and light. Today’s modern root cellar is the refrigerator. However, if you want to maintain a supply of food without the use of electricity, then some knowledge and practice of root cellar preservation methods are useful. No matter where you live, you can use the concept of cellaring to some degree.

There are several options for storing seasonal crops through the winter. The cellaring method depends on your resources as well as on the type of food to be stored. A food storage cellar does not have to be a stand-alone building or an old-fashioned root cellar in a dirt-floor basement. In the city, you have several options for storing food, whether you live in a house, condominium, or apartment. A food storage cellar can also be a cool basement closet, a box buried in the ground, or an attic. If you garden, you may store crops in the ground with heavy mulching.

Types of winter food storage preservation methods

A root cellar is the classic winter storage cellar and existed when houses had unfinished basements with dirt floors. This lack of construction made the cellar cool, drafty, and relatively humid. The open, non-insulated root cellar had adequate airflow that, despite the high humidity, discouraged condensation on the walls. In contrast, a cold room is a finished but unheated room in some modern homes.

A cold room, unlike the root cellar, is a finished but unheated room in an otherwise warm, dry basement. The basic difference between a root cellar and a basement cold room is the construction. If you have a cold room or a basement that is partly below ground, you may be able to create a usable cold room. The trick is to design the room as if it were an exterior space. The key element of the construction is to insulate the ceiling and interior walls, leave the exterior walls uninsulated, add a vapor barrier on the warm side of the house, and install an insulated exterior door with weather stripping in the cold room. Most importantly, add two screened, adjustable vents that provide a warm-air outlet and a cool-air intake. Ensure the floor is made of a porous material (dirt, cement, or composite deck material is better than wood or linoleum). Finally, build shelving away from the walls to promote air circulation within the room.

Any type of indoor cellar requires a method to control air temperature and relative humidity. Depending on the type of food to be stored, a root cellar or a cold room needs cool temperatures, ranging from 32°F to 60°F, and higher than average humidity—between 60 and 90 percent relative humidity (RH).

Buried containers make a convenient root cellar or cold storage space for winter food storage, especially root crops. The container should be new or clean and should not have previously held nonfood items. Suitable containers include new metal or plastic garbage cans and plastic storage bins. Drill holes in the bottom of the container for drainage. Locate the container in an area convenient to your house but away from garages and car fumes. Dig a hole just large enough to hold the container, with at least 2 inches sticking out above ground level. Load the container with layers of vegetables, separated by straw. Cover the top of the container with 1 to 2 feet of insulating material.

Makeshift cellars are another simple and easy way to store seasonal crops over the winter.

Basement utility rooms, especially those with a furnace, tend to be warm and dry. This type of room is suitable for some types of vegetables, such as winter squash and onions, as well as dried and canned foods. Attic rooms,