# Help me become a hermit **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348 "2003-05-20T17:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348/21 "2003-05-22T16:17:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mack \* > \*\*You probably don’t want to cook on your woodburning stove. You have to get the stove really hot, and if it’s already hot out things can get kind of, well, hot. I suppose you can just take all your clothes off since it doesn’t matter anyway. > > Propane can be used for cooking _and_ refrigeration, so you might want to look into that. > > Also 150 square feet is a wee bit more than 12 x 12 so your furniture should be in the singular (table, chair, cabinet, etc.) 😃 > > If you’re going to grow stuff to eat, you need to protect it from from all those critters who like to come around and dine on your splendid garden. So you’ll need some good fencing or other methods for keeping deer, rabbits, etc. out. > > You should rig up a system to catch and store rain water. Also locate a good spring. You never know what’s being dumped in a river. > > Bring lots and lots and lots of books. > > And a hammock. Gotta have a hammock. > > Make sure you can do what you want on your land before you pay for it. For instance, a composting toilet probably won’t fly if you’re on watershed property (nobody wants your poo in their drinking water). Also, code enforcement officers are well aware of all the tricks and “temporary” shelters that become less than temporary, so you’re better off finding a place where the rules (or lack of) fit your lifestyle. > > If you’re going to use a car, pull out the front seat and use a log to sit on instead. That’ll score you some major hermit chic points. As does holding stuff together with baling wire. Forget the phone. Phones are for wimps. Think Ham Radio. > > Whatever you do, stay out of debt as much as you possibly can. That’ll kill ya. \*\* The stove - I’m going by my experiences in a cabin with one, and I didn’t find it overwhelmingly hot. Even so, where I’m planning on going gets pretty cold in the winters. (I should add that my plan also includes using the winter to live with friends and do some kind of work to get a little money since it is nearly impossible to be 100% self sufficient. Plus it’ll beat fighting off the winter.) 12x12 - I was using my bedroom as an example, and it has room for a bed, 2 small tables, a dresser and an ironing board. Along with enough floor space for all my clothes 🙂 It would be adequate. Criters - Good point. (Note to self, get **more** chicken wire. Water - No worries. I’ve been drinking out of those rivers all my life. Books - I will need kindling. 😉 Land restrictions - I’m looking at unrestricted land. Also the composting toilet is [self contained](http://www.biolet.com/). My goal is not to be a “hermit” but I’m just tired of worrying about working/money/bills all the time. I don’t care if 100 people live right next to me! ---
**Author:** ![kaycee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@kaycee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaycee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348/22 "2003-05-22T18:11:24Z")
Clayton\_E for a quick look around Oregon, you can use this address: [http://www.tripcheck.com/RoadCams/roadcams.htm](http://www.tripcheck.com/RoadCams/roadcams.htm) The camera images in the middle between Hwy. 97 and Interstate 5 are all mountain passes. In the eastern part of the state are also trees, but high desert also. ---
**Author:** ![Feynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@Feynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feynn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348/23 "2003-05-22T19:26:38Z")
I’ve been pondering and planning on similar lines for quite some time although we won’t be living as hermits. I would like to take my family with me so will need more spacious accomodations than a 12 by 12 cabin. I’m looking at building a sub terranian home out in the country with about 2000 sq feet of living space. I have a frind who shares these ideas and he wants to purchase land with us and share some of the common expenses like building our geothermal system and solar array. If you search “earthship” you will find some great ideas on design and the technology needed to build a completely self sufficient home that requires no outside energy input. I’ll still need an internet connection as my business requires that I have access to the w.w.w. for products, customers, and information. I might just have to make due with a 56k dial up or set up a satellite link instead of having the high speed cable access we have now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348/24 "2003-05-22T19:39:55Z")
Theres an entire subculture built around this. I looked into it a few years ago but decided it wasn’t for me. Check out the book [Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000 by Brian Kelling.](http://shop.store.yahoo.com/dirtcheapbuilderbooks/travhomun501.html) or the [homestead.org](http://homestead.org) website. ---
**Author:** ![Alto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Alto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alto)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348/25 "2003-05-22T19:45:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > \*\*I’ll probably be writing, so that will be my main source of income. \*\* It’s very difficult to make a living, even a minimal one, by writing. Most people who set out to, don’t. It’s particularly difficult to get started. If you’re far from libraries and you don’t have internet access, you won’t be able to do the kind of freelance research articles a lot of people use to get by. Before you disappear into the wilderness, try to have published enough that you have a ready market of people who know you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-become-a-hermit/176348.md?page=1)