I was born for this lifestyle

Common questions answered: Q: How do you have internet/social media but no fridge/freezer? A: iPhone, sim card with data, car charger, small generator. The land was farmland before so there’s no running water or electric infrastructure yet, it’s in the process of being put in. But we can’t have a fridge/freezer without electricity. Q: Are you just relying on the neighbors? A: No it’s a community everyone helps each other out. We are newer and haven’t had time to establish a great garden/ infrastructure stuff yet, and neighbors offering us some excess veggies isn’t a big deal. Viktor and his brother are strong guys in their 20s so neighbors love getting their help with stuff. I help too where I can but i’m not there permanently Q: California / New Zealand / buying land A: I’m from CA, my partner is kiwi. Him and his brother bought this piece land that was farmland and needed a lot of work on it to make it livable. I’m actually back in CA right now because my visa there is only temporary and i have work back home Q: Off grid / self sustaining / what are we doing A: Never said we are off grid or self sustaining, i use the term “sustainable” as i’ve been making science and sustainability educational content for years (way before i came to nz). This is just the beginning of the project so like i said above the infrastructure isn’t in place yet. We’re in a caravan since there’s no housing yet but thats in the process of being built. Q: “Meats from cows” A: Tbh it was not worded great on my part i was just rambling doing this voiceover. One of the neighbors that Viktor fishes with is also a butcher. I’m not one to eat much meat back home but I do prefer the idea of locally raised, butchered, and sold meat over shipping plastic wrapped tofu from overseas (in this circumstance). One cow produces a ton of meat so it’s not uncommon to have a bit of extra to share, but prior to me getting to nz viktor had been helping them mill some wood so it was also a thank you for that Q: Sharing stuff on social media A: Education and content creation is my full time job - this was much just sharing the beginning of my experience here as an extension of videos i’m already making! Q: Frozen water bottles? A: We refill old sparkling water bottles like a million times and use those as ice packs. We either freeze them at viktors parents place 5hrs away (which we would visit every 2-3 weeks when we needed stuff from auckland) or we freeze them in the next door neighbors extra deep freeze! he has a ton of extra space in it, better to use it than not use it. Overall basically we are newer so that’s why a lot of infrastructure and systems aren’t in place and it’s and amazing community where everyone helps each other out!! We are so grateful for all of the kindness of the nz community, i wish it was more common to be like this in cities too ❤️❤️❤️

Proof that you can't do this very well alone, we all need to look after each other

I love how she say "some meats from their cows" like they just took a little bit of meat of the cow and now it's just roaming free

If they start using the word "lifestyle" you just know it's being portrayed way too romantic.

I was homeless as a teen, kicked out illegally. Also grew up super poor. Lived between a boiler room at my job, friend’s couches and the woods with a tent set up for 2 years. I was able to save money for my first apartment but because I was so young, I would get turned down a lot. By the time I heard “yes can you sign a lease” I learned a lot about survival, like bathing and keeping super clean, eating well but cheap, saving money, shooting a bow, stocking up on water and supplies. It taught me so much about life. But now as middle class, being a parent, owning a home, would I choose to life that life again? NO but I know I would make it just fine, I am strong and have a survivor mentality! Sounds like this person may have grew up with everything and just wants to experience something else, maybe out of boredom, who knows. It’s not harming anyone.

This type of lifestyle is only sustainable for a very little group of people . I don’t even want to pretend I’m one of them …. I love my urban life and it is okay too .

This dude just worked 12 hours in a farm for a plate of salad.

Reminder that you need to be wealthy to achieve this lifestyle !!

This isn’t a “style” it’s literally just how we as humans used to live. You weren’t born for this style, you’re literally created for it.

So basically they would’ve starved if they didn’t have neighbors that needed tasks done and food to spare.

I’d take a fridge over an internet connection to upload videos about my lack of fridge

That way you washed your celery is going to haunt me for ever..😢

I grew up like this (in Waikato NZ) but with no technology - we didn’t have lights or tv or anything like that. Mum grew all our veggies that we ate and we couldn’t really get meat as it was too expensive but she milked her goat every morning and we drank that for extra protein and nutrients :) We had a little water tank that caught rainwater, and that was attached to the taps in the house trailer. Our bath was an old tin bath in the garden with a fire underneath it, the fire would heat the water :)

I honestly don't know how y'all live without water because I just did for a week and it was miserable. We had to get water from the neighbors to flush the toilet. Washing dishes was not gonna happen unless I took them to my mother in law's. We had jugs for our dogs too because we had to make sure they had water and my fish tank. So serious props to you! I was about to lose it when out pipes busted

That little bit of water ain’t washing shit lmao 😂

Honestly, we need to get back to that way of living. Neighbours helping each other when needed. I do something for you, you do something for me . I love that .

A days work: 100$ A days work: lettuce, and some LEFTOVER mince. That's seriously expensive organic groceries bruh

“This is totally sustainable, just get food from your neighbors :)”

There’s really no point in you washing your veggies if you’re only going to use a half inch of water. You’re better off pouring water over your veggies instead of swirling it at the bottom. That way the dirt can fall to the bottom right now you’re just swirling it into the dirt in the water in the bottom.

It's cool how they can exchange services with the neighbor for some goods that the neighbors own. Maybe they should get more neighbors to make the exchanges more ubiquitous. Eventually all those neighbors can build a whole society based on streamlining the exchange of their goods and services with each other, and that society can grow to eventually include almost everyone! They can even create a currency to represent units of exchange. Pretty soon, exchanging your services for the goods that you need would be seamless! Wouldn't that be amazing?