In the spring of my junior year of high school, I decided to travel to Colorado and live there for four months with 50 other students. I did all of my schooling, while also going on several backpacking trips in Utah and a winter camping expedition in the Rocky Mountains. During my time there, I had no phone, lived in a cabin with no electricity or heat, and chopped wood in my free time. So, yeah. I was pretty off the grid.
I consider my time there to be one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Not only did I learn so much about myself, but I was also challenged in ways that I didn’t know were possible. I don’t think many other people I know can say they survived sleeping through -32º weather in an igloo (yes, an igloo) they built themselves, or that they climbed a mesa at five in the morning to see the sun rise in the empty deserts of Utah.
But beyond hard skills like avalanche training or wilderness first aid, here are a couple of the most valuable things I learned during my time living off the grid:
- How to Pack Light
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As someone hoping to backpack across Europe this summer, this skill is going to be a blessing. I remember on my very first expedition, I wanted to pack a whole pack of q-tips, nail clippers, and a jar of vaseline in addition to all my other basic toiletries. When doing pack checks, my instructor laughed at me, telling me that I absolutely would not need or use these things out in the backcountry. Although these felt like basic necessities to me at the time, he was right. They did not come out of my pack once during the whole trip (well, the vaseline did, but then it just got dirt all in it and I couldn’t use it anymore). I’ve always been told that it’s better to have something and not need it, then to need it and not have it. But that logic is reversed in the world of backpacking. If you don’t use it on a daily basis, you likely won’t need it. And even if you do use it on a daily basis, you probably still don’t need it!
Photo by Annie Dizon - The Importance of Self Care
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When I say self-care, I don’t mean taking a relaxing bath, doing a face mask, or spending time in bed when you’re stressed. I mean taking care of your basic human needs: eating when you’re hungry, keeping yourself warm, drinking enough water, and having basic hygiene. You’d be surprised how difficult it can feel to take these basic measures to take care of yourself while in the backcountry. I remember one night, midway through one of our Utah trips, I had to pee in the middle of the night and it was freezing outside. And did you know that holding in your pee actually uses up some of your body heat? So instead of just getting up and going to pee, I continued to just lay in my sleeping bag, cold and uncomfortable, hoping I would somehow miraculously fall asleep. Spoiler alert: I did not. When you take the steps to take care of yourself, your body will thank you for it.
Photo by Annie Dizon - Resilience is a skill.
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If nobody’s told you yet: you’re a lot tougher than you think you are. Mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. Like I said before, my time in Colorado challenged me. Looking back on it now, I can say that with a certain kind of nostalgia or reminiscence – but in those moments, it certainly did not feel that way. I’ll never forget crying on the second night of my winter expedition because of how hard it was, having to skin up the snow-covered hills with our 30 lb. packs on our backs and 40 lb. sled attached to our waists, and shovel snow for hours to build our igloos. I prayed that either a blizzard would hit or that I would break a bone so that I could get sent back to the warmth and comfort of civilization. But as the days went on, it got easier. And at the end of it, I felt a sense of pride for not only what I had accomplished, but how I was the one who pushed myself through every single second of it.
Photo by Annie Dizon
My time living off the grid was valuable and life-changing, beyond just the notion of being “disconnected” from the normal hubbub of life. I got to connect with myself, the people around me, and nature in ways I never had before, and it turned me into the person I am today. So, even if you’re not going to live off the grid for four months (though I really think you should try it), I hope you can think about the ways you can “get off the grid” more in your life!