For fall break, the Mckays are attempting their first familial backpacking trip.

K-9 has been before, but we've never brought the kids, so this is going to be a lot of fun.

While we're out of touch, please enjoy this rebroadcast with Gary Collins about going off the

grid for a much longer period of time.

Unfortunately, Gary passed away this fall, but he left behind a lot of great tips about simplifying your life.

Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast. Many dream of leaving the city in all of its tethers and obligations and creating a simpler, more independent life farther from the mainstream population and entirely off the grid.

But how do you go from that daydream to making such a move a reality?

Well, my guest walks us through the process today. His name is Gary Collins. He's made the leap himself and now lives off the grid in northeast Washington.

He's also the author several books on off the grid living, as well as simplifying your life.

We'll be in our conversation today with why Gary decided to leave his conventional urban 9-5 existence to find a freer lifestyle and how he defines being off the grid.

We then get into why Gary thinks she should make the move to living off the grid in a series of steps, the first of which is to simplify your existing life in three main ways.

Gary then makes the case for why living in an RV should be the next step in your journey before discussing the process of finding land for your off-grid home and the factors to consider and picking a locale.

From there we get into how those who live off the grid take care of things like water, sewage, power, and internet, how they construct the house itself and what to know about the start of cost and ball.

And we enter a conversation with a discussion of getting off the grid in a more metaphorical way by quitting social media, why Gary thinks she should pull the plug on these platforms even if you're an entrepreneur.

After the show is over check out our shunnaz at a-wim.ias slash off grid Gary joins you now via clearcast.io.

All right Gary Collins welcome to the show.

Hey thanks for having me on Brett appreciate it.

So you have written a series of books about going off the grid and in addition to you've written a book is about simplifying your life.

And you're an expert in this stuff because you actually moved off the grid.

I mean so tell us your story of why you decided to leave the city and how you started getting going to moving off the grid.

Yeah it's it's an interesting one because I am unique I didn't realize it at the time that I actually write about what I do instead of making it up as I go along and write you nice little books that you want to hear.

I write the books that you need and some of it you may not want to hear but you need to hear.

...