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In 2011, Sylvain Tesson left his home in Paris for a 6 month stay, on his own, on the edge of Lake Baikal. He stayed in an old geologist’s hut that was heated by a cast-iron stove and attempted to lead a “simple life and claim back time”.
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world and contains nearly 20% of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater. The lake is a Unesco World Heritage Site and is 395 miles long, 49 miles wide, 1,642m (just over a mile) deep, and 25 million years old. In fact, the lake is so huge that the surface area is as large as Belgium and, at normal walking speed, it would take you 4 months to walk all the way around it.
Off-grid living has the potential to become one of the most amazing experiences or life changing moments in one’s existence. However, if the destination is Lake Baikal, the chips are stacked against you. It is not the extreme environment or the wild and fierce creatures lurking in the dense wood that you will succumb to. It will be the extreme solitude, isolation and loneliness. One must mentally prepare for the marked change from the abundance of faces around you in the city, to the only face for miles and miles is that of your own reflection in the shimmering water.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/may/31/siberia-cabin-lake-baikal-russia. He was driven there by truck in February when the temperature was -30 degrees Celsius and the ice was a metre thick. It was a 6 day walk to the nearest village and a day’s walk to the nearest neighbour. His equipment included: “an axe and cleaver, fishing poles, kerosene lamp, ice drill, saw, snowshoes, tent, liquor glasses and vodka, cigars, provisions (pasta, rice, Tabasco sauce, coffee) and a library of almost 80 books”. Although his time in the Taiga was an experiment and not a complete emigration, Tesson still needed to account for and appreciate the enormity of the solitude he was facing out there.
“Cabin Fever” is an expression for a reason. Cooped up, alone in a hut for days on end can send someone into a spiral of depression. Tessson said that the pain derives from, “the sorrow of not sharing with a loved one the beauty of lived moments” and also “what others miss out on by not being with the person who experiences it”. Routine and remaining occupied are two ways to combat loneliness.
Tesson was warned prior to leaving Paris that boredom would become his worst enemy. He therefore decided to immerse himself in literature. With a library around him, he suddenly had an abundance of friends and stories to be listened to. His collection extended from philosophy and poetry, through to nature books, non-fiction and fiction. DH Lawrence would stir his senses. Nietzche and Schopenhauer would keep his mind …

The freedom and tranquil bliss of canal networks are attracting young people to take up a transient life on the water. With a comfortable, live-on-board narrowboats averaging between £20,000-£30,000, its clear life afloat is cost effective. And it’s a global trend, everywhere from Silicon Valley to Northern Europe. Nowhere is it more true than the center of world finance, London, England.
A report from Swiss Bank UBS says London is “less affordable for locals who wanted to buy than any city except Hong Kong” https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/oct/29/london-house-prices-most-overvalued-world-ubs. Foreign investment and enticing buy-to-let schemes have made it near impossible for young Londoners to even contemplate owning their own home in the future.
Walking along the Regent’s Canal between Haggerston and Islington, it is easy to see what attracts people onto the water. The life of houseboat residents is idyllic. Moorhens, swans and mallards drift alongside the porthole of your bedroom and as the sun sets on the bow of the boat, the bars and restaurants that line the canal are just outside your front door.
Its a sustainable life on the canals. Residents are well stocked up with firewood for their wood-burners and a stalwart part of the top deck is the 25kg bag of coal. Water buts for excess water are used as storage on most boats. The main supply of water is procured from pumping stations along the canal. Similarly, waste is disposed of at sewage stations. Many houseboat residents have large sacks of compost and soil in order to grow small vegetables and herbs on the roof of the boat. Whilst passing by one delightful canal boat one mile from Angel I was welcomed by the face of Jeremy Corbyn. The inhabitants of this particular boat had planted a Support Corbyn poster outside their vessel. There is a sense that the younger members of the canal community are a left leaning group who were seeking to define their own water based sub-culture. A warming sight whilst strolling along the towpath were two men, back from work, enjoying the evening on the water. They had speakers set out on deck, a crate of beers, and a PlayStation linked up in front of them proving you can still get hold of all the home comforts you desire.
I spoke to Daisy, a 27 year old Londoner who will be moving onto her houseboat in early February 2016. Having spent her early twenties moving from rented flats in east to west London and a brief stint in a woodland commune in Surrey, the housing crises in the capital caused her to consider narrowboat living. When she came into some inheritance, the first thing that came into her head was to buy a canal boat and with her boyfriend’s carpenter expertise they set about renovating there £30,000 boat over the course of a year. Solar panels are fixed onto the roof and will …