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Houswives star publicity still in Green dress
People

Teri Hatcher living in a van for her YouTube series

In a great piece of self-promotion, actress Teri Hatcher first encouraged and then denied the story that she was down and out and living in a van.

in fact Ms Hatcher allowed herself to be Papped sitting in her VW Microbus while filming a series called Van Therapy.

“Teri Hatcher is ‘Desperate For Cash & Living In A Van’said one discussion in ‘Celebrity News and Gossip’ started by yaso1, yesterday at 3:56 PM.

In a pristine vintage VW bus? I don’t think so.

“Teri Hatcher Shocking Photos Living Camper Van.” said another headline.

“Getting off the grid is white people’s version of being woke,” said another chat board comment

“I would love for it to be true but I doubt it. Homegirl has been working since the 1980s plus she has residuals from multiple tv shows” said another commment.

Teri Hatcher herself spoke out on Thursday against Star magazine’s claim that she’s broke, homeless and living in her van, calling it ‘totally absurd.’

The 53-year-old actress told KTLA 5 ‘It’s categorically false. I am not broke. I have done very well investing my money. I’m not homeless. And I’m not living out of my van.’

She continued: ‘I am shooting my YouTube series Van Therapy in my van.’

Her interview with KTLA 5’s reporter Sam Rubin took place in London on Thursday, which is International Women’s Day.

Teri said that this was the perfect time to talk about it, with International Women’s Day as well as the Time’s Up and #MeToo movement.

The TV star said on KTLA 5: ‘The voice of women collectively is saying “We’re not just going to take it and accept it and be quiet about it all, because we have for decades.”‘

Adding: ‘I just felt like even not for me, someone has to say “you can’t do this. you can’t egregiously lie, hurtfully, with such a ridiculous story that it’s a kind of harassment and bullying that we can’t take anymore.’

Sam reported that Terry is speaking with her lawyer about possibly seeking legal action.

Teri has owned the green 1978 VW bus camper for many years but has never lived in it.

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Tara Westover - Portrait
Community

Tara Westover – Off-grid abuse

The shocking story of Tara Westover which she tells in her recently published memoir ‘Educated’ casts an undeserved shadow on off-grid-families and their ways of life. Off-grid abuse is not the norm.

It seems like Tara came a long way from growing up on a mountain in Idaho with her radical Mormon family of survivalists to studying at Cambridge University and writing a book that is surely going to make waves. Just the story of her being sent to work in a rubbish dump make scary reading.  But there were compensations as well.

“There’s a sense of sovereignty that comes from life on a mountain. It calms with its very magnitude, which renders the merely human of no consequence.”, Westover says as she describes her old home in the book.

Young Tara suffered from severe emotional and physical abuse by family members and had no access to medical care or higher education for most of her life. ‘All abuse is foremost an assault on the mind.’, Westover states.

While this story is heartbreaking it is a shame that it may give the alternative lifestyle of being off-the-grid a negative reputation.  Living in a remote, self-sustained community can be a wonderful experience, even for families.

I personally think that children should be given equal opportunities when it comes to education or going to college and be given the choice whether they want to spend their lives living off-grid or not. The issue in Tara’s case, so it seems, is that her parents were very anxious and paranoid about the ‘outside world’ (Westover had no birth certificate for 9 years, she was told to sleep with a knife and her and her siblings weren’t given medical care when injured).

There is no excuse for parents to abuse their children in any way, and although I don’t believe living off-the-grid has led to that kind of behavior, it certainly makes it easier to conceal.

I think it is crucial to always be open when raising children and to show and teach them as much as possible, to allow them to find out what is right and good for them, and give them the option to set goals and follow their desired path in life, even if it something the parents disagree with.

Tara’s parents allegedly did not give here those options and tried to keep her away from society as much as possible while limiting her physically and mentally for many years growing up.

The author has taken impressive steps to get to where she is today and I am very excited to read ‘Educated’ and find out more about her view on off-grid-living and also perhaps some of the positive aspects of it.

Tara Westover now is on her way to becoming a confident successful author and despite her strict Mormon upbringing she seems to have recovered from her childhood of off-grid …

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Peru View
Featured

Alone in the Peruvian Desert

Although every place on this planet is unique in its own way, Peru manages to stand out above the crowd because of its many natural and cultural aspects. This has astounded people for hundreds of years and still fascinates them today. So pack your camping bags and running shoes because here are the best Off-Grid places you can visit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its always a great thing to meet new people and to learn about new cultures, however Peruvians tend to make this act an even more enjoyable experience. Most Peruvians are hard workers, extremely polite, peaceful and curious about the interest of their visitors. So if you ever visit, don’t hesitate to talk to a local!

Peru’s various climates crates a diverse ecosystem and natural variety, all in one country. You can enjoy a drive in the desert and then end up by the ocean. it is one of the only places where its desert meets the sea. The combinations and varieties are endless. Peru is also known for its beautiful beaches, of Herradura, Costa Verde, and Puntas Rocas – all located in South of Lima, Peru’s capital. For a good time in the sun, sand, and crystal clean waters; you can go to popular beaches like Pucasana, Punta Sal, El Silencio, Punta Hermosa, and Santa Maria. Peru makes it perfect to do many short budget trips that allow you to experience this natural variety.

There are so many ways to discover this incredible country with Peruresponsabile.it You can book your honeymoon trip, or book an unforgettable stay in the Amazon with one of their collaborative communities. You can also walk among the Peruvian Valleys with one of their hiking trails or finally drive on the remote landscape in one of their off-road vehicles!

Watch Video Here: https://youtu.be/u8DSoulj7jM

For more information on Tours in Peru, please visit: https://www.peruresponsabile.it

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Nate has plenty of room in his camper van.
Community

Camper Van Featured in UK Tabloid

The Sun is featuring Nate Murphy, a Brit who decided to turn his white van into an RV in just 17 days to travel the world. These kind off adventures have gotten very popular over the years and this featuring in Britain´s most -read newspaper is a sign that more people would like to live an off-grid life!

“I did an interview for a media organisation that sold my interview. It was really cool that The Sun wanted to write about my van”, Murphy tells.

A world adventure
Nate is a professional rock climber and uses the camper van to travel between climbing destinations around the world. The camper van has been turned into a fully functional leisure vehicle, with sleeping room for two, seating space, running water, LPG Central heating and electricity from a 300 watt solar panel.

“It is designed so I do not have to plug in anywhere. It is a very comfortable way if living as I do not rely on anything else than the van”.

The rock climber says the biggest challenge in the process of building the van is that if you are going to do it quickly, you have to make sure you have everything delivered at the right time.

“I worked 15 hours every day and I would say the whole process took me about 250 hours work,” he tells.

Living on a shoestring
Nate´s nomadic life style has taken him to some of the most expensive cities in Europe, where he avoids accommodation costs, saving a fortune in hotel bills.

He has lived out of the van for a year and travelled through Europe, Asia and the United States, where he just returned from.

His plan for the summer is to sell the van if he can get a reasonable price for it. With the money he wants to build a new van.

“I really enjoyed the process of designing and building the van, so I would not mind doing it again”.

So far Nate has not made any big plans for the summer yet, but is looking into doing rock climbing in Norway. Initially the plan was to spend up to three years in his van, but the climber has realised he enjoys the lifestyle so much that he wants to continue for indefinite time.

Makes money from his Youtube-channel
As well as doing rock climbing and living nomadically Nathan Murphy is a Youtuber with more than 80,000 subscribers. You can see more of his adventure here

Want to go on an off-grid adventure? Check out this farm stay in Central Vietnam!

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Coolio at the Great GoogaMooga Festival
People

Coolio ‘preparing to live off the grid’

American Rapper Coolio has told a newspaper he is preparing for a social collapse and plans to end his days off-grid.  “I’ve acquired knowledge of people and the world — knowledge that will help me survive in any given situation” he told the SundayTimes. ” I can track stuff. I can fix a car. I can build a house. I could build a wind turbine if I wanted to.

“I’m preparing to live off the grid, without electricity, air conditioning and heat. You could say it’s preparation for an apocalypse or a natural disaster. The poles are shifting and I’m not optimistic about the future,” he said.

Coolio,  best known for his hit single Gangsta’s Paradise, would like to get rid of the entire tax system — and believes tax is illegal under the US constitution.  “If I was in charge, I’d get rid of tax completely. I’d get rid of money too. I’d go back to the barter system. In my opinion, and according to the constitution of my country, tax is illegal.”

The Grammy award-winner, who says he is not on good terms with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), believes investing in people, gold and diamonds is the best way to save for his retirement. He admits, though, that he has an expensive shoe habit and buys a pair “at least once a week” — sometimes for as much as $1,000 [£785].

He does not personally own any property – “Property can be taken away from you by “eminent domain” [the right of the government to seize your property]. That can happen to anyone in America. I’m going to put all my money in people, gold and diamonds.

 “As for gold and diamonds, that’s something you are always going to be able to use to get food and water. I’m thinking ahead to the time when a bottle of water is going to cost $10. Hopefully, I won’t live that long, but I think that time will come.

Back when he was starting, said Coolio “to make ends meet, I hustled. I sold things: drugs, shoes, jewellery, whatever I could get my hands on. The name of my first album was It Takes a Thief, you know? I’ve been around the block a few times. It made me determined — determined to not live like that for the rest of my life. I got mad at myself. I told myself: “You should be doing better. You’re smart enough — you should be Steve Jobs [the founder of Apple] or someone like that. Get off your ass and go get some money.

“I had to sleep in my car. Sometimes I didn’t have enough money to pay the rent and would get thrown out of where I was living. Other times, I went hungry. I was fortunate in that I had good friends around me who would …

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millie bobbie brown wide smile
People

Comic Con star yearns for Bora Bora

“Stranger Things” fans gave Millie Bobby Brown — the 13-year-old breakout star of Netflix‘s sci-fi series — pure and unmitigated rock-star treatment on closing day of this year’s Indiana Comic Con.  highlights of the session – she yearns for an off-grid life and she hates shopping.

Brown’s Q&A was peppered with bio info you might find in a teen-focused magazine from the “Stranger Things” era:

Where would you like to visit? “Bora Bora, because it’s off the grid.”

What’s your favorite color? Purple.

What’s your TV obsession? “Friday Night Lights” and “The Vampire Diaries.”

Music favorites? Gorillaz and Whitney Houston.

Give her space when she’s eating in a restaurant or trying to catch a flight.

And don’t bother sending Eggos, the breakfast treat closely identified with Eleven. Brown is wary of hidden cameras and poisoned waffles.

When doors opened to the large hall where Brown answered audience questions, the first of 500 or so attendees ran to grab prime seats as if the event were a Harry Styles concert. It took exactly one fan into the session, 13-year-old Addison Tuttle of Lexington, Ky., for Brown to field her first request for a date.

After someone said Brown’s YouTube videos are a source of encouragement when this particular fan feels unwanted or unimportant, the “Stranger Things” actress stepped down from the dais to deliver a hug. Tears fell for multiple fans when given the chance to talk to the actress who portrays telekinetic youngster Eleven.

Christy Blanch, the Q&A’s moderator and owner of Muncie’s Aw Yeah Comics store, paused to note the affection in the room.

“I have been doing this for four years, and I have never seen this amount of emotion in questions,” Blanch told Brown.”I did Carrie Fisher’s panel and nobody broke down like this.”

Brown, a native of Spain who spent early years in England and now lives in Atlanta where “Stranger Things” is made, appeared comfortable in the setting.

She agreed to pose with a Godzilla action figure supplied by a fan who asked about Brown’s role in the upcoming film “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” When asked to showcase her rapping skills, Brown said she felt like singing and belted out an a cappella minute of Emeli Sande song “Read All About It (Part III).”

Wearing black, low-cut Chuck Taylor tennis shoes, Brown told the story behind the Victoria Beckham-designed rabbit shirt she wore this Easter Sunday.

“I hate shopping,” Brown said. “My mom tricks me into going shopping. She says, ‘Oh, we’re just going to get Starbucks,’ and here we are! We were in Target the other day, and she said, ‘Just try on this. It looks really cute and you can wear it to the con.’ I said, ‘I’m not trying it on. Just buy it and we’ll see if it fits.'”

Regarding the signature pink dress with the Peter Pan …

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Digital Detox, phone, smartphone, social media, internet, camp, off-grid, technology
People

Digital Detox: let your mind off-grid

Rising heart rate, a sense of panic, breathing becoming shallow and inconsistent. It is highly likely that you have experienced these very symptoms at some point during your life. Perhaps you were in a confined space, feeling claustrophobic, or you were in a large crowd feeling disorientated….or perhaps you misplaced or lost your smart phone. Maybe you hadn’t even lost it, but the battery symbol was flashing red – oh no my cell’s going to die! If this sounds like you or someone you know, chances are you have smartphone separation anxiety – a.k.a. “nomophobia”. This has led to the need for us to have a digital detox.

What is “nomophobia”?

This term was coined in 2010 and relates to the feelings of anxiety linked to losing your phone, having no network coverage or when your battery is running low. Researchers at Iowa State University have found that there are four main components to nomophobia. The first is the fear of not being able to communicate with people or being in contact; the second is losing connectedness in general; the third not being able to access information and the fourth is not having the convenience that a smartphone brings. Watch the video below from Iowa State University to find out more about nomophobia.

But why does this anxiety happen?

Smartphones and technology have many benefits, but it has also infiltrated every aspect of our daily lives. Let’s face it, we rely on our phones an enormous amount – because they can do so much! Need directions? Check a date in the calendar? Don’t know the answer to a question? Need to make a call? More often than not, we all reach for our phone. If we think about it, they organise and navigate our daily lives more than we think.

Research has shown that we rely on our devices as much as we rely on a life partner. That is a scary thought – surely a device can’t replace someone as important as a spouse or significant other? The psychology behind this subconscious thought process though is very interesting. If we have a reliable source of external information on a specific topic, then we are less motivated and likely to remember that information for ourselves. If we need the answer to something we go to our reliable information source.

Before now, these reliable sources of information would take the form of people, and to some extent still do. For example, my dad knows a lot about cars I however, live in blissful ignorance and know very little. But I know all too well I can go to him for help so I am less motivated to learn and retain information about anything car-related.  The exact same process happens in our brains except now we don’t turn to people for help, we turn to our smartphones. Why should we bother remembering …

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Prepping, prepper, survivalist, survival, off-grid, expo,
People

A Survivalist’s Top Prepping Tips

Last month hordes of prepping enthusiasts and survivalists turned out for the Survival Expo in Richmond, Virginia. Vendors like Preparedness Essentials were present selling prepping  products from long term food storage solutions to solar power to tactical gear. One of the vendors was Joe Fischer, a firefighter and air force veteran turned business owner who promotes survivalist training. His business USURVIVEALL also sells survival equipment like the Firestarter which retails at $25.00.

“Preparedness is a way of life.”

Joe is a strong advocate of versatile items in a grid down situation. The essentials in the trunk of his car include pouches of tuna, rice and beans and tea lights. But two key pieces are his bandana and some black tape. Why? They are versatile! A bandana can protect your face from bugs, act as a water filter and be used as a bag to carry berries or other food. Whereas, black tape can be used as a bandage, for repairs or lashing things together to make a shelter or some other construction.

Fischer doesn’t prep for civil unrest, economic collapse or the end of the world, he simply wants to be ready for a particularly bad storm, tornado or power outage. Versatility he believes is the key to surviving.

His top prepping priorities are:

  • Fire – not only for heat and cooking, fire is an important resource for purifying water. It also has soothing abilities; anyone who’s sat by a crackling fire knows how calming it is. Therefore, it helps put you at ease, as Fischer points out, “every animal on earth is afraid of fire”.
  • Knife – common sense prevails, this is an extremely important tool for any survival situation and can get you out of some sticky situations.
  • Shelter and water – a product like a mylar blanket not only keeps you warm but can be set up as a shelter. It can also be used to collect water. Plus, it’s cheap and easy to pack, folding down into a small square for transport.
  • Cordage – something that doesn’t cross everyone’s mind, but is just as important urges Fischer. Cord can help you string up a shelter or a rain tarp. Not to mention if you need to do some climbing (up or down) this can be the difference between life and death.

The next Expo coordinated by RK Prepper Shows is being held in Springfield, Montana on June 24th and June 25th. Tickets are priced between $12 – $14.50 for adults and $5 – $7.50 and can be purchased online.

Surviving societal collapse

Even though Fischer doesn’t believe in prepping for end-of-the-world scenarios, two South Carolina law makers have a different view. Josiah Magnuson and Jonathon Hill have set up the “Virtue Solution Project”, a group which aims to save America… or survive societal collapse. Based on a mix of religion, …

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How I Relax – by Jessica Ennis-Hill

Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill DBE is a retired British Olympic Gold track and field athlete

“The Peak District in the UK is the most beautiful place. I’m maybe biased because my grandparents live there in the village of Castleton. As children, me and my sister spent a lot of time out there and the nearby villages, off on adventures. I’ve got lots of great memories of us as a family.

My grandparents live just below the castle, and we would go sledging on the hills and in the summer we would get ice cream and go for long walks. I didn’t like long walks when I was little but we used to a really long one up Mam Tor. Now I look back and think it was fun.

Going to Derbyshire is the opposite of where I lived growing up in the centre of Sheffield, with noise and traffic. Around Castleton is really hilly. Behind where my grandparents live is Winnats Pass, where the road winds up through the hills and over to Manchester. There are massive cliffs and rocks; it looks like something out of Game of Thrones. It’s really beautiful and dramatic.

My grandma used to work in the caverns at the Blue John mine and I used to love going down there. I think I’d be scared now, as I’m a bit claustrophobic. But the Blue John is magical.

When I was younger my sister and I wouldn’t want to go home. Now it’s lovely to go and visit and come back home refreshed. When I was training, I would head up to Castleton for some down time and to relax. The signal is terrible, so you don’t have to worry about emails and what might be going on back home.

You can grab a couple of days detached from everything.

I’m lucky it’s on my doorstep and I try and get there regularly. A few weeks ago I took my little boy Reggie to his great-grandparents. They love having him over. It’s weird to look in the bedroom where we used to sleep when we were little; it always seemed massive but it’s a tiny box-room.

It’s not somewhere I go to be alone. I always spend time with the family; when I go round my grandma has invited five of her friends. It’s not a place I can be incognito.

The summer is my favourite time of year as you can do so much more. When it snows up there, it really snows.

The drive from where I live in Sheffield doesn’t take long — you pass through the villages of Hope and Hathersage, where Andy and I got married. I’m excited about making new memories out there. We love taking our labrador Myla on massive walks. It’s wonderful having that connection from my childhood and I want Reggie to enjoy it too.”

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