Vonnie Mallon used to be Visual Director at Urban Outfitters. Now she lives in an Earthship in New Mexico. “They knew how to take more than you can give,” says Vonnie of her old employer.
But Vonnie was not forced out – she left while her career trajectory was still on the up. She had realized that if she wanted her marriage to work then she had to be home more, and that the money and stuff she got from working was worse than useless if she did not have a happy relationship.
So she and Pat moved to Taos, New Mexico. Live is tough. One of their neighbors had a home invasion not so long ago. Now they are all armed. The landscape is empty and harsh. But the Earthship they bought, pre built, is warm and efficient.
New freinds are joining their community, and the vegetable garden is doing suprisingly well given the conditions. They recently bought a greenhouse.
Find out more about Vonnie in Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America
6 Responses
Living off the grid, manu of you wrote to me wantof others.ing to join our community. The reality is,it’s more complicated than you walking up and saying”here i am,take me in!”the problem may not be you but with people comes problems,like to fugitives,perverts,thieves,ect.you get the picture. We would lobe to takea you in but we have a responsibility
Well, the book is not actually for sale at the moment, until the end of the month. I will be releasing some extracts then. And the book is not a how to. It does not tell you how to set up a solar system or build an earthship or grow veggies, although it does include all sorts of tips along the way.
It is mainly about why people are choosing to go off the grid. The kind of living arrangements are an important part of that.
As far as showing viewers round her house – I would like to do that, but my editing skills are not up to it – if anyone out there is good at video editing, please could you help? I have hundreds of hours of footage.
This is a Great idea, but i have to agree with Patrick, this article doesn’t really give readers a detailed account of their transition or even detail what it is that they are actually doing……theres basically two key points to take away being she quit her job and they now live off the grid…and thats it…..unfortunately it just comes across as more of a plug to buy the book then anything!
I am interested in hearing more about living off the grid. Any good reliable websites?
Shallow? if this subject is shallow to you and the reasons people do it, why are you here?
These sorts of “articles” never get past the shallow decision/philosophy angle of the story. There’s no practical views (e.g. the inside of the “earth ship” dwelling, or what the property looks like). So, the whole thing stays “theoretical”, and leaves people (viewers) with nothing but a photo and a comment (about her decision to “leave the rat race”). What makes this special? … Nothing, as far as I’m concerned!