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volleypc
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2013 04:37pm
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I have lingered on this forum for a while but I do not believe I have ever posted, at least not about the cabin I am building. The plan is for a simple 16 x 32 with a loft. I used 14' studs and balloon framing to provide room for the loft. My desire is to be totally offgrid so I tried to utilize a passive cooling design. I left trees on the south and west side of the cabin, I utilized reflective foil on the sides and a high reflective metal roof in the design. I limited the number of windows on the south and west as well. I still have alot of work to do but I have been in the cabin for about a year now and I am greatly enjoying the rewards of my efforts.
A little about me. I hiked the Appalachian Trail a few years ago and it really was a light changing experience for me. Prior to the trail I worked for a real estate developer whose homes averaged about $500k. When I started hiking the trail I gathered everything I wanted to take with me. It literally would not fit in the pack, and even if it did there was no way I could carry it. So I weeded out items I didn't need and ended up packing only items I needed.. or so I thought. After about an hour carrying that weight through those Georgia Mountains you realize there are things you need to get rid of. It was the third day that I got to the first real place where I had access to the post office and could ship things home. By that time you were pretty mad at yourself for thinking you needed all these extra items. You carry everything you need on your back for 6 months and then when you get home you look around and see all these things you have that you really don't need. You pack up the items, take them to goodwill, go home, and then realize you still have too much stuff. I was pretty restless my first year back from the trail and started putting together a plan to go offgrid. The plan had to work around my investing heavily. It is not that I want to retire, but I do want to BE ABLE TO retire by the age I am 52 (soon to be 40). So I stick to my investing budget and use money left over to work on the cabin or the property. It is a slow go but I am getting there. Currently I have about 10 panels running from 100w to 150w. With this I am able to run my freezer, refrigerator, television, stereo, and lights. I am working on jetting a shallow well, and if I am able to utilize a water source, I should be able to run the well pump as well.
I am now starting to add the smartside panels and then windows. I am going to go ahead and add a few windows so I have an exit in case of fire, but after that i will add windows as the budget allows. They have all been framed already.
A rendering of the plan
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Recent Construction Photo
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MJW
Member
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2013 06:34pm - Edited by: MJW
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Great story.
I meet more and more people who have had a similar "life changing moment" of one sort or another and have made drastic changes to their life and lifestyle. Something that makes you reevaluate how and why you live the way you do and think about the life you really want to live.
Most people today, especially in the US, confuse wants with needs. Some time spent in a country where most live with little more than the basic needs of life and many don't even have those will open your eyes to what is really important.
I am really looking forward to more of your story and am especially interested in your solar set up. We are getting really close to having to do something with ours and the solar experts I have spoken with here in my area are not very helpful. For some reason they seem to want to keep it all a big mysterious secret. 
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oldbuddy
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2013 05:31am
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Great Build! How about some inside and updated outside photos? I like the sound of your plan to retire at 52. I hiked "part" of the AT back in '62 with the Boy Scouts. I was eleven then and we hiked 62 miles in 5 days. It was a great experience. We covered (started at) Caledonia State Park near Gettysburg, Pa and ended up in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. My wife and I returned to our starting point two years ago while visiting Gettysburg and what a flood of memories that I had once I noticed the white "hash marks" on the trees going through the woods. Where are you located? Keep up the good work...I'll enjoy reading your thread.
Old Old Buddy
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2013 06:00am
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I'd like to retire that young too but I need medical insurance being part of a group plan is saving me a lot of money and I can get the preventive tests I need to prolong my life. How are you going to be able to afford medical,dental and vision insurance if you retire that young?
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volleypc
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2013 08:57am
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MJW - I am working on a wiring diagram and some photos of my solar design for my blog. I will pass it on to you when I have completed it.
oldbuddy - That is a great part of the trail. I really enjoyed Harpers Ferry. I spent an extra day there. Not the cheapest place on the trail, but it is full of history and scenery. And I am in Northeast MS by the way.
Anonymous - Fortunately I learned two things at a young age. First, it's not how much you make that's important, its how much you save. And second, it's not about how much you invest, it's how early you start investing. I could have done more when I was younger.. wish now I had, but by that age using conservative calculations I will be at about 1.3 Million. Currently I am investing about $100 per day (that is my goal anyway and I stick pretty close to it). The only bills I have are gym membership, cell phone, car insurance, and a few magazine/kindle subscriptions. I have an excell spreadsheet that takes me all the way through age 85 with my goal investments and how much I spend each year during retirement. Each year I make more than I spend even using conservative numbers. When I retire I plan to spend the first 5-6 years hiking/cycling long trails that are on my bucket list. My expenses during those years will be minimum. I would have 20 years in and be able to retire through my company in 2030 (age 58) and have my insurance paid during retirement, but if my financial goals are reached I am going to leave my job and see this great country. Having said all of this.. I would like to say that I am not a big fan of planning things out in such a way that you feel you have to do x in 2015, y in 2016, etc. But I do want to know I am going in the right direction.. and that I am doing. Things can and will happen that I can't plan for, and that is fine. If it doesn't workout that way I envision that is fine too.
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Purplerules
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2013 09:08am
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I look forward to more of your story, thanks for sharing.
Very inspiring!
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