How did I get here?

Ok, so I’m actually nearly 4 years down the track now. I know, I know, my progress is
slow. That is because I have competing responsibilities. No doubt, anyone thinking of going off-grid to build an ECO something will also have many competing “responsibilities”. So, what are mine….

I’m a family man, 53, living in Sydney (Sydtropolis, as I like to call it). I’m the Director of Information Systems at a very nice private girls school in Sydney. Which is a nice way of saying I have a stressful job that requires me to solve many problems. That’s not a bad thing! The problem-solving part is a major part of who I am both at work and in building an Earthship. Call it a mid-life crisis, my gorgeous wife does. In my mid to late forties, I was depressed, like clinically depressed, really, really sad. On the outside, I was fat and pretty discouraged about how my life had turned out. Successful in my career but feeling mostly unsatisfied with life. I needed a change, a big one.

I’d always been interested in the great outdoors but seldom looked, I was a screen addict. Not being completely stupid I decided to do something about it. I did my research and went and had gastric surgery. A VSG (Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy) in an effort to get my life back from the fat I was drowning in. It worked and I’m thankful, both for the technology that allowed me to have the surgery and the finances to pay for it. I lost nearly 30kgs and regained my health.

An unexpected byproduct of that was that I started a Youtube Channel where I blogged about my weight loss journey. That ended up turning into a following and becoming part of an online community, I was an attention whore (horrible term but true). That kept me going for a year or so but I was needing to get physical, outdoors. So my love of nature arose and I ventured into the community of off-grid folks and homesteaders, when I stumbled across Earthships and that video: Garbage Warrior. Transformative, to say the least. I was munted! I absolutely 100% had to build one, I drove my wife crazy. Almost destroyed my marriage of 25+ years at that time until I hassled and cajoled the purchase of 25 acres 90mins south of Sydtropolis, borrowing half a million bucks to do so, just plain stooooopid, or was it? You’ll have to read more blogs to find out… cliffhanger vvv

Who builds a house without counting the cost first? Luke 14:28