Where to go off-grid in Europe

[FrankMa]

Hey,

I am planing to go off-grid, building a tiny house.
I know that you can do it without many restrictions in Poland and Sweden, as long as you stay below around 35m2.

But I prefer to go south.
Any ideas where I can do it without much regulatory restrictions?

 

[Mister]

Have you checked Portugal? It seems to be the place to be for expats now.

 

[FrankMa]

Have you checked Portugal? It seems to be the place to be for expats now.

I have researched Portugal.
For one, Portuegese people are nice, friendly, smoothly going, been there 3 times but regulatory requirements are very unclear. It seems that every district is handling it differently in regards to building a tiny house.
I was thinking about traveling the whole country by car in order to get to know the country better. Even though Portugal is a small country it has quite a different climate from region to region and different landscapes.
I really need my own land, nature, the sea, warm climate, my own water...

 

[Perry Staltic]

Don't know if it's suitable for what you want, but Romania is where the guy who fled Japan after Fukushima settled because it was affordable and didn't have a lot of regulations. Maybe you could contact him and get the low-down on the place. He does Fukushima Diary

I travelled around 10 countries in 2012, and got kind of settled in Romania in the beginning of 2013, and incorporated Fukushima Diary there. Why Romania ? Because it’s cheap and everyone speaks good English. I must collaborate with many web engineers, lawyers, designers, translators, and have to rent an apartment for head office. Everything costs less than half but the quality is the same as western world.

Just come and see it if you doubt me. Especially the internet speed is fabulous for its cost. I decided to go to Romania when Romanian crackers attacked Fukushima Diary in 2012.

Fukushima Diary

Safe to discharge? Then can you drink it?

fukushima-diary.com

 

[FrankMa]

Don't know if it's suitable for what you want, but Romania is where the guy who fled Japan after Fukushima settled because it was affordable and didn't have a lot of regulations. Maybe you could contact him and get the low-down on the place. He does Fukushima Diary

Fukushima Diary

Safe to discharge? Then can you drink it?

fukushima-diary.com

Very helpful.
Thank you.

I am an EU citizen so moving to Romania would be no problem.
I already know that it is cheap, did not know that there are not many regulatory restrictions.
The only thing I would miss is the sea, the Mediterranean sea is really nice, warm water up to 27degress celcius but as far as I understand it is polluted, not as much as the Black Sea but still it is.
I am going to contact this guy.
Thanks, very much appreciated

 

[MasterjohnFAN]

Finding a place where homeschooling is allowed should be the obvious first step as you dont want your children confiscated.

Im not like a american or anything so i want to stay in my country but as it is sweden, that is very challanging.

 

[Perry Staltic]

Very helpful.
Thank you.

I am an EU citizen so moving to Romania would be no problem.
I already know that it is cheap, did not know that there are not many regulatory restrictions.
The only thing I would miss is the sea, the Mediterranean sea is really nice, warm water up to 27degress celcius but as far as I understand it is polluted, not as much as the Black Sea but still it is.
I am going to contact this guy.
Thanks, very much appreciated

If you do converse with him do me a favor and report back how he's doing. I followed him from the time he started writing in Japan about the disaster to when he disappeared into Romania.

@Razvan lives in Romania so maybe you could talk with him too

 

[FrankMa]

If you do converse with him do me a favor and report back how he's doing. I followed him from the time he started writing in Japan about the disaster to when he disappeared into Romania.

There's also someone here that lives in Romania. Can't remember his name at the moment, but I think it begins with an R

Sure.
I keep you updated about my contact to this guy

 

[Perry Staltic]

Sure.
I keep you updated about my contact to this guy

I remembered the guy's name on this forum who's from Romania and updated my post after you responded to my post

 

[piro444]

Very helpful.
Thank you.

I am an EU citizen so moving to Romania would be no problem.
I already know that it is cheap, did not know that there are not many regulatory restrictions.
The only thing I would miss is the sea, the Mediterranean sea is really nice, warm water up to 27degress celcius but as far as I understand it is polluted, not as much as the Black Sea but still it is.
I am going to contact this guy.
Thanks, very much appreciated

Can’t you have like your residence in Romania or Albania and move around like in Italy/Spain?
I live in Italy and it’s pretty nice, I don’t really know much about living off the grid tho, as of now I’m living a “normal” life

Mind if I ask you how you’re gonna sustain yourself? Are you gonna look for a job?
Really interested into this, sorry for the personal questions :)

 

[Mister]

I have researched Portugal.
For one, Portuegese people are nice, friendly, smoothly going, been there 3 times but regulatory requirements are very unclear. It seems that every district is handling it differently in regards to building a tiny house.
I was thinking about traveling the whole country by car in order to get to know the country better. Even though Portugal is a small country it has quite a different climate from region to region and different landscapes.
I really need my own land, nature, the sea, warm climate, my own water...

Since you're okay with living in a tiny house, maybe "van life" is an option too. Many of them on youtube.

 

[-Luke-]

I don't know about the regulations there, but have you looked into Slovenia and Croatia? I was in Slovenia once and saw a few smaller houses in the countryside. A former teammate of mine is Croatian and he told me that the Croatian authorities like to turn a blind eye when it comes to regulations. Not sure if that's still the case now that they are in the EU.

I would also be interested to see where this takes you, as I could see myself doing something like that in the future.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

I don't know about the regulations there, but have you looked into Slovenia and Croatia? I was in Slovenia once and saw a few smaller houses in the countryside. A former teammate of mine is Croatian and he told me that the Croatian authorities like to turn a blind eye when it comes to regulations. Not sure if that's still the case now that they are in the EU.

I would also be interested to see where this takes you, as I could see myself doing something like that in the future.

I also was about to say Slovenia.

Off-grid, Ukraine comes to mind as well. (Sorry couldn’t resist, since Perry is in this thread. Might be bad taste.)

 

[Logan-]

This thread has some documentaries and posts you may find informative:

Living off the grid in Alaska

Does anyone ever dream about this? View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0rZn8HFmQ

raypeatforum.com

 

[FrankMa]

I remembered the guy's name on this forum who's from Romania and updated my post after you responded to my post

Great!

 

[FrankMa]

Finding a place where homeschooling is allowed should be the obvious first step as you dont want your children confiscated.

Im not like a american or anything so i want to stay in my country but as it is sweden, that is very challanging.

I don`t have children but moren and more would like to have offspring.
Very good point; in Germany you are obliged to go to school until the age of 16.
If you don`t police is knocking on your door.
Same in Sweden?

 

[FrankMa]

Can’t you have like your residence in Romania or Albania and move around like in Italy/Spain?
I live in Italy and it’s pretty nice, I don’t really know much about living off the grid tho, as of now I’m living a “normal” life

Mind if I ask you how you’re gonna sustain yourself? Are you gonna look for a job?
Really interested into this, sorry for the personal questions :)

I have been moving around my whole live, I feel the urge to settle down, to build a home with my own hands
so having a residence there and moving around is no option these days.


Before 10 years I kind of retired since I have made some money in finance.
Within the last year I lost 85% of my net worth through FTX ( stealing of costumer money ) and a hack of my software wallet.

I still have some money left; I am going to go all in on Bitcoin, I think the bottom is in or we are very close to it.
There is a good chance to make a 5X return on your money within the next 3-5 years.
Until then I am forced to work but I don`t want to go back to finance; that life is over.
I am highly qualified but most likely can`t find just low paying work outside of my profession but I am fine with that.

Besides my deep urge to live off-grid on a self-sustained basis ( hunting, have goats or other animals to milk / eat, planting fruit trees )
I think that it is a very viable investment to be food independent.....

 

[FrankMa]

Since you're okay with living in a tiny house, maybe "van life" is an option too. Many of them on youtube.

I kind of tried it; have been living in my car for a few weeks;
not because of being homeless but to find out if I can make it.
Believe it or not, I slept better than in my flat, every single day,
going to sleep when the sun goes down, getting up when the sun rises worked wounders.

But one needs to have a place to be, at least in my opinion.
I could live in a very small container as long as I am in nature, on my own land.
have eletricity, food and water.

 

[FrankMa]

I don't know about the regulations there, but have you looked into Slovenia and Croatia? I was in Slovenia once and saw a few smaller houses in the countryside. A former teammate of mine is Croatian and he told me that the Croatian authorities like to turn a blind eye when it comes to regulations. Not sure if that's still the case now that they are in the EU.

I would also be interested to see where this takes you, as I could see myself doing something like that in the future.

Good idea, thanks.

Mentality wise I prefer Southern-Western Europe but Sovenia could be an option
The point is that I want to live off-grid but also enjoy vibrating life which, IMO, you can`t find much of that in the Balkan states.
Living off-grid by the sea, 30km from an international town in Portugal ....

 

[FrankMa]

This thread has some documentaries and posts you may find informative:

Living off the grid in Alaska

Does anyone ever dream about this? View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq0rZn8HFmQ

raypeatforum.com

Very nice.
Going to watch it tomorrow.