Going Galt - The Steps We Use to Get Out of Dodge

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Going Galt Series - Steps to Getting Out of Dodge

Part 1

There are lots of steps to plan when relocating to the American Redoubt. One of the first steps is to determine where you are going to live and how to get there.

That can be a BIG challenge.

Quick summary for those challenged for time (deeper dive afterward):

1. Determine your final homestead location. We recommend Joel Skousen's Strategic Relocation.
2. Determine how you will sustain yourself (and family) at this location.
3. Plan how you will physically get your family and assets there.
4. Get rid of excess stuff and minimalize your assets at your current location.
5. Locate a temporary residence in the chosen location.
6. Sell your house (if you own one) organize your belongings for the move.
7. Activate your plan to move to location when the house sells or Plan B (rent, foreclose, etc.)
8. Move-in and start getting to know your new location, neighbors, town, etc. 

Now, this may sound much easier than it really is. There is a LOT of planning that goes into each step. There are also many sub-steps in between these major steps.

That quick summary was just for folks who only had time to skim this post and move on or decide to come back later (don't forget to bookmark our site.)

Quick ask: Please share our Zillow Listing of our current home, if you don't mind. The more people that see it, the better our chances of selling it quickly.

Our Home in Filer, Idaho - South Tip of the American Redoubt

The Step-by-Step Explanation

Each one of those steps will take some 'splaining to do. This process has been ongoing for our family since 1997. That was the year we got married and started our family.

Not included in the moving aspect is getting yourself financially stable. That is a whole different topic and we can certainly touch on that if you want. 

I have written many times about my career in healthcare and all the wonderful things it has provided for my family and me. I even have a YouTube video if you want to know a little about the world of Radiology and all it can do for your career. 

You may say "But healthcare isn't for me Ron." Just make sure, if you ARE looking for a career, that you fully understand all of the jobs that fall under the giant umbrella of "healthcare."

It isn't just doctors and nurses. There's a whole ecosystem of careers in any given hospital. Heck, the hospital itself is its own ecosystem: cafeteria, gift shop, sleep rooms, showers, breakrooms, coffee shops, and even a private chapel. 

But we'll save that for another discussion. If you want to see a post on the healthcare "ecosystem" and all the different jobs you can get there, leave a comment below. Or visit my dedicated radiology blog. 

Step One: Determine where you want to homestead

This is a biggie in the decision-making process. It affects every single aspect of your life going forward.

Since every person is different in what they like and don't like, I will only list the items we were looking for in a self-sustaining homestead.

I mentioned Joel Skousen's Strategic Relocation book. For a very modest price, it gives you a VERY detailed breakdown of every state in America.

There is a high-level video overview on YouTube. 

With Joel's book, we picked Idaho as one of our final homestead choices. We also liked parts of Montana, Wyoming, eastern Washington, and eastern Oregon.

Our main reasons were:

• sparse populations, 
• abundant wildlife and natural resources, 
• like-minded people (in general), 
• low cost of living, 
• reasonable housing costs, 
• low pollution, and 
• great schools (good academics with low teacher/student ratios)

Your reasons will vary for what criteria make up your dream homesteading location. You can easily use Google to look all of these things up as well. 

You can also ask your friends and family what they know about different parts of the country where they have traveled. 

Having narrowed our choices to these four states, we were thrilled as destiny moved us to southern Idaho.

The Mystery Headhunter

While living in Flagstaff, the town that saw us through our house fire, I received an unusual phone call one day.

It was a staffing service representative that I lovingly call a "Headhunter." Headhunters spend their days looking for people who they think would be a perfect fit for a job somewhere other than where they currently live.

They earn "finders' fees" when they can help companies hire new employees.

This particular headhunter called me and straight away asked:

"Have you ever thought of working in Idaho?"

Now, that was fate right there.

We were devastated by our house fire. Even though I liked my healthcare job in Flagstaff, there was nothing I could ever do to convince my family that we could enjoy our lives in that town after that event. 

They understandably attached anything and everything there to the biggest trauma of their lives. 

Not to mention we were in the local newspaper three times over the whole ordeal.

My reply to the guy on the other end of the line was:

 "Actually, yes. We are quite interested in that area."

After a brief conversation regarding the job and details, I told the nice man I would consult with my family and give him a return call.

The conversation with my family about Idaho was a short one since we didn't have a house to sell and the family wanted out of Flagstaff, like PRONTO.

The interview was completed in a matter of weeks and I accepted a job offer in Twin Falls. The hospital paid for relocation.

We skipped through steps 1-8 rather quickly on this one. All the points were satisfied and all we had to do was move.

Here is a very happy post reporting in from our new south Idaho homestead titled "Off to a Terrific Start."

Fast Forward Five Years

Many wonderful friends were made and my family continued to learn many self-sufficiency skills. Most centered around being involved in the local 4H club for the kids. I focused on dialing in my Glock and AK, among other things.

We grew many different vegetables and our fruit trees started to produce.

Through 4H, my girls learned about swine, chickens, guinea pigs, sewing, and many other activities.

I won't forget when a neighbor showed them how to make ice cream using nitrogen:

Seeing them smile with their little fair ribbons after competitions were priceless. I have oodles of pictures that I'll be happy to share with you of the girls with their pigs.

Through the 4H program, you raise a pig from May to September. Then you show them at the county fair and sell them at auction the last day.

$1000 for a pig!

That's what our pigs brought at auction. Can you believe that? You want to motivate your kids to join 4H? Tell them they can raise $1000 in four months with swine.

The secret is that these high bids were made by local business owners that were:

1. Happy to contribute to the local 4H clubs and the kids that belonged to them
2. Happy to get the big, fat business write-off from their donation to 4H

After deducting the costs of raising the pigs, each daughter still pocketed a good $650-ish.

We always raised one extra pig each year for ourselves to butcher too.

I should mention that one swine alone was able to put enough pork into our deep freezer to last us six months. Definitely worth the effort. Another good reason to have your own acreage outside of city limits.

Please consider getting involved with 4H if you have children under the age of 18. Once in high school, you should also consider FFA (Future Farmers of America.)

The benefits are too numerous to list here but we can file that in our mental Rolodex for a future post.

But nothing lasts forever.

The downside of working for someone else is the chance you will someday lose your job. Which I did. TWICE with the same hospital AND in a 12 month period (both times at Christmas!)

Screw me once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me.

Time to move on and learn that lesson.  So we're back to the Going Galt list.

For the past year, I've been working on a home-based business but again, that's for another post. I'll just mention that I'm "niche blogging" and you can see the websites in the tabs at the top of this page.

The Current Move to St. Maries, Idaho

Now we didn't have to start from step one this time because we already knew where we wanted to live.

Step 2 includes determining how you will earn a living in your chosen location. This time, I gave a little nudge to the headhunters of the world and utilized my LinkedIn profile.

If you'd like to connect on linked in, I'm happy to connect with you. Just click the link above and send me a note.

I'm a self-proclaimed expert at using LinkedIn so if you need help setting it up or churchin' up your profile, let me know. I'm happy to help.

But I digress...

I flipped on a digital switch at LinkedIn that told staffing agencies (headhunters) that I was available for hire and relocation. Then I let them come to me with job offers.

I realize it isn't that easy for some people. I have several college degrees in my field and have licensed out the wazoo that makes me valuable in the world of radiology.

The trick was finding a headhunter with a job offer in my chosen homestead region.

Reminds me of the old tv show Northern Exposure. 

I have an article written on how to reverse-engineer this whole process. It is interesting looking back at this article that I had written for Survival Blog in 2013.

Interesting because I name Idaho as a homestead location before we ever had the opportunity to move there. I'm telling you... there's fate in this whole plan.

Has anyone ever told you that if you focus on a goal in your mind, it will come true someday?

How about "you can't hit a target that you don't aim for?"

Figure out what you want to do and get a picture of it in your mind. Talk about it with your friends and family or journal it in...a blog :-)

Anyway, if interested, you can read my article titled "How to Decide on a Homestead Location and Get There" published on Survival Blog on June 28, 2013.

I share lots of little tips and tricks for those of you who know where you want to go but have to figure out how to find a job there.

Yes Another Fateful Headhunter

Sure enough, a young lady who lived and worked in California gave me a call in January (last month.)  She told me about the job in St. Maries and asked if I might be interested.

It fits the bill of everything we've been looking for in a homesteading town. A few calls back and forth and I had an interview set up which included taking my wife and kids along for the ride.

The interviews were set up on a Monday from 9 am to Noon-ish. So we drove up on a Saturday after basketball games were completed (won all three games!)

The ten-hour drive north was a bit straining but not too bad. I made sure to stop when needed as I had a van full of girls.

Now don't get me wrong, at 48 years young, I don't pass a restroom without saying to myself

"I might as well go while I'm here..."

Unfortunately, we weren't able to see much because a dense fog had settled in the town. Add to that a decent snowfall and we couldn't see across the St Joe's river which was right outside of our hotel.

The Lumberjack is a long-standing icon in St. Maries. 

We made it to church the next morning which was a pre-run on Going Galt step # 8. It allowed us to see the size of the congregation and meet a handful of local folks.

All were very friendly and inquisitive about the new family at church.

We then drove up to Coeur D'Alene to see what their next-biggest-city was like. It seemed pretty similar to Twin Falls to me. That's our current next-biggest-city.

The biggest difference, which Lisa pointed out, was that Twin Falls is only ten minutes away from Filer. CDA was almost an hour from St. Maries. We would have to plan our errands a little better to prevent long return trips for missed grocery items.

Dinner at the Rural Revolution Homestead

Help spread the word about their homestead for sale too. They are empty nesters and looking to start all over again just like us.

The infamous Rural Revolution Homestead is For Sale!

Sunday night we were graciously hosted by Don and Patrice Lewis. We have known each other through the blogosphere for about ten years at this point...

and never met in person.

When I emailed to tell her we were coming up for an interview, she was more than happy to invite us over. This is exactly the type of good-neighbor attitude I enjoy about Idahoans.

Very friendly and welcoming. 

We enjoyed what must have been four hours of good, nonstop conversation. After which we headed back to our hotel in St. Maries. 

I had several interviews Monday and met a lot of people who worked at the local hospital. I'm still not sure how a town so small got such a big hospital!

At the end of the last interview, a paper was presented to me on the table. I was shocked to see it was a job offer. 

Do you remember in Ready Player One where the main character turned on his "emotion-suppressing software?"

Oh, I wish I had that software when I realized there was an offer sitting in my hands.

I'm not even sure what I said but it was something forcibly cool like:

I'll have to discuss this with my family first.

We gathered at the hotel after the interview and began the ten-hour road trip back home.

That's a BIG 10-4!

So I have accepted the position after a brief deliberation over final details with the hospital administration. We are VERY excited about the prospects of living in a mountainous area of Idaho teeming with rivers and lakes everywhere.

I have heard so much about the fly fishing, kayaking, jet boat racing, and hunting that I am really looking forward to seeing this town in the summertime.

Our current location is referred to as the "high desert" and believe it or not, isn't much different from the flatlands in the Arizona desert. We even have tumbleweeds here in Filer.

But the agriculture and dairy farms dot the flat landscape with lots of greenery. I admit, having the Snake River Gorge ten minutes away has been a kayaker's dream.

Lisa and I kayaking the Snake River - Perrine Bridge in the distance.

If kayaking is your thing, check out my blog Kayak-101 for a terrific gallery of photographs I have taken over the past few years.

Initiate Step 3 - Getting to Your Homestead property

Old electronic keyboard donated to Deseret. 

So here we are, towards the end of February 2020, and we are in the throws of the following:

• getting rid of the junk that has been sitting in the garage since our last move
• giving away things of value to friends, the rest to Desert Industries and Goodwill
• boxing up what is left and start organizing for an easy (easier) moving day
• considering organizing a garage sale to see what that could bring us
• staging our current house, getting it up for sale, begging everyone to share it on social media

The house is listed on Zillow and MLS. We are getting a high volume of "views" on Zillow. Our first "showing" to a potential buyer is tomorrow.

I'm posting a different upgrade that we have done on our house every day on my Facebook page. Friends and family have been kind enough to share it on their Facebook page.

The more exposure we get, the better our chances of selling soon. If you want to help, you can share this link or on the Zillow page, there's a Share button on the top right corner.

Conclusion

I hope your Valentine's holiday this month was enjoyable. We enjoyed a good family evening at home. The food Lisa made was incredible. My steaks were equally as delish.

Deviled eggs for an appetizer. Sauteed mushrooms on thick, juicy steaks and some pan-fried shrimp.

I'll end this post here and report back with some footage on how we staged our home and put it up for sale in a way that gets us a maximum return on our investment.

I'll also discuss the plan to physically move everything and the different ways it can be done.

Once again we are blessed. Blessed in the way that we are selling our home in the peak of a prosperous economic market.

Blessed that there is a job waiting for me in St. Maries.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for using our Amazon affiliate links for any purchases you make on Amazon. The small commission Amazon pays us helps more than you know and we are grateful.

Ron
aka The Orange Jeep Dad

Orange Jeep Dad | Kayak-101 | Keto For Our Kids | Santa Claus and Christmas

Our passions, trapped in blogs. Come visit us!

Internet Mentors: JW Rawles and Patrice Lewis

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Internet Friends - Patrice Lewis & JW Rawles

If you have always wanted to move to the American Redoubt and "Get out of the Rat Race" then read on - I'm going to share how we did it five years ago. And how we're moving one more time to the heart of the American Redoubt - St. Maries, ID.

Get on board for a step-by-step "How to" journey from start to finish as we do it one more time.

                                                        -OJD

The Prelude

Let me go look back through my blog history real quick...

Okay.

So this blog dates back to around 2007. That means I have now logged 13 years' worth of Jones family history on this blog.

Wow!

I have had several blogs over the years but this is one that  I have limped along the most.

It was around 2010 that I really started to pour some effort into blogging. I found myself on a night shift at a very small hospital in Mesa, Arizona. The nights could get very slow there.

You see, I actually like to write. Yes, I get "writer's block" like most people. But this is also somewhat of a journal and, well, there's always something going on in this house.

Having six daughters, a wife and plenty of animals keeps it interesting. 

But it was around 2010 that I found two blogs that I was particularly interested in.

Survival Blog and Rural-Revolution

I really connected with the prepping and survivalist genre that was coming out of Survival Blog.




Having been raised partially by my grandmother, I knew there was a vast knowledge of self-sufficiency being lost in my generation (I'm Gen X, 1971.)

My Grams - Rest In Peace Bubba

I once asked my grandma how hard her family struggled during the Great Depression.

I expected her to recant tales of only morsels of food on her plate if any at all was to be eaten.

Instead, her answer was this: 

"Well, it didn't really affect us at all. We were farmers. We grew everything we needed."

That's when I realized...

...that most of society had forgotten how to do that. More common, at that time, were news stories about grocery store shelves being stripped empty every time the news reported that a storm was coming (nature or financial.)

I recognized that being self-sufficient was important and that I needed to know what I didn't know.

Mentorship Sought and Found

Enter Captain James W. Rawles

Survival Blog had endless articles about every facet in this arena. I could read it for weeks. 

In fact, I did.

I even printed out some manuals for long term storage just in case an EMP found it's way to our neck of the woods.

After all, as a father of six, it was ultimately my responsibility to make sure we survived any event.

"When it comes down to it, I’m still a man on a mission, because every family that prepares represents one less family that’s going to panic and clean out the grocery stores at the eleventh hour. Well-prepared families are part of the solution rather than part of the problem."

                                                                              JW Rawles,  Spokesman Interview

Of course, at the time we were living right on the outskirts of Phoenix. A very big, overpopulated megacity that had all the problems that went with large populations:

• Daily crime that was getting closer to our neighborhood every year
• Nasty pollution that could be seen as a brown haze all 360 degrees around our town
• Traffic jams of nightmare proportions
• Commute time to work of 60-90 minutes every day was normal (one way)
• Cost of living that was not commensurate to the pay received
• HOAs (homeowner associations) that controlled what you could and couldn't do on your own property

And the list goes on and on.



I had written an article or two for Survival Blog. I also served as an intermediary when SB was attacked DDOS style and taken off the internet for a few days.

James and his readers even came to my rescue when our home burned down.

"My family will never forget the outpouring of generosity during our time of need. It came from people all over the internet who we had never met. It was amazing and all thanks to Survival Blog. " - OJD

My wife and I knew we had to make a move to somewhere that was better for raising our children. Somewhere like the American Redoubt. 

Survival Blog introduced me to Joel Skousen. His book is also in my personal library. Strategic Relocation by Joel is an essential book when you are ready to figure out where you ultimately want to live. 

The Awakening

It, along with Survival Blog and Rural-Revolution, helped me to determine that the area known as the American Redoubt was where we needed to be.

Then there was Patrice.

The opinionated rural north Idaho housewife. She was relentlessly blogging away at what seemed to be every aspect of keeping up with a bustling homestead. Homeschooling, animals, gardens, cooking, cleaning, home-based businesses, professional writing, and on and on.

How did she do it all?!

Honestly, I didn't stop to ponder that for too long. I just kept lapping it up like a dehydrated dog hovering over a giant bowl of clean, cold well water. 

It was all there. 

How to raise animals, including dehorning with paste. How to homeschool the kids to keep them from being force-fed all the liberal garbage that was spewing out of public schools. How to cook the most delicious "boxed stuff" recipes and caning staples like mayonnaise, garlic, and mustard. 

A real-life Reader's Digest of How to Homestead.

And so it began...

And thus began my blog: "The Orange Jeep Dad's...blog." A simple Blogger template with a blurred background. The mascot was my trusty orange jeep.

It was started to share the experiences of my family as we slowly learned some of the most basic skills.

Thanks to our shared Blog Roll links, Patrice at Rural-Revolution has sent me 20,000 page views over the past decade:

Thanks to the support from fellow bloggers like Patrice and Captain Rawles, I've been able to share my adventures with the whole world. 

Conclusion

And so we intend to share one more journey with you. Moving our family to the heart of the American Redoubt. Working jobs until we can support ourselves with home-based businesses and live as off-grid as possible (but still get internet, right?!)

If you are interested in moving to the American Redoubt too, take a look at our beautiful home. We have done a lot to make the inside welcoming and warm. The outside is still a blank canvas with lots of opportunities to customize.

Beautiful South Idaho Home in American Redoubt

I tend to get pretty long-winded in my posts so I'll truncate it here. But here's what you can expect in my upcoming, regular posts:

• Why we are moving.
1. Determining the perfect homestead
2. What do you want for your children (small schools, small community, protected freedoms, etc)
3. Cleaner air, less crime, more outdoor activities, small-town atmosphere
• The process of moving a family
1. Organizing, garage sales, donations, packing, "shawshanking"
2. Let the kids finish the school year or move now (pros and cons)
3. The physical aspect of moving (rental truck versus pods, etc)
4. The plan for loading and driving, unloading, etc
• Selling the current house (our house went live today, come share the link!)
1. How to get the most money for your house (value-adds vs money pits)
2. Staging, cleaning it up, putting a little money in to get more out of it 
3. Tell everyone to help share on social media (like a Book Bomb idea)
4. Does your house have a story to tell?
5. What if it doesn't sell (rent it, short sale, foreclosure...)
• Finding a rental in the new town
1. Why we would rent before we would buy
2. What to look for in a rental (contract, length of stay, beds/baths, neighborhood, cost, etc)?
3. What about the animals you already have?
4. What if you have to pay for both homes for a little bit?
• Evaluating the school situation
1. Home vs private vs public vs charter
2. Music, sports, 4H, arts, etc
3. Ratings, teacher to student ratio, etc
4. What curriculum do they use?
5. PTO involvement?
• Matriculating into the new town
1. Getting involved (Masons, Elks, 4H, PTO, City Council meetings, school events, etc)
2. Service projects (JustServe app)
3. Churches
4. Neighbors helping neighbors. Offer meet n greet dinners with neighbors.
• Looking for a permanent residence
1. Attributes (fresh water on site, mountains/wooded, remote, flood zone free, gentle to no slope, size of land, etc)
2. Distance to: town, university, work, school, grocery, highway, city, etc
3. Cost, size, livability
• Again, I get long-winded. I'll stop here. :-)

I hope you can join us. And please leave any questions or comments below. We'd love to hear from you on our journey.

Ron

The Orange Jeep Dad

What We Learned & Now Share With You

As an Amazon Associate, Orange Jeep Dad earns from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links.

In the beginning...

It started with the two of us. 

This post is going to be link-heavy but my purpose is to try and give you a brief overview of some of the things we have learned along the way to a self-sufficient lifestyle.

2010 

2010 was a year of learning and doing. I didn't post much because I was spending all my time working two jobs and learning everything I could from Survival Blog and Rural-Revolution.

Before we knew it, there was eight of us (I'm taking the pic)

2011

In 2011, I posted 174 posts. That just about one post every other day. That's a pretty good pace just starting out. 

We learned about the following (click on topics you are interested in and ask questions if you would like more information for yourself):

1. Gardening. We planted corn, watermelon, purple carrots, purple potatoes, cabbage,  cucumbers and squash, lettuce, mushrooms and corn, strawberries, a variety of beans, pumpkins, and anything else we could get.
2. We learned about redundancy and the importance of having a backup, chicken tractors, and storing cooked, dehydrated hamburger meat. 
3. Friends from church taught us how to make raised garden boxes from pallets, a friend from work taught me how to shoot, 30 ways to cook Ramen noodles, and shared their fruits so we could make our own juices. 
4. My survival mindset began to surface on a trip to Disneyland, growing indoors with LEDs, we started storing our own rainwater in 55-gallon drums. and got serious about home security.
5. Next we learned the art (and fun) of bartering, securing our gardens against birds and cats with netting, the skill of cooking in a dutch oven, alternative locations to store food, and basic home carpentry. 
6. In May, I learned how to diagnose automobile codes myself, backing up my blog, how to save money on meat, started collecting sewing machines, more basic construction skills, teaching the girls how to start a fire, hand-pollinating corn, more dutch oven cooking, and an awesome homemade bread recipe was perfected. 
7. In July we started the great debate of public vs homeschooling, making homemade beef jerky, crocheting and making honey sticks, and more crocheting.
8. Redundancy is important in self-reliance and I learned the hard way about losing frozen food due to not knowing the freezer quit working. They make freezer alarms that can make audible sounds and I quickly invested. Lisa made tie-dyed shirts for a family trip to Disneyland.

2012

2012 came and went with half as many blog posts at 2011.  A paultry 66 posts all year can be found in order here. Suffice it to say we just continued to plug away at working, saving, and learning. 

2013

2013 jumped back up to 122 posts because I moved out to our old family farm in Hennessey Oklahoma. 

After losing a job in Arizona, I moved ahead of the family in hopes of setting up a homestead there. After three months, I had to return to Arizona because I couldn't get the backing of the family in Oklahoma to move onto the farm. 

We rode horses in Oklahoma.

The generation before me (Dad and Uncles) ended up selling the whole family land inheritance. Several farms in the family for generations were sold and are now gone forever. 

But I had some good times there before I left. You can see the articles linked above.

Then we moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. Where five weeks later our home burned down. It took my orange jeep and suburban with it. Total loss. Many valuable lessons were learned. 

Mostly that our family is rock solid and we can rebound from tough situations. 

2014

2014 we limped along trying to recover from the loss. We made some friends and continued learning survival and prepping skills. But no matter what we did, we couldn't get past the house fire in that town. 

So when an employment agency called and asked if we would be interested in working in Twin Falls, Idaho... I figured it was worth a look.

Lisa loves making matching Disney shirts anytime we get to go. 

2015

2015 we moved to Filer, Idaho. Moving put us through many trials trying to get our stuff from Flag to Twin in snowy January. Now we were on our own acreage and started raising lots of chickens, pigs, and a few guinea pigs. 4H became a big part of our lives for several years and it taught us a lot about animals. 

We also learned about beekeeping, caring for our own waterways, and almost got our own tv series. 

2016-2019

Then for the next three years, I just got pounded at work. I had a relentless boss that kept me hopping on a project after project after project. I learned a lot but I also learned a lot about what makes a bad boss. 

I was thrilled when I got promoted out from under that miserable person. I hardly had any time to blog or pursue anything outside of work. So the blog posts dwindled to only a few each year. 

But the learning continues to this day. 

2020

This year will see us leaving Filer, Idaho for a more northern experience. St. Maries Idaho is about an hour from Coeur D'Alene and the same distance to Spokane Washington. 

So we'll get to use our skills that we already acquired but learn a whole new set thanks to an environment surrounded by mountains and rivers. 

Conclusion

So this post was what I hoped would be a linkable summary of all the things we've done to lead up to this point in our lives. I realized after getting started on this post that there was just no way I could link to everything we learned. 

I think it would have been too long and too boring. You can always use the Search feature at the top of the blog to look for something you are interested in if I didn't cover it. 

Everyday Essentials

Posts like this always remind me to keep the essentials on hand. A few things worth having around: a set of storage bins, a daily planner, and a durable tote bag.

Going Galt Again. Want to Come Along?

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The Last Galt - American Redoubt - Northern Idaho

This blog has been a great experiment and personal journal for me. I've shared with the world while my family learns how to be more self sufficient and tackle life's challenges.

Remember these adventures?

• Our House Burned Down in Flagstaff, AZ
• Our Daughter Invoke the Secret Family Safe Word
• The Farm Rules I learned on our family farm in Hennessey, OK
• The Homesteading article "The Golden Chalice"  I wrote for SurvivalBlog
• All the Juicing we did after Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead came out. 
• We almost had our own show a few times...

Well, we're about to go on another big adventure. I'm curious if you guys want to come along with us again. I could document it, much like the past.

Synopsis

We've moved from a major city (Phoenix Arizona) to a farm in Oklahoma. Then to Flagstaff Arizona. That's where the housefire occurred.

We'll never forget that one.

But it taught us a great deal about materialism and the importance of family.

Then moved up to southern Idaho (Twin Falls area) where the adventure in self-sustainment continued. Upon arriving in Idaho, three television networks interview us. We almost landed a show of our own about self sufficiency and raising a big family in a little town after living in a big city.

All declined and that was fine. The personal intrusion would have been rough.

We had a very rewarding five years here in a little town called Filer. I was just voted into the City Councilman position a few months ago, right before losing my job at the local hospital.

So now it's time to make one final move...

St. Maries, Idaho

Now we're going on the greatest adventure of all. This is the final step in the plans we laid out over a decade ago.

Being big fans of SurvivalBlog and Rural-Revolution, we have dreamed of moving to the American Redoubt.

While southern Idaho qualifies...we are now moving (drum roll please......)

To northern Idaho. A sleepy little town near Couer D' Alene that boasts of only a few thousand citizens. Mixed among the mountains and rivers, to say we are excited is an understatement.

This is where we have been hoping to land for over a decade. All of our preparation in gardening, cooking, camping, fishing, hunting, 4H livestock and all the self-reliance skills are going to be put to use.

Starting Over

So we're starting at ground zero but taking heaps of knowledge with us.

I'll be going up there ahead of the herd to figure out where a great spot to homestead would be.

I'm looking for either wooded land or riverfront property. Both would be a dream come true.

Then I'll move the family up there when school gets out. Sometime around early June. And the adventures will begin.

Learning a new town and meeting new people. Getting involved with the schools and local politics.

We're excited. So I thought I'd ask...

Want to come along?

OJD

Everyday Essentials

Posts like this always remind me to keep the essentials on hand. A few things worth having around: a set of storage bins, a daily planner, and a durable tote bag.

Night Kayaking – is kayaking at night illegal?”

Night Kayaking – Is kayaking at night illegal? 

Night kayaking is an example of a nighttime activity that has an inherent charm that is completely different from daytime activities. Even a mundane act of walking can be more memorable when it is undertaken in the night.  

And kayaking is no different. Night kayaking combines exhilaration, caution, and enchantment quite seamlessly. It is not for a beginner nor is it to be undertaken alone. But night paddling and kayaking hold a certain degree of challenge and temptation for many kayakers. 

But wait, is it Legal?

Despite its enchantment, there is always an important question associated with this nocturnal activity. Is kayaking at night legal?  

In this post, I attempt to answer this question, along with a few others. Let’s begin.  

Is kayaking at night legal? 

• A straightforward answer? Yes. Kayaking at night is legal. 

However, there are some requirements for obvious safety reasons. They include: 

• Light for visibility – It is crucial that you make yourself seen so that you do not put yourself at risk. Some experts suggest installing green and a red light on either side of the boat to indicate which side you will turn.  

Additionally, it is required by the Coast Guard that you have a white light such as a lantern or a torch that can be seen from all directions. I personally think abiding by the law is safer.  

The United States Coast Guard prescribes vessels under 23 feet as ‘vessels under oars.’ Since kayaks fall under this measurement, white light is a must requirement.  

• Observing the local law – Although there is no such rule that makes kayaking at night as an illegal activity, there are different rules about night time activity in each state. It is mainly related to visibility and safety, so it is always wise to check with the local authorities before you take your kayak out into the river at night.  

Why go kayaking at night? 

• There are several reasons why kayaking at night is unlike anything you can do with a kayak during the day. Let’s take a look. 

1 – Nightly activity. 

There is something inexplicably serene and awe-inspiring when you witness the night sky in full bloom. When the moon and the stars have come out to display their majesty, it warrants respect and marvel. 

The open water body, such as an ocean or a sea, offers one of the best views for the night sky. And kayaking at night is a great way to experience it. 

2 – Watch bioluminescence. 

If you haven’t heard about bioluminescence, you should make it a point to explore it at least once. It is a natural activity where hoards of bioluminescent organisms called dinoflagellates gather on the shore of water bodies. This spectacular phenomenon can only be appreciated in all its glory at night.  

Another way to enhance this once in a lifetime experience is to kayak using a transparent boat. These boats are typically made of polycarbonate sheets and fiberglass, which are a clear and steady material. This experience is best experienced personally as no words can quite describe its magic. 

3 – Less traffic. 

For obvious reasons, there are fewer chances of running into other boats and watercraft at night. You can paddle and kayak at leisure and feel your stress fade away.  

The only advice I would like to add is to have the right gear and be properly attired so you can paddle without compromising your safety.  

What should kayakers display at night? 

• All kayakers should display a white light that can be seen in sufficient time by other kayakers. This light should have 360-degree visibility. This is a requirement dictated by the United States Coast Guard. 

The best light for night kayaking is one that has 360 degrees of visibility and is also waterproof. This light should also be visible from about 1 mile away. Some states also require you to have glow lights attached to the stern of the boat as well as the PFD. 

It is also a good idea to have a headlamp ready. A headlamp that is waterproof is ideal. A headlamp will make it easy for you to board and land your boat and also make activities such as reading maps easier.  

However, having the headlamp switched on all the times reduces visibility at night. Therefore it is best to keep it off and ready to switch on whenever you need it.  

On the other hand…

Additionally, you also need a couple of light sources to see your surroundings as well. This can include the headlamp, flashlight, and backup light, which should be packed inside a dry bag. 

An emergency strobe light strapped on the outside of your PFD is also an excellent option. This emergency light can come in particularly handy when you need to signal to larger boats and ships.   

What is bioluminescent kayaking?  

• Bioluminescent kayaking refers to the process of kayaking at night in those bodies of water that have bioluminescent activity. This category of kayaking is best experienced at night when the bioluminescent activity is at its peak.  

Bioluminescent kayaking is typically done in clear kayaks. If you have never seen one of these kayaks, you can see them on Amazon. These kayaks are made of clear and sturdy materials such as polycarbonate sheets, which are even used in the cockpits of airplanes. Some of the boats have a clear bottom, while others have a full transparent body. 

This unique display of algae in the water is at its peak during the warmer months when the algae population is most active.  

Of course, you can also witness bioluminescent kayaking during the winter as well. But it is not the algae that you will see during the cooler months — this time of the year, comb jellies are most active when the waters are cooler. Bioluminescent kayaking is best undertaken on those nights when the moon is not active. 

How cool is that?!

You might want to know that there are only a handful of places on the planet where you can experience this wonderful phenomenon. These are Florida Bioluminescence Bay in Merritt Island and The Tomales Bay in Northern California.    Learn more about this heavenly display and where to go  here.   

There are several kayak tour companies that offer this unique form of kayaking at very reasonable rates. If you are in any of the above-mentioned locations, rent a clear boat and grab this once in a lifetime opportunity.  

Do you need lights on a kayak? 

• Yes, you need to have lights on a kayak, especially on a night kayak.  

You need lights for late-night kayaking for a number of reasons.  

One, you need lights to be seen by other boaters and kayakers on the water body. This can be a powerful light that you can shine so that other watercraft on their night adventures can see you and avoid a collision. These sources of light can also be glow sticks or powerful LED lights that you can strap on your boat or on your PFD.  

The most important feature of this light is that it should be visible all around. A waterproof feature is also a good choice.  

Don’t be a statistic!

Two, you need lights to see your surroundings as well as perform activities such as reading a map. A powerful headlamp that you can have on your body is a good choice. It need not necessarily have 360-degree visibility, but a waterproof feature is a must.  

This light will make landing and taking off a piece of cake. You can also use this light to take stoke of your surroundings and read maps as well. If the beam of light is particularly strong, you can use it to warn other boats as well. 

Three, you need lights in case of an emergency. In addition to having the above-mentioned lights ready to employ, you should pack a flashlight with fully charged batteries in your dry bag. This is your back up light in case something goes wrong, and you land in an emergency.  

The moonlight will provide some level of ambient light when you are out for night kayaking. But it is never practical or a good idea to rely solely on it. You should be fully prepared with the required lights, so you don’t put yourself in danger or endanger others as well.  

Another factor that you should consider is to consult the local laws and regulations related to night kayaking. Some states require paddlers to have specific lights on their boats while some don’t. So it is always wise to go through these regulations before you go out into the water.  

What color is a stern light? 

• The color of a stern light is white.  

This white light at the rear of a watercraft is one of the most important sets of navigational lights. It functions as the warning signal so that other boats and other watercraft can take the appropriate action and prevent colliding with your kayak. 

The specifications for stern light typically depend on the size of the vessel, whether or not it is in motion or idle, and whether or not it is powered with an engine. For canoes and kayaks, white light is required to be displayed during periods of low visibility and also while paddling between sunset and sunrise.  

However, it is always a good idea to have a stern light attached to your boat at all times so that you can signal to other boats in time to avoid colliding with each other.  

The requirement for navigational lights is the same for kayaks, canoes, and small unpowered boats that are shorter than 23 feet in length.  

To learn more about the navigational light requirements for other types of boats, click here.  

What should I wear when kayaking at night? 

• The right outfit for kayaking at night is usually determined by the season. However, the general rule should revolve around safety and comfort. 

For late-night kayaking, the best outfit includes the following: 

1. A light base layer.  

If you are paddling on a summer night, a light t-shirt with long sleeves will suffice. But this is not the case in colder weather. A thermal base with long sleeves is the best choice. 

1. Mid layer. 

You can skip this in the summer. In the winter, however, a woolen garment or one made of fleece should form a mid-layer. It will keep you warm and also wick away moisture at the same time.  

1. Bottoms. 

Although it can be tempting to wear shorts in summer, you will be vulnerable to insect bites. Rashies or a long pant is a good choice.  

In the winter, thermal underwear is a must. This should be topped by a drysuit or a wetsuit for maximum protection and insulation.  

1. Footwear. 

Irrespective of the weather, paddling booties made of neoprene is the best choice. They are waterproof, lightweight, and are comfortable as well.  

1. Accessories. 

You don’t need much of these during the warmer months. But when the temperatures have dropped, every exposed part of your body must be covered. This includes your head, hands, and neck.  

1. Personal Floatation Device. 

Whether you undertake night kayaking during the summer or winter, you should never go out kayaking without wearing a personal floatation device or PFD. Should you forget everything else, you cannot forget this life-saving piece of safety gear.  

I have a nice article dedicated to what you should wear and not wear.

Irrespective of your level of expertise and the calm water conditions, it is best to be prepared and dressed for immersion.  

Final thoughts. 

Night kayaking is one of the best forms of this amazing water sport. It offers you a great opportunity to experience night time differently. If you have the opportunity to indulge in bioluminescent kayaking, by all means, grab it. If you live in a tropical area, night kayaking is also a great way to cool off and escape the heat as well.  

It is a good idea to know the body of water that you plan to go to for night kayaking. Another tip I would add is to check the weather report, so you don’t run into any unexpected trouble during the night.  

The safety rules, including wearing a PFD, apply whether you plan to paddle at night or during the day. So grab your gear, a buddy or a group of friends who share the same passion for the sport and go kayaking to indulge in the nocturnal majesty.  

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🌙 Night Kayaking Gear — Be Safe, Be Seen

• Kayak Navigation Lights — Required by law when paddling at night. White 360° light plus red/green bow lights.
• Waterproof Headlamp — Hands-free lighting for reading maps, rigging gear, and signaling.
• Waterproof Glow Sticks — Attach to your PFD for extra visibility. Inexpensive and bright.
• Onyx Life Jacket — Night kayaking without a PFD is never an option. 4,400+ reviews.

Full gear: Kayak 101.

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