How to… check out of the modern world and live of f-grid; 1,000 little things that make me happy Treading the aisles at the supermarket

Check out of the modern world and live off-grid. By Melanie Finn

Iwas born in Kenya and lived there until I was 12. My parents are both British but my father worked as an accountant there. I grew up mostly unsupervised, and my happiest memories are of beachcombing and roaming the woods. I could see monkeys from my bedroom window and I loved feeling connected to nature.

When I became pregnant in 2009, my husband, Matt, and I decided we wanted our children to have that sort of upbringing. At frst we settled in New Mexico but quickly realised we wanted to build our own home somewhere even more remote.

In 2013, when our twin daughters were three, we bought 342 acres of land in Vermont, in the States, and began building a house. Since then we’ve tried to live completely of-grid, using solar panels for energy, burning wood for heat, and using an electric pump to draw water from the well.

One of the biggest challenges was building the house. I lived in a trailer with no running water for three months with the girls and three dogs, while Matt, a wildlife flm-maker, was working in Alaska.

We have 20 acres of raspberries and blackberries… I’ve also been known to cook squirrels

By the time we moved into our home it felt luxurious, even though it doesn’t have many of the appliances people see as essential, such as hairdryers and tumble dryers. This can be a palaver when you have two young children and lots of laundry, but we want them to realise that resources are fnite.

We allow ourselves some luxuries – we can access the internet from our mobiles to download flms – but mostly entertain ourselves. We forage for mushrooms, and we have 250 apple trees and 20 acres of wild raspberries and blackberries. I’ve also been known to cook squirrels for our supper.

Our daughters go to school in Lyndonville, a 15-minute drive from our home. The nearest shop is a 20-minute drive, but we mainly rely on produce from our neighbours.

Our change of lifestyle has made me examine my values, in particular the instant gratifcation you become accustomed to in a city. We’ve checked out of the modern world, and I miss nothing about it.

Photograph by Libby March Melanie Finn with her family and pets on their land in Vermont.