Alaskan Off-Grid Living with Robert Stark: A Veteran's Adventure into Homesteading

In this episode of the Tiny Home Tours podcast, join us for a captivating conversation with Robert Stark, a combat veteran whose journey led him to embrace off-grid, sustainable living in the wilds of Alaska. From his military service to profound realizations during his tours, Robert recounts his path to finding harmony and purpose in a life deeply intertwined with nature and simplicity.

Discover how Robert transitioned from military life to cultivating a homestead in Alaska, where he prioritizes renewable energy, organic farming, and instilling timeless values in his family. Hear about the trials and triumphs of homesteading, the significance of setting achievable goals, and his approach to raising environmentally conscious children.

Tune in as Robert imparts wisdom for those intrigued by a similar lifestyle, stressing the importance of resilience, practical expectations, and uncovering personal meaning beyond societal conventions.

Click here to support Robert's writing and check out his ongoing kickstarter campaign! Robert's website: https://secretgardenalaska.org/

Explore World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming (WWOOF).

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Transcript

Newsletter Sign Up: [00:00:00] Are you in the middle of a build or planning to go tiny? Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly resources that cover all aspects of tiny living. Whether you need help choosing a rig, creating your ideal solar setup, or finding places to park, we've got you covered. Click the link in the description and subscribe today. 

Intro: Welcome back to the Tiny Home Tours podcast. The tiny house made me feel in my body this thing that I think I always understood, which is that there are no rules. Like you're literally living in the moment. I know it's a cliche saying, but living this lifestyle consistently puts me in that mindset. It's about keeping all of the things that matter to you and letting everything else go.

I've been scared a lot of times. But I just, I jump anyways, I guess. You have to jump. Join us each week as we share stories, wisdom, and practical tips from those who choose to have less and live [00:01:00] more. 

Bob: Thank you so much for having me on. It was an honor to have you at the property. Five, seven, however long it was ago, and an honor to be here again. So yeah, quick down and dirty. So I was born in Caldwell, Idaho, 1984. Lived with my mother, my brother, my father in Idaho and then California for about six to nine months.

I'm not sure exactly how long. Until my mother left my father and brought me and my brother up to Nome, Alaska to live with her brother, who was living there. In exchange, she would take care of his children and provide a place for us to stay and he would take care of the money side of things. So, to make a long story short, I moved to Nome when I was just a teenager.

below a year, lived in Nome until I was eight or nine. [00:02:00] Um, you know, just fondest memories always, no matter what the weather, playing outside, you know, just mother would open the door and say, go outside and play. And we lived. Like a block away from the beach, the Bering Sea. And we had a four wheeler. And so, you know, basically my brother and I, any chance we got basically any day, we'd just be outside playing.

And that really, I believe, built this outdoor, the love of the outdoors and kind of like a resilient, gritty young boy who grew into a man. And, uh, yeah, about eight or nine. The day before third grade, moved to Eagle River, Alaska, which is like a suburb of Anchorage. Um, a lot of military families live out there.

My mother had remarried and we moved out there cause he was in the military. Um, lived there until my [00:03:00] freshman year of high school. I finished my freshman year in Eagle River, but then my mother moved to Seward and told me I could either come to Seward or I could stay in Eagle River. Eagle River. And I chose to stay in Eagle River for a couple months until I realized I probably needed a parent around.

My mother had split at that time with that man and was pursuing another relationship. That's all another story. But yeah, moved to Seward and it was in Seward where I graduated high school where I built the friendships that I believe sustain me today. Um, and really drew me in closer to my love of the mountains.

I didn't have mountains in Nome. It was all tundra. Um, the love of the sea, love of the earth. And, and then after high school, you know, I got into different bad habits I would say at that time. And, uh, you know, those were kind of [00:04:00] tough times. My mother had married a guy who was in prison for life and my brother was in prison at the time, which is why we moved to Seward.

And so I instantly moved to Seward with this identity of I'm that kid whose family's in prison. And so I just really started living that role. And I joined the military, joined the army at 17. So right after high school, three days later, boom, I was in the army, airborne infantry. And it was really during my first tour in Iraq because I was in Italy for about three months, which was my duty station until we invaded Iraq in 2003 and my unit out of Italy.

We parachuted into Northern Iraq as part of the invasion. And so my unit came from the North moving South. Other folks came from the South moving North. And it was during that time in the Fertile [00:05:00] Crescent in the Euphrates, Tigris river valleys that I saw farming for the first time. And I saw people living.

Now, this is an ignorant statement, but I saw people living with what I saw as a simplicity. Just, some goats, some chickens, some crops, no electrical lines coming to their small homes, and I don't know if they were happy or not, it's not for me to say, but I'll never forget there was one time when we were driving through a farmer's field.

We had a lot of missions of trying to find guns and blah, blah, blah. I mean, just war stuff. And there was one point when we were chasing this guy who had an AK 47 and I was in the back of the truck and we're just driving through this farmer's field, plowing over these crops. We did it all the time. And I remember for some reason at that moment, there was a [00:06:00] seed planted that said, you need to go back home to Alaska if you make it through this and you need to buy a little piece of property.

And you need to have a small little house and have yourself a beautiful family. And I don't know if it was my guilt. I don't know what it was, but that planted and and that grew over the years. So after the military, I traveled down to Latin America that seed kept growing Seeing the way other people were living down there close to the land smaller homes.

Then I went over to India Saw similar things in India and Nepal People living in not all smaller homes, but a lot of people in one home and, you know, close to nature out there praying and rivers really honoring mother earth. And, and yeah, I decided I was going to use my GI bill to go to school to pursue sustainable agriculture since [00:07:00] I had no experience growing anything.

And I did at evergreen state college. I returned home to Alaska. That was probably 2000 and I don't know, man, 12, 2010. And I still had some money saved from when I was in the military. And then the GI bill was giving me more money. So I was just like piling up money and I got home and my brother was living with his newborn and sewered with his girlfriend.

And I knew that I wanted to buy property in Alaska. So I started the hunt and we had an agreement that we would buy a place together. If it had a house for them to live in and if it had land for me to grow food. And so Seward area, as you know, it's shallow soil, really mountainous. People grow food there, but a little more challenging than some other parts of Alaska.

And the lots were very expensive [00:08:00] for small lots. So I looked over here on the other side of the peninsula and I found 20 acres with an unfinished off grid cabin. And it was priced right at the time. It was 80, 000 in 2012 had a well, had septic. And At that time, I knew absolutely nothing about off grid living.

I knew nothing about plumbing, and heating, and carpentry, and really growing food. I'd done a one year class in college and volunteered at some farms, and But what I did have was some grit, boy! Woo! I had some love of the earth. I had a dream and a goal. And I moved out in 2012 and you know, I've come and gone from the property to go back and return to finish my degree in college, to go back to Seward to make some money, um, [00:09:00] to travel around the states a little bit, but I've kept the place and kept working on the place and it's been my full time residence now for the past six years.

And yeah, man, that's the nine minute story of what got me here. 

Chris: Definitely a lot to unpack from that entire journey. Um, I mean, it's, it's really hard to pinpoint one particular thing to ask about that. But I think in terms of the audience. If they're considering this particular lifestyle and going to school for a degree is not within the realm of possibility for a lot of people, did, do you feel as though the schooling was a, uh, like a big leg up that helped you like achieve this goal?

Or was it just a step along the way? [00:10:00] 

Bob: Yeah, I think it was just a step along the way. I know, I mean, my wife, Savannah, she's worked on farms. She's got far more experience growing food, living on those farms that were off grid farms, whether it was in Ecuador, Hawaii, learning how to plant. I mean, she learned everything.

Besides maybe the business side of it, cause we did some of that in the winter and the microscopic side of it that we did in the winter as well. But otherwise I don't think that anybody can learn. No, I think everybody can learn through the library, through online resources, through podcasts, like you have newsletters and then coming out to places like.

Mine and the thousands of other places around the country that, and world, that I'm sure would happily take people who are interested in off grid homestead esque living. So yeah, I think it was just kind of a. [00:11:00] Uh, a step that helped me because I had no experience and I didn't know which way to go. 

Chris: Yeah, it almost seems like that was more, and correct me if I'm wrong here, like a confidence booster to allow yourself to, to do it.

And you had the GI Bill regardless and looking to go to school. Um, that, that makes complete sense. Are you, um, are you familiar with woofing? 

Bob: Oh yeah. 

Chris: So that's, that's another resource for people to check into. Um, it'll be linked in the description, but I did that when I first got on the road, before I learned about public land, um, being able to go out to beautiful places and park for free, I was like, well, I need a place to park and hang out.

How can I pull this off? And, you know, just traveling around the Western part of the United States and showing up to farms and working for a week, the amount that I learned there from chickens to agriculture, to the side cultures of Bronco riding, you Like it was so educational. Like I, I felt like my cup was overflowing every farm I went to cause I just [00:12:00] learned so much.

And each one was so, so unique. Um, when it comes down to the realities of procuring your food, what percentage would you say is what you grow? And this, this is like moving forward a little bit. We'll, we'll back up to some other stuff later, but this just came to mind. How much food do you procure for yourself?

The, the realities of that versus farmer's markets versus just going to the grocery store or bartering. Like, how, how has that actually played out for you? 

Bob: Yeah, it's a great question. And it's really hard to answer regarding percentages, but I can say that a hundred percent of our seafood is from local rivers with salmon, a hundred percent of our chicken, because we raise our own meat birds, our eggs, they're all from our own eggs.

I've got two young kids, [00:13:00] one and three years old, who eat a lot of berries. I think if I had thousands of berry plants, I couldn't keep up with them. Um, and then also because we live in Alaska and I don't have things dialed in, I guess like some other people do. What we eat in the summer and what we eat in the winter, I mean, I would have to say over 90 percent of the vegetables we eat from the middle of May.

Through October is from the property now from October until May. Yeah, we still have potatoes. All of our potatoes come from what we grow. We still have garlic. We eat a lot of potatoes with garlic with salmon and chicken, but like most modern day people, we do still go to the grocery store, especially during those to get probably 90 percent of the vegetables.

That we're not growing here. Um, and [00:14:00] so, yeah, that's, I guess the statistics, if you will. 

Chris: Yeah. Round, roundabout. I was just curious because something I've realized with the nomad life, people seem to think that it's all extremes. You're either on the road full time and you never stay at a house or, you know, you're just never on the road and you shouldn't do weakening only.

You know, there's, there's always gray areas. There's always a middle ground. And I just wanted to dive into that a little bit, because even if you're starting, it sounds like for you, it's been a process over time, um, building up the, the cabin. Your food sources getting the land correct. Like it's not something that happens overnight.

And I think with, uh, a lot of social media and, you know, the influencers sign up for my course and I'll teach you how to live off the grid in two months. It's like, no, like it takes some time. Take some hard work, but you did say something that I want to dive a little bit deeper into, you said you're not as [00:15:00] dialed in as other people.

What, what does that mean for you? Like what, what exactly are you talking about there? 

Bob: Yeah. I'm talking about some folks that I know who live down the road and they're on grid now. Maybe that makes a difference, but they've got, you know, a whole system of grow lights. In their garage that they're growing micro greens all winter and they're selling them around town.

I know another family or a woman who lives up in Homer and she's got, she's also on grid. She's got the infrastructure, you know, she's put in the years of work and time and money and she has, you know, a nice big cold storage where she keeps her onions. She keeps her carrots and her beets and we always every year we're like, okay this year We're gonna build more cold storage But then we don't get around to it and and then also some of those folks like that lady out in [00:16:00] Homer She's got double walled insulated Greenhouses that blow air, warm air into that space between the plastics.

And so then she's growing stuff. Like she's got lettuce in the stores right now where our lettuce is like tiny. And we don't want to eat it because we'll kill it, you know? And then also she goes later. And so, you know, every year there's people and myself who are like, Oh, maybe this year we'll put a wood stove in, or we'll increase the energy, the battery to do this and that.

But in the end We can't do it all. And so that's what I'm referring to regarding dialed in. 

Chris: Gotcha. Yeah. That's, um, comparisons, the thief of all happiness, but it's, it seems like that's with, with every niche, it's not necessarily that you're envious of them. It's more of like an aspiration. You, you see what, [00:17:00] what they're doing and how cool it is and how it would impact your life.

Cause it's like the Joneses, if somebody gets the new BMW and you get to new when your life really isn't improving that much, where if you're able to grow lettuce throughout the year, your life improves a pretty big amount. Like, um, not, not giving away your location, but I'm curious, grocery store runs, how, how long is that round trip for you?

Bob: Yeah. Um, well we can go to a grocery store that is probably, I mean, round trip, it's not bad, man. 45 minutes. 

Chris: That's not bad. 

Bob: No, not at all. And you know, you go in there and it doesn't matter what month it is. They've got mushrooms, they've got apples, they've got onions. And so it's like, Ooh, and that's been put in since you'd been out here.

You know, it only opened up a couple of years ago. And so that's been a game changer. Cause there was another one that was less distance away. But they would only have, you know, a couple of potatoes. There's more of just preservative based foods. [00:18:00] And so then we would have to drive to the other main towns.

And that would be, you know, an hour and a half round trip or three hours to stock up on stuff. And I want to touch on what you're saying regarding the extremeness, because I've been there. I felt that, you know, when I first moved here in 2012, I really was thinking I'm never gonna. Use gas again in my, in a generator.

I'm going to go all solar, all wind, grow all of my own food. I'm going to hunt and fish and do all these things. And man, it only took one season, two seasons, if that, before I realized I'm going to burn out. And I'm going to move out because I can't do it all. 

Chris: Yeah, that's, that's a very pertinent point. Um, but sometimes you need to have those experiences to realize that, right?

Like there's like you [00:19:00] right now talking to yourself eight, nine years ago when, when that idea is first hatched, it might be a hard, hard convincing conversation. Like where now you're like, you're, you're the dude telling other people, listen, man, The generator is not too bad when you need it. Yep. Straight up.

Also, I just want to touch base just for clarity, just real quick. Cold storage. That's what, what, what exactly is cold storage for you? 

Bob: Um, it would be like a root cellar. So for us, what we want to do and what a lot of other people do is like the old fashion, you know, the place in Missouri, there's a basement.

My wife grew up in Missouri and all of these houses have a basement and the basement's a little colder. Here, it would be. A lot of folks, whether it's traditionally in Alaska or in the last 70 years, they build into a hill, you know, so they've got walls up, they've got a little exhaust and it's colder [00:20:00] than inside your house, but not frozen.

So you can keep your food at a temperature like in the refrigerator, like in those insulated food trucks. And so what we're planning to do this year is we're going to go under the house. It's something every year. I'm like, we're going to do it. We're going to do it. And finally we're growing enough and we've got a large enough family where it's like, we need to do it.

We need to store our potatoes in a better way. They're, you know, they got sprouts that are longer than my house right now. You know, it's just not working. And so we're going to just put a hole in the floor on, in the closet, build a hatch, go underneath, and then we're going to. Basically fill up some sandbags with gravel, because gravel is everywhere out here, gravel pits.

Build little walls, insulate the wall downstairs, like a 6x6 room. And that's where we're going to start keeping our crates of potatoes and garlic and things, and hopefully carrots, beets, cabbage, the list of other crops that can store [00:21:00] in colder temperatures that will last for the entirety of the winter, some of them.

And then that will change, you know, when I give you a 0 percent what we eat in the winter, you know, or 10 percent because of potatoes that will make it where instead of us only eating cabbage as sauerkraut, which is what we do now, I can only eat so much sauerkraut, we can go in the root cellar, pull out the cabbage.

And so. Yeah, that's cold storage regarding growing of agriculture, you 

Chris: know? Well, again, going back and talking to your previous self, hunting was an aspect that you had considered, um, you know, How has that played out for you? Is that a food source for you as well? 

Bob: Yeah, it's, it is a food source. It's not the main.

I'm thankful I grow food. Um, but I have hunted moose. I have been able to harvest moose. [00:22:00] I haven't done it with bear. Um, we do, Like I said, fish every year. And I've always been more of a fish guy. And when we don't get moose, because we don't like buying red meat or pork, if anybody does like that's on them, we do sometimes no doubt about it, but if we can, we, we will go without.

And so I've got some neighbors and some friends that, I mean, they hunt. That's like. They grew up doing it. It's their passion. And so they're pretty dedicated to get a moose every year, every few years. And so we do a lot of trading, you know, we grow food, we can trade them a chicken for five pounds of moose and five pounds of moose will last us.

Because we have other vegetables and meat sources to go along with it. You 

Chris: know, that, that makes sense. Um, realities of barter trading. Cause this, this is getting back to, [00:23:00] well, we'll go back to your time in the military to where you said you were chasing a guy with an AK and this is, it seems like that's where the seed started for that, that extreme to where you are now connected with nature, growing your own food, really being grounded within the earth.

having a connection with the people around you to where you don't wave on the way to the mailbox. You're literally trading life sustaining goods. Um, how is that for you? What, what are the realities of that? That, that seems like what a lot of people are craving right 

Bob: now. Yeah, it, 

Chris: uh, 

Bob: it really, warms the heart to know no matter what season I've got a list of neighbors that I'm not going to say they're all my friends, but they're neighbors who will support me and I'll support them.

And one of the biggest realities I've found with bartering [00:24:00] is there are so many of these older folks, and I'm not going to say I'm young, I'm 39, but you know, these guys who are in their 60s, 70s, and they've been doing whether it's growing food. Or harvesting food and dude, they'll just give us stuff. You know, we try, we try all the time here, take this, take this.

And they'll insist on paying us very often for the food that we give, because it'll always be like, Oh, you've got kids. And it's like, no, this feels good to me. Like you give us this every year. And so that's one thing I found is that so often there's kind of, I'm not going to say that. upper hand. There's a control thing.

I'm not a psychologist, but, but I know that it's, it hasn't ever been like, I weigh three pounds of chicken. You weigh three pounds of moose and we'd give it to each [00:25:00] other. Like, okay, this is, you know, one bunch of radishes for this. It's, it's out of the kindness of the heart. And if someone has an abundance of beats, like I did last year, then I'm happily giving out.

You know, dozens of beats to people. If I don't have any eggs, even though I've got chickens, my neighbor, I mean, he'll text or call, you know, he's 80 and he'll be like, Hey, you need chicken? You need eggs? Yes. And I'll go over there and he'll give me, you know, five dozen because he's got dozens and dozens.

And so, you know, it really is. It's something that I found that the people that I border with, we trade knowledge, you know? So for example, that 80 year old guy who grew up farming, he's third generation farmer who moved out here five years ago in his seventies off grid living and just is thriving out [00:26:00] here.

He's taught me a lot. He's taught me all kinds of stuff about harvesting your chickens, plucking them, preserving them. Anything regarding animal agriculture, I go to that guy. He's got dairy cows. He brings over dump trucks of manure and he was like, Oh, you know, don't worry about it. I'm like, dude, this is worth thousands.

All the manure you're giving me, you know, but he just gives and gives and gives and. And I'm not having any, I don't have any relationship with people who give cereal. Like people aren't what I find the people in my community. They're not like, Hey, I've got three packages of Reese's. Like we all value the food.

That's from the land that we grow with our hands, the hard work that we put into it. And that is what we're bartering as well as work, you know last fall I helped a guy, you know Do all his hay bales, [00:27:00] you know, he's putting them all together. I forget what it's called threshing hay He's cutting it all we're stacking it up and you know, he's trying to give me money and it's like of course I don't want money You know, come over with your excavator.

And he came over with his excavator and he's clearing land for me. And so that has taken years for me to build that relationship because first going back to the Iraq guy, I can be very hesitant to get close with people. Hesitant to ask people for help. And I watch people I've seen since I moved out here, not to keep rambling.

I've seen. 

Chris: No, you're at least good. 

Bob: Thanks, man. I've seen at least a dozen, if not more people and families move out here, stay for a couple of years and then leave and sell their stuff, sell their place. And there was one recently that they moved out here. They were so gung [00:28:00] ho, so extreme, like we were talking about and man, they asked everybody.

I mean, I don't even know him. They're asking me if they can borrow my truck and it's like, well, I mean, okay, you know, I, I said, okay, you can borrow my truck. You're keeping it on the road. That's fine. And then he asked again. And I was like, all right, you know, you're loading my truck down 10 times with Pete.

That's overloading. It's wearing and tearing on my truck, man. So he's like, Oh, I'll give you a hundred bucks. Make a long story short. I think they used everybody in this community for everything that they had, and then poof, they left, you know, and just one day they're gone. And it's like, you know, I think that mentality is why a lot of folks like myself stand off and like, okay, I'm going to give you a couple years.

I've been out here now 10, 11 years. [00:29:00] I'll give you a couple of years. If you're around in a couple of years, then I'll start that relationship with you because it really is such a valuable relationship, that bartering relationship. 

Chris: Yeah. It's like, you have to build up the social credit to actually have, it's, it's not like your credit score at the bank.

It's like a social credit that you build up with your community and your neighbors. That's. I mean, I wonder if that was the plan that they had all along or they started to get the vibe that the community wasn't really enjoying them and they didn't feel welcome. Both, at least from the outside looking in, both would be welcome.

I wouldn't want neighbors that are just mooching or neighbors that just came out to renovate something to flip it for some, some profit. If you're in a community like that, I'm sure every single person has their, their place and value. And it made me think of that 80. Your old man that you were talking about and how, how [00:30:00] common it is for people.

Especially men, from what I was listening to, I believe it was an audio book, that when they retire, the life expectancy goes down. And the theory behind it was, they feel like it's almost like their body and their soul knows they're no longer needed. And somebody with that much knowledge and that much experience in a place like that, he's not an old dude in a nursing home.

He's an old dude that you go to for advice and is just out there thriving. He has a purpose. Um, which leads me into this thought in question. Um, how much healing has happened for you out there? If any, it's a bit of a lead in question, but. I'm curious, again, you keep talking about the previous you and the you now, and it just keeps coming up in my head, so I'm curious if you, if you don't mind sharing a little bit about that.[00:31:00] 

Bob: Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to like put my hands up in the air like you see in these evangelical churches and be like, I'm all healed! I'm good! Yeah, 

Chris: that'd be the easy button. 

Bob: Yeah man, the healing. So, to go back to college, there was a time when I was at the campus, it was market day. And They're asking everybody, the teacher's like, okay, you know, who's doing this?

Who's doing that all harvest tasks. And I was usually a hard working guy, you know, the shoveler, the manure, whatever it was. And he got through the list of everything. And he said, well, who wants to do cup flowers? And nobody wanted to do cup flowers. You know, it was intimidating. And he turns to me and goes, Bob, how about you do cut flowers today?

And I was like, Oh, okay. Okay. And so I went out there, I got my [00:32:00] bucket half full of water, two of them. I got to the flowers and I remember I'm looking at all these beautiful colored flowers at the time. I didn't know an aster from a delphinium and I'm still not that great with flowers, but there was.

Colors of all shapes and sizes and bugs all over the place. And I remember I'm harvesting these flowers and I'm smelling them and man, all of a sudden I don't even know why, you know, I'm looking at these spruce trees, they're blowing in the wind. I can hear my classmates in the distance laughing and harvesting and man, I just dropped on my knees and I just started crying and crying and, and I didn't know why I was crying.

But I knew it had something to do with the beauty of life that was surrounding me. And while I was in Iraq as an infantry man, you know, I remember one of the first days we were moving South and it was nighttime and I've got night vision goggles on and [00:33:00] you know, there's loading up dead bodies in to the backs of these trucks.

There's just, there's dead people all over, you know, we came in right after bombs were dropped and there was some heavy fighting and. And so while I was in Iraq for those two years, I think I got, I got a lot of love for life. I know that much. And I cherish life of all forms. And so coming out here, being able to use what I learned at school, I remember one of the first things I did was I have a well and there wasn't a pitless adapter.

So the well was there, but there was a line of PVC that was just on the ground, ran to the house. And so it would freeze in the winter. It wasn't made to last in the winter time. And so I call about how to get a pitless adapter installed. They talked to me about it. They tell me I got to get a trench from the well to the house, six feet deep to be safe on a frost line.

And there's, I think, [00:34:00] 105, 115 feet. And if I was a smart man who wasn't dealing with like heavy anxiety and war torn dreams, and at that time drinking, isolated drinking, I would have asked one of my neighbors or rented an excavator, but instead I dug it, you know, by hand and it took me. I mean months to dig it because I was trying to do so many other things, but I did that and I remember doing it and that's how the first one or two years were for me out here was just hard labor on my land, sweating, crying, isolated, and I got through those times not knowing if I was going to, and then It seemed that some of the fruits of my labor, I started slowly going out and meeting people in the community.

I [00:35:00] started having a bunch of radishes in my hand to eat. I had water inside my house for that winter time. And all of those things started really building my confidence, not just as a soldier or as a drunk, I was confident in a lot of other negative things. At the time they were useful, but I was gaining confidence as a steward of land, as a homemaker, you know, as a carpenter, little things.

And so, you know, coming out here as a guy who had no dad, who didn't learn things from a dad, multiple stepfathers, but I'm not blaming anybody, but I know that there's a lot that I missed out on growing up regarding skills. And patience and seeing things through and starting a project and focusing on it to the end.

And so having this [00:36:00] bigger picture dream and goal of, I want this to be a family farm where there are kids and there are siblings and there's animals and there's trees, and it's not just cutting down all the trees. It's more of a permaculture. If you want to call it that approach. To farming, but man, you know, from that guy who moved out here in what I thought was a desperate attempt to just live, find something to live for.

Cause I was so dark a few years later in 2014, yeah, 2014, I bought it in 2012, 2014 things started changing that transition and you know, to this day now I've. I've got a steady spiritual practice, which I've always needed, you know, and that came from quiet time outdoors. [00:37:00] You know, of course, sometimes I'll attend different spiritual services, but I'm more of a, my own practice that pertains to being outside.

And so, you know, the quiet that's been out here, the, the fewer social obligations, those things have really helped me to. Grow to appreciate my time alone to like myself, which I don't think I did, especially when I got back from the military and to build the skills and confidence that, you know, I, I'm sober.

You know, I came here as a drunk who chained, smoked cigarettes and alcohol and bud every day. And 2014, that's like. The year I got sober, you know, I don't use any tobacco now. I, I don't use bud to help my dreams at night or to tap in some musical energy. I'm not afraid [00:38:00] of the dreams that I'm going to have being war dreams.

I'm not looking out my window now thinking that the Russians are going to invade and I need to be prepared with my guns. I am someone who believes in being prepared now. As opposed to in 2012, when I first bought this property, I was paranoid. And so there has been so much healing, you know, not to try to keep going.

Like, I mean, I've still got so much healing to do, but I've got a relationship with my brother now that I've never had. We're better now than we've ever been. Both of my parents died since I bought this place. Since you were out here, both of them passed away. I dealt with those deaths. Yeah, thanks, man. In what I thought was a healthy, graceful, supportive way, because of this rootedness that I have on this property, man, [00:39:00] and now I've got a wife, a beautiful wife with two gorgeous daughters and, and yeah, man, I really firmly believe that so much of it comes back to what you were saying about the old retired folks, that I found a purpose that was, that Bigger than just me and my dream to like be an author or be a millionaire or whatever it was, but this Oh chickens out there trying to knock on my door but a bigger purpose Of serving my community of being the steward of this 20 acres of land And leaving that for future generations.

And yeah, man, it's, it's been an incredible healing journey. So great question. And thank you. 

Chris: Yeah, no, congratulations and all that. That's, that really is a big deal. It really is. So congratulations on that. Um, going a little bit, it's not exactly the same, but I'm, I'm just curious. [00:40:00] You go to your spiritual.

church or group or whatever it may be. They are asking you about your spirituality and this is too personal. Feel free. We'll go to the next one. But how, like, I'm very intrigued by this because you said that you find that by going outside and being in nature. I am the deacon. I am the church leader. I am the youth group pastor asking you, what does that mean for you?

How, how do you find God outside like that? What? Does God speak to you? Is it more of an internal oneness? Is it the peace and calm for clarity? How would you describe that to that, that person? 

Bob: What a great question. Yeah. So it definitely varies, you know, whether I'm being attacked or whether it's a respectful conversation.

Um, and if I feel like I'm [00:41:00] being attacked or I can tell in the language, then, cause I go, I attend church. I love going to churches. But if I'm feeling like I'm ostracized because I'm very open about the fact that I don't believe that you have to believe in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior who is resurrected on the third day and immaculate conception.

There's a lot of that I don't believe. I don't think all the kind folks I met in India who don't believe that are going to hell. Like, I'm sorry, I don't. And so if I say that to someone and they respond with, Yeah, who knows what happens after we die? All we can do is try to be the best people we can be.

Then it's like, Oh, okay, this is going to be a great conversation. Cause a lot of folks that I meet in Alaska, we'll talk about their spiritual connection in the rivers, fly fishing out on a hunt, even if they don't [00:42:00] harvest an animal, walking the beach. You know, that is where so many people here have their church and their sanctuary in their community.

But if I find someone who is aggressive about it, because, you know, there's always those like hard and first of all, I don't go back to those places and I'm really not open to talk with him about anything because I don't see the point of debating, um, and trying to persuade someone or just be like negated.

So yeah, man, there's a, a really. There's some good, good community conversations around here. There's Buddhist groups, there's recovery through drug and addiction, which is like the higher power groups. There's church, Christian from every denomination groups. And then there's a lot of people who don't do any of it.

And. You know, I do find myself somewhere in the middle [00:43:00] with all that. And, and yeah, man, I, I like to talk to people about my spirituality and hopefully that they can see, even if I'm not studying the Dhammapada or the scriptures or the Hindu texts or whatever it is that I'm living a life that follows spiritual principles and I'm treating people.

In a way that maybe the 10 commandments are teaching people to treat people. And I'm treating nature in this way as well. And so even if, you know, people talk trash about me, which I know there's people who do because maybe I'm not Catholic or maybe I'm, you know, uh, appropriating multiple cultural beliefs, whatever people want to say about me, as long as I'm doing the right thing, [00:44:00] then.

Yeah, I'm open to talk with people about it. All of it, man, 

Chris: when it, when it comes to Skills that you missed out on and I'd love to Dive into this a little bit. We see this a lot in tiny home tours. 

Bob: Um, 

Chris: Where somebody will buy a van They their job went remote or they have the opportunity to work remote And they've never cut a stick of wood in their life.

They've never put a crimp in an electrical wire You They've never plumbed a, a water tank with a water pump. I haven't done any of it, but they figure it out. Um, I'm curious. Cause we, we talked about the food, but we still have two other aspects that I'm curious about is your water and power. 

Bob: So 

Chris: I'd love to start with power.

Cause I see the Berkey behind you. So I'm pretty, pretty sure [00:45:00] how the, how the water works, but with, with power, you mentioned at the beginning, you didn't have a generator. I assume you have a generator now. I assume you have solar and batteries. I'd love to start with that, with the skills you learned, or was it a barter to get help with that, YouTube university?

What was that like for you? 

Bob: Yeah, it was a process. No doubt there was, you know, originally not having any of it and then that turning into having a 1000 watt generator and just learning how to maintain a generator because I'd never done that or how to run one and that generator came inside through an extension cord and we had a surge protector and it was just basically charged everything that we needed.

Or we'd have a light, you know, if we needed it in the wintertime, but a lot of it was candles and headlamps. And then that [00:46:00] built up until maybe five years later. I mean, I live like that. I've seen people come out here and make the progress so fast. And I would today, if I were buying it today, but back then I didn't have, well, a lot of things I didn't have, but yeah, I later had two farm tractor batteries.

And so every time I ran the generator. I charged the batteries and then I had just a little inverter. I can't tell you what size it was that I bought it, you know, the local hardware store and. And then it was, there was an inverter in the house with the batteries in the corner of the house. And anytime we needed power, yeah, we had the inverter.

Now it wouldn't last very long. Like we watched one movie really. It was like the end, you know, but if we just charge things or use a laptop, charge laptop, it worked great, you know? So then we started [00:47:00] going to some of those rechargeable batteries. You know, whether cobalt, I know there's a lot going on in this world with the way things are mined, but not to get into all that.

We had some rechargeable batteries that would, you know, power a radio or power a couple lights or, you know, had multiple lights like motion lights. And then it went like that for a couple of years until I remember I asked my wife, Savannah to marry me. I think this was in 2018, maybe 2019 I asked her to marry me.

And at that time I was still living like that. I didn't have any solar winds, nothing. And she looks at me and she says, well, sure. I was like, Whoa, sure. What do you mean? You, you really want to marry me? She said, yes, but. Only with one stipulation, and I was like, [00:48:00] what she said, we need a refrigerator Because I didn't have one, you know, I was still just I had a propane oven And I had a cooler.

I didn't buy ice. It was just like, okay sometimes I don't use I don't need it, but it's pretty crazy what you can learn to make do with, you know, or without make a long story short, I'm still pretty elementary. I'd say I'd really like to bump it up, but we've got 500 watt panels that I put in, built the frame, learned, you know, looked it up on YouTube, wired them to the house.

I had those hooked up to those two farm and tractor batteries that were great until I started looking a little more into what people were doing and needing more power because we got a small refrigerator. And it would just drain drain the batteries So then I talked to that old man down the road who moved here and within literally I mean a [00:49:00] year two years You know just seeing what he did with that property and I know it takes money But it also takes knowledge and and I asked him and he told me the company he went through And so it was one of those things where, okay, I'm going to buy these batteries from this company.

I'm going to talk to the guy about the charge controller inverter, and I'm going to pay, I think it was two over 2, 000 for these eight batteries with a charge controller and inverter. And that's something I'm going to go work for. So. I was substitute teaching and that later became a teaching job, which I'm not doing now.

I'm back to subbing. And so my wife and I, you know, we'd work different jobs, save money with some things like that in mind. And so that man, he came out with his team, they put the batteries in the charge controller inverter. Anytime I have problems with the stuff, I [00:50:00] call him. He's happy to walk me through everything.

And, and that's where we're at. You know, we've got a. large French door refrigerator that we bumped up to, you know, my wife, I mean, I love her man, but that is like, okay, I, I need more solar, you know, and every year, same type of thing. I'm like, okay, now, I mean, when I bought those hundred waters, like that was a pretty good size one, but now they're so big, it's like, gosh, but in order to replace them for what I want, I'm going to need a new charge controller and a new inverter.

And I believe I can do those things now. But do I want to spend, do we want to spend the money on it when, you know, we've got a generator and the system we're on now is we run the generator for two hours in the morning and for two hours in the evening. And could it be better? Of course, man, it could be way better.

That powers everything. [00:51:00] And you know, we go through, I'll say 25 gallons on a high end of gasoline a month to power the generator and that charges the batteries. We've got a wood stove that was the main heat source for about seven years. And then, yeah, man, we got a Toyo, you know, we got a little diesel heater that uses You know, it uses some wattage for ignition, but then it's low 50 watts or so if it's steady.

And so that's like, okay, what a game changer for nighttime, being able to have that thing on at night and not have to wake up throughout the night. And, and so, yeah, our, our system is pretty basic, man. 500 waters generator, a 2000 watt generator. It's not big that pumps are well. Does our laundry, propane stove, [00:52:00] toil for heat with wood stove and to go into water that the pump brings the water up into a tank upstairs in our house, which is 65 gallons.

It's still that system is when you were here and it's gravity fed down and we've got the old trickle. And, and we don't have a hot water heater. We still heat up the water on either the wood stove or on the propane stove. And we really like that. You know, when you were here last, we had, I think a shower in there.

I don't remember what we had, but we put in a 

Chris: bathtub. The shower, it was only a shower and you were still building the shower out. 

Bob: Yeah. Now we have a bathtub in there. Yeah. And I mean, we still have, you know, a little metal trough that we put in the bathtub, fill up with part [00:53:00] hot water, part cold water. And that's how me and my wife, the kids, they get a bath, you know, we fill it up and then they get to play in the bath or whatever.

But But yeah, that's kind of the, the down and dirty on the energy and water. I think, 

Chris: yeah, I appreciate you. You do rainwater as well. 

Bob: Yeah. Yeah. That's like a big, exciting time for us is like now when it's warm enough. That we've got, we've got three 65 gallon barrels that fill up, you know, one's right off the chicken coop.

And so it's like, whoo, all of a sudden our water is tripled. 

Chris: I'm assuming it's legal up there because my partner bought 40 acres in Colorado and it's illegal. In Colorado to do catchment. Wow. What a shame. Yeah. Um, I'm, I'm curious with the generator, how many generators have you gone [00:54:00] through or did you get one of those million mile generators that's just been cooking for like seven years?

Bob: Yeah. What a good question. I didn't get one of those. I had the first one. Okay. Long story short, I've had three generators in 11 years. 

Chris: That's not bad at all. And it's, it's not even the brand. Like my, my brother. We, we have a little, uh, piece of land. We rent yearly on a Lake in Indiana, and he bought one of those predators from Harbor freight to where the hours were already clocked over when he had it.

We've been using it for three years. So I, I just know some of those generators, it's just like a million mile generator for whatever reason. So I was curious how that panned out for you. Um, going into everything, um, in general, if you don't mind sharing, cause it's, if you subs, I guess you wouldn't substitute teach in Seward, but during the winter I subbed in Seward as well, [00:55:00] um, for, for a little extra play cash, but, um, it sounds as though you guys.

Are not like driving off to careers and working. It's when a need comes for the property or the house, then you go out and work, save that cash. And then you're back to, um, normal. So if you don't mind sharing, I'm curious if you just a rough estimate, um, how much money you actually spend, because again, going back to the social media thing, people sell the homestead lifestyle.

And again, it's like by my course, um, call me and I can tell you how to live on 10 a month, you know, it's just like all this stuff. I'm curious how, how that budget actually works for you. Because again, as, as we're seeing with Tiny Home Tours, the homesteading is, you know, Really popular right now. A lot of people are [00:56:00] interested.

A lot of people are living interested in living off the grid. So what is the reality of that for you? 

Bob: Yeah, gosh, what a great question, man. So the reality of that is my wife and I, we both worked for a native tribe. I was there for two years. She was there for a year and a half or a year. We took that time and that money and we paid off our property cause I didn't buy it outright.

So then we went to 0 on that. Yeah. And we put up a yurt that we either rented out on Airbnb for not many times. We found very quickly we didn't want, maybe it's my paranoia. We didn't really want the people, you know, knocking on my door at midnight. Like, dude, I don't want nothing to do with it. So either way, that has been a place where my brother has lived for years on the property in the yurt.

And it's just been such a rich thing for us. Um, so with that, after [00:57:00] paying all that off, Before we had our first kid, it's all changed. When it was just me, I could live out here on 1, 200 a month. And that was with a 540 a month payment at the time, which was my mortgage. So I would live on like 700, but that was strapping for me at that time.

I very often would go a little in credit debt. And then a lot in credit debt, which then led me to go to Seward and get a full time job so I could pay off the debt and then come back. It wasn't like, I thought it was going to be like, Oh, I'll live on 15 a month, you know, and, and then with my wife and myself, you know, then it was, you know, I think, I thank God, man, but I, I receive a disability from the veterans affairs.

And so when you came out here before I was getting, you know, 1, 000 a month. When my wife and I got [00:58:00] together, I was getting 1, 700 a month, which man, I know it's a big up compared to what a lot of people get in this day and age. And I know that that has kept me off the streets. That's why I kept this place because I was that combat veteran who would have been homeless, dude, straight up.

Make a long story short, that 17 was enough after we paid off our house. 1, 000. To be a good amount for me and my wife and to grow food. Now, when it came to, do we want to try to make it where we're making money on this property, then we need to buy some things. So that's where, you know, we decided we were going to put up a fence, something we talked about.

Finally, we, we went for it and that's when I got a full time job as a teacher because we had this goal and we put up a fence and we've got now fenced [00:59:00] in 2. 75 acres out here and built a chicken coop and got the yurt and we've cleared out a lot more land. And so, yeah, as you said, it's. It's been about the project, but today I'd have to say with two kids, a one and three year old, my wife and myself and all the animals, cause we've got about 40 chickens, two dogs, a cat.

We need 2, 000 a month. I mean, you know, 1700 is what I get from disability. we need that. Now, when I say need, do we need to eat fresh vegetables that could be argued, but we do like to live what we think is a healthy life and have some of those pleasures and privileges of fresh food and buying frozen blueberries for the kids.

And, and yeah, so, so it's not just 0. It's not 15. It's [01:00:00] not 3 a day. It really is. And I would have to say the biggest expense, I know it is the biggest expense for us is gas and it's not the generator it's because we live out here and we have two kids that want to be around other kids and we drive, you know, we don't have a little e car.

Like we've got a car that only gets like 17 miles a gallon, you know, and we have two cars, one that gets 30 plus, and then the other, that's like the safe family car. And so that is like, we spend at least six to 800 a month on just driving that car out to, you know, all over the place, man. It really seems like, 

Chris: yeah, I mean that, that, thanks for sharing that.

I think that gives a real. perspective, and I think a lot of people appreciate that. [01:01:00] And the disability is hard fought and hard earned. You probably know that a thousand times more than me. So it's, it's awesome to hear that that came in clutch for you and was, was there. Um, when it comes. To the kids. If you don't, it's not a personal question.

And it's another thing. It's awesome that you keep them in mind and socialize, like, you know, keeping that a priority. That's that, that, that really is amazing. Um, I'm just curious what your hopes are for your kids. It sounds like you didn't have, and again, um, don't mean to overstep my bounds, but it sounds like you didn't have.

A very solid, um, upbringing. Cause I am a child of kind of similar circumstances. So as you're talking, I'm nodding my head, like, yeah. Um, and going through the military and seeing the things that you have, [01:02:00] I am assuming and could be projecting here, but I'm assuming that having a place for them like that and being able to raise them better than you were, because that's one of my goals.

Um, I'm just curious how that land ties in how that's all coming together and what you envision and what, what you're hoping for them out there, because that sounds like an amazing upbringing.

Bob: Yeah. The number one thing that I want for my children is to grow up in a family with two parents who love each other, who listened to each other, respect each other and work hard. Every day work hard and I want us to treat them the same way. And so I want my kids to know that when [01:03:00] dad has this look on his face, that's work mode.

Okay. That's all right. He's got this look on his face. That's okay. Let's play. And so I think that if they learn some of those vital foundational skills, Of I can trust people I can be loved and love I can work alongside And not feel criticized for doing a poor job So then now i'm embarrassed to try to do anything in front of anybody because I don't want to be teased Which is what so many people deal with I did as well growing up.

I want them to be confident and knowing that It takes time to learn something. You know, I'll give an example right now. My three year old, she loves helping with everything, dude. You know, she'll crack eggs, she'll scramble eggs, she'll form into the bowl, but it's not like she was doing that when she was one.

You know, [01:04:00] she has been in the kitchen. She's gradually getting to that step where it's like, okay, now you can stand next to the stove and pour it in. Her sister gets mad. She's 18 months. She's like, oh, you know, and I'm like, dude, you can't crack the eggs. Like, You need to work up to that. And I think I grew up, I know I did just seeing like, someone's really good at something or I want it to be really good at something.

I thought it would just poof. If it didn't come natural, then I just give up. So I think that's like the main thing is wanting the kids to have that feeling in their hearts that they can come back to us. They've always got a place here on the property with their parents, And to have them be close together where instead of competitive based siblingry or parenting It's I don't know the opposite.

It's less competition between them And so [01:05:00] with that, you know, I want them to have responsibilities I want them to grow up, you know, not like oh you take out the trash and you get 50 bucks a week No, man Like you do you feed the dogs because it makes you feel good because you love the dogs You You know doing work because it feels good rather than just doing work to make money I think that would be one of the most important things that I want to teach them is the love of work and Then of course the love of nature respecting the land not, you know, just taking and taking and taking letting beds lie fallow and grow the clover, you know, I'm going to get bees today.

So the little things like learning to love bees rather than fear them, like I did for 30 years, you know, just learning to respect all beings, this, this beautiful earth, whether it's the [01:06:00] mycorrhizae to the hawks that terrorize the chickens. And so hopefully. When they're older, and I mean like 16, 17, 18, and they're ready to go out into the world, they can have that confidence, that trust in themselves, that no matter what they do, if they fail, they'll get back up, and they'll succeed in life, you know?

So, that's what I want. 

Chris: It's beautiful, man. That's, uh, that sounds like an amazing existence. When it comes down to anything else that we missed, like we'll, we'll, we'll mention your book and how people can follow you. Um, but I just want to make sure that I didn't personally miss anything that you want to touch base on.

Is there any other aspects that you would like to share? 

Bob: Yeah, two things. One, [01:07:00] I wish I would have taken the advice of someone. Before moving out here, who told me to focus on one task at a time each year. Okay. So this year, just do your solar, your system this year, cultivate the land until finally after four or five years, you've got this well run system.

I didn't do that. I dove in trying to do everything, you know, and then I failed at everything and. And if it wasn't for having grit and really, I felt like just desperation, you know, I bought the place having a disability income that covered the 540 mortgage. And I thought, dude, I can't go anywhere else.

Cause if I do, I'm going to have to work full time and I don't want to do that. I want to be an author and a farmer. If I'm working full time, I can't do either one. So. [01:08:00] If someone is pursuing or they're in this type of life that you and I live, taking it slow, one task at a time, and having this bigger dream, bigger picture, like why?

Asking that question, why you're doing it. And if it's all because of ego and you want to be an influencer or you want to save a bunch of money, I don't necessarily know each their own, that those are going to keep you in this type of existence. And so having that deeper reason why you're doing it, so you don't just quit.

You know, there's a lot of people who give up living this type of life and, and yeah, 

Chris: yeah, we, we, we see that a lot with, uh, Van life, schoolie life, like doing it to be an influencer. They're not really interested in the freedoms of the road because there's going to be ups and downs. Rigs are going to break down.

Your [01:09:00] brakes are going to get warped, going down a mountain that you didn't realize the grade was so bad. Like there's going to be expenses. There's going to be hard times, but there's also beautiful times. And if you get into it for the wrong reason, then those beautiful times, you just feel like you deserve that.

Where if you don't have that grit of knowing that you really want to do it, you see the light at the end of the tunnel, you're just going to bow out. And we see it all the time. 

Bob: Exactly. Yep. And you know, it is okay. I really respect a family from Seward, the Olsons, you know, Lars, Clay, Bjorn, their dad and mom.

And, and so if a person lives like this and they know in their mind, like, okay, I'm kind of a, uh, chapters or seasonal type person where I'm going to do this, I'm going to give this 10 years. You know, give yourself that. If you leave at that time, then that's great. You know, move on to the next chapter of your life.

But, but don't go in this thinking I'm going to do [01:10:00] it forever. And then realize how hard it is and then quit. Cause that's it. I'm not gonna say it'll ruin your life, you know, but it's a hard blow if you do it like that. So, 

Chris: yeah. So 

Bob: yeah, just cut coming with the realistic expectations, man. It ain't easy, bro.

Chris: No, nothing, nothing outside the norm I've found is easy. Um, If you step outside the normal bounds of this, the clear and concise path society has laid before you, it is going to be difficult, it's going to be hard, there's going to be Blocks in the road that you don't see coming. You're going to question yourself.

It goes back to that grit that you were talking about, man. It really comes down to that. You got to have that desire to even have that grit in the first place. And you mentioned one, one other thing that we didn't cover. [01:11:00] What's that? So you, you said that there were two things that, that we didn't touch base on.

And I believe the first one is, um, you know, basically grit. Yeah. Like you gotta pace yourself, take that advice. What, what was the other, the other aspect? 

Bob: I tend to ramble. So I merged the two and one, one is it's to do one thing at a time. Yeah. You know, so do your solar system, do your water. When you're done with it, move on to the next one.

The second one to have the grit, have the purpose. So you don't just quit. You know, so to have that never give up mentality that, you know, you're going to do it and when you run out of water and you're out of firewood and it's January, you can call your neighbor, you know, and you can say, dude, I need some firewood.

You know, there [01:12:00] was one time when I was out here years back, I don't remember, but man, my truck would broke down. I didn't know anybody yet. I needed a job. But you know, I was a miles from any place I could get a job. I was in credit debt at that point. And I just had unrealistic, unrealistic expectations.

And so, dude, I found the closest place I could get a job and it was 13, 15 miles. If you include my road one way, obviously Hills and I was biking, you know, I biked every day to and from work and I was just a, A prep cook in a restaurant and the people I worked with that I was crazy. And I was, I was crazy because I needed to keep living here and to keep that dream alive, you know?

So those are the two things. 

Chris: Yeah. I, uh, when I was building my big bus, I was low on cash. [01:13:00] Like basically all the money from the business was just going right back into the business and we were just scraping the line, right. And, um, I got an opportunity for a real estate job and I was on central time and it was an Eastern job.

So I was up at four 45, seven days a week, cold calling people. So my, my days were I'd wake up at four 45, start calling around five, five 15 cause it's East coast time. Then I would finish up around 10 on the bus till about to eat work on the bus till about seven eat. Then I would organize all the tools, get it cleaned up.

Shower, watch an anime, one episode of an anime, bed, repeat. That, that, that was my life. But it was like, I would be like working in the bus, tired, making the calls in the morning, sitting in the bus, and I would just be envisioning where I was going to position things. There, there was never a question in my mind.

It's just like, I just need to eat this elephant right now. And I'm just [01:14:00] taking one bite today, you know? And when, when you do have that passion, that grit, and it goes back to your point, if the desire. Isn't there. You're not going to be able to get up at 4 45 every morning and get told no and get cussed out on the phone, then work the rest of your day without that, that desire, that vision, that plan, that necessity.

Just like breathing. If you don't have that, it's not going to work. Yep, that's exactly right. Well, I appreciate your time. We're just over an hour now. Um, a little bit in the beginning as well. Uh, if people wanted to either reach out to you, Um, you mentioned you're an author, Um, you have a website with a newsletter as well.

How would people get in touch with you? And by the way, everybody listening or watching, everything will be linked down below. Yeah. 

Bob: So my family, we have a website, it's called secret garden, alaska. org. And on that website, we've got a blog [01:15:00] that we put up at least every two weeks. We've got my wife sells her beaded earrings and jewelry.

I sell books. I am an author. Um, and then we have a newsletter that comes out once a month and it's like a 1 subscription a month for the newsletter, it's like a seven or eight page newsletter that covers anything from recipes to off grid living, to self publishing your own books, pictures, poems, fun, entertaining and educational experience.

Um, my one book that I have out is called Warflower, a true story of family service and life in Alaska. And I published that in June of 2022. It's been doing great, man. I ain't gonna lie. I've been so tickled by the amount of support I've received from the veteran and non veteran community about this book.

And I'm right now doing a Kickstarter campaign, which I've never done, learning new things [01:16:00] for the second book, which is called just like a soldier. And that I'm hoping to have out October 1st. And so, yeah, man, that's how you get ahold of us is through the website. Um, you can find the books on the website or basically anywhere online.

Um, and yeah, we love, we are having woofers come out this year and we're definitely looking for more in the future, people who want to come out. And so, yeah, just reach out to us, man. We'd love to, to talk and I hope to see you one day again, Chris. 

Chris: We're planning on heading back up. We're planning on heading back up sooner or later, but, um, just want to give you props for, um, just having that vision.

Many years ago and a pretty dangerous situation. And here you are doing what you said you're going to do. So kudos to you. 

Bob: Thank you very much, man. 

Outro: This is a Tiny [01:17:00] Home Tours production. Thank you so much for listening. Please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe for all future episodes. We'll see you next week.