Going wild. really sorry for repost.

I have to say this isn't a great idea. Okay you'll have a caravan so at least some shelter, but picking mushrooms and wild plants can be a lethal business if you don't know what you're doing. Take a look at the link in my sig for more information on that.

Trying to live off the land in a sort of hunter-gatherer manner is not really possible in a place like Ireland, nor is it adviseable to try. All that "countryside" out there is owned by someone, and if you're planting crops on their land without permission the reaction might be fairly unpleasant. Never mind being shooed away, you could get a load of birdshot through the window. Country folk can be a bit mad sometimes.

And there is sod all food in a forest unless it's the right season and/or you know what to look for. You'd do better by a seashore as long as you really love salty food but I'm not sure how well a €500 caravan would stand up to that kind of weather.

You're talking about picking up a whole variety of quite involved if not terribly complicated, seasonally useful skills essentially overnight - does that sound realistic? Also have you considered what to do in case of food poisoning, illness, a broken leg and so on?

Whatever the case it won't be a Disney Saturday afternoon spectacular, most people live in houses for a reason.

Away from all that, with no fixed abode you won't be eligible for any social welfare payments or assistance. When you drop back in or when your family stops giving you money, you'll need to get a job straight away, because the community welfare officers have no cash these days. Just something to keep in mind.

Other than that, best of luck! I'm genuinely not trying to rain on the parade, just mentioning a few basic realities before you get started.

absolute non starter unless there is someone out there that needs someone on their land 24/7.......

If you had any experience in hunting and trapping you might get a job as a game keeper somewhere (if those kind of jobs still exist)

remember straight off you will fuel, food, drinking water, somewhere to go to the toilet, all this in a much smaller space than you ever would have had before.

I know of a place near Tralee that has a security Guard 24/7 and it is pretty remote and probably has a caravan for him to stay in. something like that might do you.

Remember people are very defensive about land in a way that some 'townies' do not really seem to understand.

Fair play to ya's, id love to do aomething like that but ither comitments mean it wouldnt be possible for me now..

Not really something to be taken lightly and i think very irrisponsible to go unprepaired which is what you both seem to be.

Learn some skills first, this is not going to be like camping..

aaakev wrote: »

Not really something to be taken lightly and i think very irrisponsible to go unprepaired which is what you both seem to be.

Learn some skills first, this is not going to be like camping..

Yeah, I admire the spirit of the endeavour but really, there was a young lad a couple of years back who decided to trek across some fields on his way home from a party, took a quick nap and never woke up. Exposure did for him, and this was during the summertime.

If ye do go for this and against the odds make it through the first year you won't be hippies, you'll be leaner, tougher, wiser, the proud owners of new scars, and intimately familiar with the fact that mother nature is in fact a stone cold bitch. Of course it's not mad max out there, yes most of the time would probably be fairly enjoyable, but you're talking about what I'd call a 19th century level of self sufficiency.

The long tail of skills and equipment needed even in the best of environments to reach that level these days, I wouldn't try it without twenty grand at least. There are a lot of small little gotchas you'd never think of until they sink your battleship, like say fishing. Great, you have a fish, have you ever topped, tailed and gutted a fish? Now what are you going to fry it in, where's the oil come from? Do you know how to roast a fish without foil? have you ever tried to eat fish for ten consecutive days in a row? How about rabbits, what are your thoughts on snaring and skinning a fluffy little bunny rabbit?

And that's assuming you can find somewhere to park.

Now the kind of ongoing budget you'd have would cover food for two people easily, heat a bit of a stretch, electricity if you could find somewhere to plug in, but you wouldn't be living in an arboreal idyll, you'd be on a campsite somewhere.

Well on that bomb shell.................


I'm out.





please ignore my previous post

yaurt wrote: »

we have 3 kids with us.

Are you completely off your head?! You're thinking about bringing three children to some sort of wilderness for a year on a starting budget of five hundred euros in a caravan that will probably fall over if you lean on it? What school will your children be attending while on this grand adventure? Is that what you meant by "even considering evading authorities around that"?

You'd want to get yourself straight my friend. I wouldn't be worrying so much about sustainability as finding a job and looking after your family. I mean I appreciate things can be tough but this isn't a way out.

This sounds like the movie Into the Wild, I recommend you watch that before you think of dragging kids on an "adventure".