Daily grind getting you down? Imagine if this was your morning commute. Picture: Todd Patten
ABOUT three hours from the nearest city, past a town of about 40 people, and about two and a half kilometres away from the road is a tiny cabin with no running water or electricity.
It has two rooms and a wood stove, and according to Todd Patten, it’s about perfect. The 47-year-old has been living off-grid in Alaska for the past six years.
“The cabin is really small. When I first moved here, I thought to myself: ‘How can you possibly live someplace so small?’ but after a while you get used to it,” he told news.com.au.
“I believe the smaller your home is the less stress you have in life, because you have less room for stuff. I don’t have a TV, I don’t spend money on that kind of stuff. I’m a minimalist.”
In the summer, colourful wildflowers blanket the ground. In the winter, temperatures plunge to almost -30C and the northern lights dance across the sky. No matter where you go, the mountains tower over everything.
“It’s a wonderful place to live. It’s so vast and eternal, and it really trivialises your daily problems in life. They seem like nothing,” he said. “If my daughter were here right now, she’d say ‘Dad, I’ve heard you say this a thousand times’. But it’s true.”
One of the biggest perks is Mr Patten’s extremely low cost of living.
“I do work. I work as little as possible. I don’t like to work,” he told news.com.au. “We don’t have any taxes in this part of Alaska, and my only expenses are food and gas. I have a part-time job at a bar. It’s about a three-hour drive away, but it pays the bills. It doesn’t matter where you are in Alaska, you’re always close to something beautiful.
“For me, it’s all about the night skies. I enjoy the stars, the Milky Way, the northern lights. Last night they were moving so fast, like the speed of a cracked whip. I just watched it for hours.
“Some nights they don’t come out until two or three in the morning. You don’t want to miss it. When I walk out on my porch, I feel like I’m living in an observatory, a planetarium.”
He spends a lot of time trying to capture the phenomenon on camera.
“I’m not a professional photographer, it’s just a hobby. I just want to show people what it’s like to really live out there,” he said. “A lot of people wonder if they can just run away and live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and I’m here to say yes you can!”
It seems it’s a dream many people share, because Mr Patten’s Cabinlife_Alaska Instagram account has more than 111,000 followers. Along with the cozy two-room cabin, he posts plenty of images depicting his daily life, as well as the enviable view of the Copper River Valley and Wrangell Mountains outside his front door.
He’s the proud father of three children, but they’re all grown up. His youngest daughter is about to fly north for a visit, but for the most part he lives alone.
“I’m searching for my cabin queen, so if you know anyone let me know!” he laughed. “There’s not too many women who want to live in a cabin without running water, where the temperature gets 10 or 20 degrees below zero.
“The original owners were from Virginia. They moved up here to live off-grid, but I think it kind of got to them, the isolation. They were a young couple in their twenties with a young child, and I think they just wanted to get out,” he said.
“You can’t stay in the cabin seven days a week, you’ll get cabin fever. It is an actual thing. If you spend too much time isolated, away from anyone, it plays tricks on your mind.
“I’m used to it and I have a cat who’s used to it. He doesn’t have a name, we just call him 'the cat’. He’s a hell of a cat, though.”
Despite the bone-chilling temperatures, Mr Patten said he actually prefers the winter because there are no bears.
“There is a chance when you open the door in summer, you might not return. Half of the year, that’s eliminated because the bears are sleeping. They’re hibernating right now.”
It’s also easier to get supplies to the cabin by snowmobile than by hauling them up from the road by hand. However, it’s another story when nature calls and you have to run outside to take care of business.
Prior to moving to Alaska, Mr Patten ran a successful restaurant in America’s midwest. These days, he’s glad to be away from the stress, but food remains a big part of his life.
“We don’t have TV, we don’t have radio, and we’re not really plugged into the internet. There’s no that much to do, to be honest, so cooking is the big activity of the day,” he explained.
“I fire up the stove, put in wood, make it hot, and take me time. You make sure everything is just perfect, whether it’s meat or veggies and spices, or whatever. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to cooking. I only eat meats and vegetables, I don’t eat any carbs or processed foods.
“I’m glad I decided to try something different,” he told news.com.au. “When I went to buy it I had no idea it didn’t have running water or electricity, but as soon as I saw it, I loved it.”
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Some of the most adventuresome land buyers are purchasing off the grid ? on ranches, mountain ranges and secluded lakes that lack the basic infrastructure many take for granted. Photo: Janie Osborne for The Wall Street Journal