OFF THE GRID

WITH AFROVIVALIST

BY SHARON ROSS PHOTOGRAPHY @CHADOCREATIVE

If there is something that the majority of Americans can agree upon, it is that our world has changed since the Plandemic of 2020 took the world by storm.

For those who know me, know that I have been preparing all my life for a situation like this. My passion for preparedness stems from my childhood spent on my family’s 26-acre homestead in Southern Oregon in the early 1970’s and I was the first African-American student to attend the three community schools. I have a little sister but I was my father’s only son. My U.S. Marine father taught me how to fight, use knives to protect myself and be self-sufficient through farming, hunting and fixing my own vehicles. My background seeded my dreams and determination to help others to survive any disaster that might come their way and my identity as “Afrovivalist” was born.

In 2020, the COVID shelter in place mandate forced me to relocate to the Bug Out Location (BOL), our 1-acre family compound in Boring, Oregon. We packed up the survival gear, food and supplies from my city home and left the furniture behind. We headed to the compound where there was an old 18-ft travel trailer ready for me and my dog. It was wired to the main house so I could have electricity and with the whole country on lockdown, this allowed me to work remotely at the Bug Out Location. There were 8 of us and we made it work. The best part about the move was seeing and spending time with my 6-year old grandson everyday. He helped me start a small garden, raised rabbits and cleaned up the property for more people to arrive. I lived there for about 4 months until a wildland fire forced us to relocate again.

Unfortunately, it was not in my plan to bug out of my Bug Out Location so I moved back to the city. After all, I was still paying a mortgage. However, in March of 2021, after extensive research to find a new Bug Out Location, I sold my home of 20 years and negotiated a land lease to live on an 80-acre working farm in Beavercreek, Oregon. This was my practice ground for living off the grid. I knew the winters at my property in Washington state were really harsh and really, really cold, so I stayed in Beavercreek through the winter months to make sure I was ready. Once I found my confidence to move forward, I gave my notice to the landlord. I really did not want to leave because I loved it there, but it did not make sense to me to continue to pay to stay there when I had land in Washington state that was paid in full.

Due to the pressure to be vaccinated, I decided to leave my positions as Administrative Specialist and Incident Commander for the State of Oregon Radiological Emergency Response Team. In September 2021, on my 57th birthday, I submitted my resignation and officially retired a month later.

On March 18, 2022, I left the practice ground in Beavercreek to move to my property where I currently live on 66 acres. I survived my first winter on the property by living in a 45 ft. Helibase Communications Incident Command trailer that I’m currently remodeling. It was brutally cold but the potbelly stove that I installed kept me warm and cozy. For winter transportation, I was fortunate to purchase a snowmobile from a nearby landowner so I could get back and forth to my truck that was parked 2 ½ miles down the road due to 3-6 feet of snow. Walking was not an option, although I tried. Needless to say, I’ll never do that again.

“Do you have food stored away to feed every person in your family? What if there is a war on US soil? What would you do? Would you survive?”

In conclusion, I would like to recommend that everyone start thinking about preparing for upcoming disasters, war, etc… We are not in a good situation right now with the economy, the food supply, and increasing job losses. I could go on and on. You may not want to live the way I am, but think about how you would live without electricity. Do you have food stored away to feed every person in your family? What if there is a war on US soil? What would you do? Would you survive?

For more information you can visit my website at afrovivalist. com or contact me by email at afrovivalist@gmail.com. In addition, go to decampoutdoors.com for weekly challenges to help you get prepared.

TO PREPARE = PEACE OF MIND. FIND YOUR PEACE.