Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Travel

Find the Best Off-Grid Vacation Destinations with FreeHouse

Mike Richard
By
off grid vacation
FreeHouse/Facebook

More than half of the 7 billion people who live on this planet have no idea what life would be like without all-too-convenient access to grocery stores, gas stations, and the internet. We’re all tied to the grid. Now, one website is making it easy to get away — far, away — from the trappings of modern life and discover the world’s best, truly off-grid vacation destinations.

FreeHouse is a niche vacation rental booking website whose sole purpose is to connect travelers with only the most disconnected accommodations. The site’s listings are spread mostly throughout North America, with a focus on the United States. The  database includes everything from remote beach houses to backcountry huts to luxurious desert canyon homes. The only thing they all have in common is that they’re truly off-grid. According to the site’s founders, this means they’re completely self-sustaining with no connection to the public utility infrastructure.

Recommended Videos
freehouse vacation rental
FreeHouse/Facebook

This doesn’t mean that every house is without modern amenities and essentials, however. Quite the contrary, as most feature running water and electricity. They merely rely on the elements and sustainable means of harvesting them, like solar power, wind turbines, elaborate rain collection systems, and common off-grid “gadgets” like composting toilets.

To help users wrap their mind around the level of “off-grid-ness” of each property, most are ranked according to three scales: the Rustic Scale, Remote Scale, and Unplugged Scale. These are subjective numerical values assigned by the site’s owners to help would-be renters fully appreciate every property.

freehouse vacation rental
FreeHouse/Facebook

The most elaborate lodgings feature many of the trappings of home, including flat-screen TVs, radiant heated floors, wood-fired tubs, and fully-stocked kitchens. According to the Rustic Scale, properties typically offer plenty of simple charm but require guests to provide their own amenities by, for example, bringing their own sleeping bags or hand-pumping their daily water from a nearby stream. The Remote Scale is a measure of how accessible or not each property is. Some are only reachable on foot, while others might be situated within an entire off-grid community that one can drive to. Finally, the Unplugged Scale denotes the property’s connection to things like radio, satellite TV, cell service, and Wi-Fi. Many intentionally omit all semblance of connectivity to allow their guests to experience the surrounding landscape and get back to nature.

Founders Jason and Sarah Stillman launched the site in June of 2015 while on vacation themselves. Sarah’s father owned an off-grid vacation home in Baja, while Jason spent considerable time cross-country skiing the Colorado Rockies. They both learned to appreciate the simplicity, confidence, and joy that came with a truly autonomous, self-sustained vacation experience. Their collective experiences got them thinking that a website dedicated entirely to off-grid vacation rentals was a need that was sorely lacking in the travel industry. So, FreeHouse was born.

Properties on FreeHouse are free to book without creating an account. Simply find the off-grid property that piques your interest and submit an online request to book it directly with the owner.

Feature image courtesy of FreeHouse/Facebook.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mike Richard
Mike Richard
Contributor
Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He's kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South…
Win a Free Vrbo Vacation During Its First TikTok Challenge
Screenshot of Vrbo's 'A Place for Together' ad during the 2022 Super Bowl pregame show television commercial.

To draw in Super Bowl pregame viewers, Vrbo called on a familiar, frog-throated voice to announce its new TikTok challenge. None other than Kermit the Frog brought down the house with a touching 1984 touchstone in Right Where I Belong.

“Look at me. Here I am, right where I belong,” Kermit sings in a froggy falsetto. “I see that face coming back to me, like an old familiar song. What better place could anyone be?”

Read more
Trek Far, Far Off-Grid in Ready Set Van’s Electric Campervans
Ready Set Van

The movement to downsize is now firmly entrenched in our culture. It started with many (mostly young) Americans eschewing traditional 2,000-square-foot homes in favor of tiny houses. But, some want to go even smaller and more portable by taking their house on the road. If you’re considering the switch to vanlife, you could do worse than Ready Set Van’s lineup of high-tech, built-to-order campervans.

Ready Set Van’s off-grid adventure vans are designed to take their drivers just about anywhere. The company starts with the trusty Ram ProMaster platform — a pared-down “blank slate” that’s become a favorite among vanlifers. From the outside, most of its conversions look like ordinary delivery trucks. That’s part of the draw for many campers looking for a stealth ride that won’t draw unnecessary attention when camping in, say, a residential neighborhood or the city.

Read more
Get Far, Far Off-Grid With the Solar-Powered ERV Electric Camper
ERV Electric Camper

We’ve long been fans of a proper digital detox. Few things can clear a man’s head like disappearing into nature for a weekend (or a few months). Now, in a year when social distancing seems as essential as oxygen, water, and bacon, there’s never been a better time to find a legit escape. If you’re looking to get far, far off-grid, Australia’s Retreat Caravan has the perfect RV for you.

Aussies love “caravanning” or what Americans would call “camping.” Most Statesiders think nothing of packing up the RV for a weekend in the mountains. Likewise, Australians are prone to weeks- or even months-long holidays in the outback. The problem, of course, is that getting hundreds of miles from civilization means bringing plenty of water and, just as important, an adequate and sustainable power supply. The solution, according to Retreat Caravan, is the ERV Electric Camper.

Read more