Hello everyone,
My name is Ralph and I'm a 32 years old guy from a small village in the east of the Netherlands near the German border. I'm a father of 3 daughters and my hobbies are bushcraft, fishing, drawing and being creative in general. I also have a keen interest in ancient history and love to learn primitive living and survival skills.
This blog will be about my plans on leaving modern society and live in the wild.
In May 2013 I will pack my bags, get on my bicycle and head east on a longterm wilderness trip.. how longterm? .. I don't know yet.. I might stay untill the end of my days.
Now why would anyone do that?
There are many reasons why I would live in the wild. Feeling a lack of adventure in these concrete jungles is one of them. Another reason is simply because i'm not a social person. I don't have any friends because I don't need any friends and apart from my father I also don't have any family...
That may sound bad but if you are going to live in the wild it's great.. no one who would miss me and vice versa.
Going from cityboy into hunter-gatherer in 6 months is quite extreme and without planning ahead the wilderness would kill me. planning ahead means learning wilderness skills before I need to use them and also buying (and making) items that I can't get in the wild but that will keep me alive.
I started learning bushcraft skills about 2 years ago when I first wanted to leave society.
What have I learned so far? well it's amazing what you can learn in a few years. I've learned how to build an upside down fire, a A-frame debris shelter, a fish trap from a soda bottle, finding north by using the stars, making clay pottery, making a clay stove, turning nettles into robe or string, making charcloth (and charcoal), making primitive hunting weapons and the list goes on and on.
One of the things i'm learning now is primitive blacksmithing and making fire with a bow drill (which is harder then I thought) and i'm also busy making my own winter gloves and winter hat.
awell.. that's it for now. hope you'll enjoy my blog, don't expect it to become a fancy, nice looking blog since I don't have the time to do that ;)
Greetings Ralph
Hi there. I got here via a youtube comment you made about your blog. I must say I hear where you're coming from with your feelings to go live in the wild. Whereabouts are you planning on going? If I understand correctly, you're planning on Russia, but where? It's the largest country on Earth. Do you have a detailed plan or are you just going to use the skills you've learned to wing it out in the wild? I hope that you have some good plans to save your own life if anything goes wrong. Meaning warm clothes, things to procure meat with such as a gun and traps, and a shelter? If you ask me, by the sounds of it, you're rushing to get out with too few skills to really LIVE out there. You've got my interest and I'd like to know more details.
ReplyDeleteThanks man and follow your dreams (but be WISE in doing so)!
Hi and thanks for your reply.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, rushing into things is exactly what gets people killed and that's why I started to learn the most important skills 2 years ago and I try to learn new things every day.
I have somewhat of a detailed plan, I mapped out the route from here to the polish border. from there I just head east until I enter Russia. from that point on I will be heading more to the south before winter steps in. Firearms unfortunately are illegal in my country so I cannot just buy on and take it with me, I will be bringing an airgun with me powerfull enough to take down small game but the downside of any type of gun is that making ammo in the wild is impossible so I will have to ditch the airgun later. I will make shelters out of natural materials as much as possible but I will be taking a poncho with me to make them waterresistant.
If you think I have too few skills to make it out there well maybe you''re right, but if you read the rest of my blog you''ll have to admit that I know more then the average person. The only skill I''m still having trouble with is making fire out of natural materials..
Hi Ralph, my best wishes go with you and your dreams. I have similar plans, though for different reasons, and will probably head for Sweden and Norway. Initially at first, I'll keep one foot in civilisation by busking. Then I'll see how it goes. But the wild is definitely calling. If your running out of time to learn skills, I would definitely recommend taking a good book on earth skills....shelter making, fire, cordage, tool making from stone/bone/wood, hunting, trapping, primitive cooking, containers, pottery, basketry, animal processing, skinning, tanning, glueing and binding, soaps, etc, etc. These are all invaluable skills that you're going to need. Maybe, if you can afford it, a good bushcraft course aimed at long-term survival before you go.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck.
Phil.
Hi Phil, Scandinavia is where I initialy wanted to go but since I will travel by bike that would mean cycling and walking alongside the baltic sea. So in order to get into the southern parts of Norway I would first have to go north across whole of Finland. I like snow but that's a little too much haha.
ReplyDeleteA book on Earth skills or some kind of field manual is definately going with me. Until now I tried to store as much info into my brain as possible but I can imagine that one would forget half of it especially in stressfull situations when you have alot on your mind. A bushcraft course would be great but unfortunately it's out of the question. I got 4 months left and with little money it all goes to gear.
I wish you luch on your future journey aswell
Could'nt you go through Denmark, across the Storebælt (Great Belt Bridge) and then the Öresund Bridge (Copenhagen to Malmo) into Sweden? I would also have thought that ferry boat crossings from Denmark to Sweden or Norway would be very cheap. About 30 years ago I stayed in Sweden for a few months, and at the time it was very popular and inexpensive to take day trips to Denmark, from Sweden, and vice-a-versa. I would also imagine there must be quite a few ferry boat services to Sweden from all the baltic sea countries, and probably quite cheap from the former eastern block ones.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I'd be brave enough to go to Russia. Problems of language and Russian authorites if I got caught or ended up needing help.
Just an idea.
Phil.