

Ask HN: Recipes for Digital Boondocking? - decentrality

In the United States, the Department of Interior is said to maintain vast amounts of public land which is free for use by citizens prepared to survive outside the infrastructure the majority depend on.<p>I want to know:<p>Who has succeeded in living on this public land for 30-90 days at a stretch, while still conducting full-capacity F&#x2F;OSS development and&#x2F;or business operations based purely on the internet?<p>Where ( roughly ) did you do this? When is the best season there, and what are the main weather or terrain concerns to be aware of?<p>It seems like 4G or 4G LTE access would be key to this. I can&#x27;t see satellite being that workable. Right? I&#x27;m looking for areas which have a strong enough signal, while still being remote... ideally 50-100 miles from the nearest major city.<p>What type of vehicle(s) or dwellings worked best for this, and what type of computer and networking equipment?<p>How did you produce or obtain energy, food, and water?
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hellbanner
I've heard you can camp in national parks/forests for weeks at a time but must
move periodically.

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decentrality
So far, per the Bureau of Land Management, at least in the New
Mexico/Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas territory ( for example ), it seems the law is
one may occupy some/most undeveloped zones for 14 days at a stretch ( within
one 28-day period, whether in one shot or split up over the 28 days ) but then
must move 25 miles away after that before returning. Presumably 28 days later.
There are other stipulations like no less than 800 feet from a water source,
no less than 300 feet from an established road. Etc.

Actually all these figures, except the number of days, seem to vary from
source to source. It'd be nice if there's someone who has experience who
knows... and where 4G LTE access is still intact in these dispersed camping
territories.

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ntumlin
Where can I find more information about this?

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CroCroCro
Why would one do that?

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decentrality
"why?" is a preferential or motivation diagnosing question, which is
subjective. But "why not?" is nearly rhetorical here.

To have the talents and capabilities of the digital world, able to immerse in
any culture, be all but completely self-contained without any geodependency
and without any real reason to be built on presuppositions of the world we
naturally replace/displace... is a perspective and place of objectivity we
really cannot afford to let pass by en masse. Not to tangent on this part: but
we talk about cryptocurrencies, but most of the time that's just being
converted into a pre-existing form of exchange and with it, continuation of a
pre-determined end-result context. The world isn't going to change because we
never step out of it completely... we still fit within most of the trappings
somewhere along the way.

True, some roles need brick & mortar, but how many of us sit behind a desk
when we could just as easily be out in a field or sitting in the very center
of whatever our focus is: on site with the very people we're developing for,
or operating on behalf of, etc...

There is a "participatory anthropology" piece here, definitely an agile
methodology multiplier by exposure to the domain... both with removal of
insulation and a closing of the gap between the environment we actually do
exist in, and our otherwise parallel universe of artificial ( and for that
reason highly precarious and/or compromising ) contexts?

This is a very long conversation, I only said the above so saying "why not"
wouldn't be interpreted as curt or flippant... but really, "why not"? How easy
is it to loose touch with the real plot from within our silos? Are the water-
tight ( or only semi-permeable ) compartments between various people and
communities worth it, or are they mostly a liability? Why not be mostly self-
determinate by default, able to do whatever we want to do on our own steam...
and then receive and carry out a task. So often the task comes in first, then
on the way to our "end" the "means" is just bolted on from not precedent but
assumption and norm, which is the very thing we most disrupt by introducing
digital systems and thought into an already moving organic world, not to
mention one with history already in progress, and disproportionate clumping
together of people purely because that's where electricity, sewer, water, and
now internet access and creature comforts are already setup. We can even keep
most of the amenities! I'm just saying, how are people currently carrying out
this digital nomad way of living while still remaining completely on the edge
of their field, meaning: completely equipped, not lacking anything we had in
our cubicles and office complexes... except dependency, pre-determination of
what the "form" of our organizations and products and cultures will be, even a
little bit.

