What I Learned Being Off-Grid

League of Wildness,

I recently spent 3 nights at a remote backcountry cabin -

no cell service,
no wifi,
no running water.

We were completely off the grid.

When I’m home, I’m constantly checking email, texts, and the Wild Gym website.

It’s a dopamine loop - and it’s not without consequence.

What I notice most is that I’m not fully present.

I’ll be playing a bedtime game with my kids - physically present, but mentally somewhere else.

Often my mind is in an alternate dimension, ruminating on the business problem of the day (BPOTD).

At the cabin, it was the exact opposite.

In order to have water to drink and cook with, we had to melt snow.

That meant filling large pots with snow and placing them on a wood-burning stove.

Because the snow is so dry, it needs to be mixed with water to melt efficiently.

We had to constantly monitor the ratio.

The fire needed steady attention as well - kindling, logs, airflow. Nothing could be ignored for long.

These tasks didn’t feel like chores. They felt like a form of meditation.

While moving logs around the fire or balancing our water, there was no past or future - just the now.

For the first time in months, I was able to step out of a cycle of rumination that can sometimes lead to dark places.

I think part of the reason was that I was constantly taking action and seeing an immediate result.

Cold -> Stoke fire -> Warmth

Thirsty -> Melt snow -> Water

Hungry -> Make food -> Satiated

I’ve heard it said that in the information age, many of our actions have delayed results, which makes it harder to feel rewarded for our efforts.

I’m not suggesting we chase instant gratification.

If anything, I think we’ve lost touch with meaningful effort followed by visible progress.

This trip reminded me that doing nothing isn’t that great - and that action is often the way forward.

Action still requires rest and recovery, but action should be the default state.

And it doesn’t have to be perfect.

A path that meanders up the mountain still goes up the mountain.

The lesson I continue to relearn is this:

When in doubt, action is the antidote to anxiety.

And more often than not, simpler beats more.

This is one of the reasons we train the way we do at Wild Gym -

simple inputs, discomfort as a catalyst, visible progress.

Much love,

-Dan, wild gym founder

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