What is 'Bushsteading'?

Basically, bushsteading is a cross between camping, homesteading and walking away from a broken society. More and more people are tired of feeling that no matter how hard they struggle to succeed in todays world, it only leads to having to give up more of their time and money just to keep from falling behind.

This leads to thinking that maybe things would just be better if they left the trappings of modern society behind and went camping, forever. Aside from the efforts required to stay alive, it's a pretty appealing idea.

I mean, think about it. No car payments, because your not going to be needing the newest or fanciest one on the market anymore so used is fine. No more house payments! Granted, you will need to create a stable structure to provide shelter for all four seasons but that’s really not as difficult as some people seem to think. Our ancestors did it for thousands of years so … I mean really, pretty basic stuff.  Imagine a life with no more trips to the grocery store for food that came from ‘who knows where’ and could contain almost anything. Okay, sure, growing crops takes some time and hunting wild game isn’t exactly a trip to the butcher shop but there is some comfort in knowing where your food comes from and putting the energy into it yourself. I guess the lack of TV would be a bummer for most people. No more news of how bad things are getting around the world, no more ads for things you don’t really want or need, yup … that’s a bummer.

That doesn’t really answer the question of ‘What is bushsteading?’ though, does it. I think of it this way, bushsteading is heading into the wilderness to make a more down to earth life for yourself where you provide for what you need or you most likely go without. It is simple life at its purist. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to escape completely and personally I wouldn’t want to.   However, I wouldn’t mind being far enough away that I can get into town if I choose but otherwise be undisturbed by the chaos of modern life. Perhaps you could say that bushsteading is returning to a more primitive way of life. The more I sit and think about it, the more I begin to suspect that really … bushsteading is different things to different people but all pretty much the same general idea.

What about you, do you think that you’ve got what it takes to walk away and live off the land? Most people these days don’t even know how to find dry firewood in the forest, it’s not as easy out there as it looks. There is a LOT of hard work, education and dedication that goes into making a home in the wilderness and it takes a special sort of person to be able to do it. If you are going to give bushsteading a try, do some research first and get to know your core skills and tools before you go or odds are, you ain’t gonna make it.

Do you know which mushrooms will sustain you and which ones will kill you? Have you EVER tried primitive hunting? Or tool making? What about building a structure that can provide all you need, including safety? There are loads of great articles and videos all over the internet so look around, these skills aren’t hard to learn but they do take practice. So head on out there and get some!


Play safe!

JT Bear.