The Wildlanders

We are the Wildlanders! A family living off-grid, sustainably and on a tight budget! We're plantsteaders, vanlifers and eco warriors.

Farming without animal exploitation. Working with nature, encouraging pollinators and creating diverse food forests.

24/12/2025

Christmas in the Wildlands: woodsmoke, stars and way too many chickens… just how it should be 😅✨

May your days be filled with joy and happiness 🎄

23/12/2025

What’s your ultimate freedom goal — financial independence, growing all your own food, energy self-sufficiency, or something else?

Imagine waking up to a life where your food comes from your soil, your energy from the sun, and your time belongs entirely to you. 🌱☀️

For us here at The Wildlands in central Portugal, that vision became real when we decided to go off-grid — to step away from the fast life and reconnect with the essentials.

We wanted to live slower, grow our own food wherever possible in our food forests, and rediscover what enough truly means. Every harvest, every sunrise, and every quiet evening reminds us what freedom really feels like. 🌿

But freedom looks different for everyone.

For some, it’s financial independence — being able to work from anywhere.

For others, it’s energy self-sufficiency, or simply creating time for what matters most.

Whatever it means to you, the journey always begins with one choice. One seed planted — literally or figuratively.

So tell us — what’s your ultimate freedom goal?
Drop it in the comments 👇 and share a sentence about your dream life.

You might inspire someone else who’s reading this today. ✨

We’d love to hear how you define freedom, and where your path is leading. ✨

22/12/2025

Driving into miles of standstill traffic on the French motorways today, as lorry drivers block the roads in solidarity with farmers protesting mass culls of cattle over lumpy skin disease.

From the cab window it looks like a normal jam, but behind it are families fighting to save their herds, their income and their way of life.

Watching this unfold from our van really brings home how fragile the food system is and how quickly everyday journeys can turn into frontline snapshots of rural struggle.

If you want to see more real moments from life on the road across Europe, from quiet countryside stops to scenes like this, hit follow and share your thoughts in the comments.

21/12/2025

"People call it ‘living off-grid.’ I call it ‘living like humans did for thousands of years without asking permission.’"

Some say off-grid living is extreme. “Why give up modern comforts? Why isolate yourself?” they ask. But when you think about it… what’s truly extreme — collecting your own rainwater, growing your own food, building a small shelter — or needing a monthly subscription just to exist comfortably?

Here on The Wildlands in central Portugal, we’ve been living off-grid for over four years now. Our friends like to call us “hardcore” — probably because we don’t have a house and live an incredibly back-to-basics life on a shoestring budget. We boil water over an open fire for washing, using what we’ve drawn from our well, and compost everything to feed our gardens and food forest. It might sound extreme to some, but for us, it’s part of an ongoing (and maybe impossible) quest for true self-sufficiency.

For most of human history, people built homes with their hands, cooked from the land around them, and lived within the natural rhythms of the earth. They didn’t need a permit to light a fire or an app to tell them it was time to rest. Then, in just a few generations, we traded that independence for systems that keep us constantly connected — but also permanently dependent.Now, the idea of providing your own electricity or choosing not to rely on supermarkets is considered “radical.”

Have we drifted so far from human nature that basic self-reliance is labelled rebellion?

Living off-grid isn’t about rejection — it’s about reconnection. It’s not running away from society; it’s rediscovering balance. It’s asking, “What if freedom isn’t found in having more, but in needing less?”

So here’s the question:
Are off-grid folks actually living the “alternative” way… or are they living the most natural way humans ever have?

👉 What do you think — is off-grid living freedom, survival, or just plain stubbornness? Drop your thoughts below — I’d love to see where you stand on this.

If this way of life speaks to you, come along with us. We’re figuring it out day by day — growing our own food, building with our hands, and learning how to live closer to the earth again.

👉 Follow our journey for a glimpse into real off-grid living, the lessons we learn along the way on The Wildlands, and the simple joys that make this back-to-basics life so worth it.

21/12/2025

From vanlife roads to ancient stones 🏛️✨

Today we stopped at the breathtaking Roman ruins of Sanxay, France — one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in western Europe.

Traveling in our self-built campervan aka The Magic Bus reminds us how perfectly adventure and history can meet on the road. 🚐💫

Would you stop here on your European vanlife route?

20/12/2025

If you’d told me four years ago that water would become our biggest teacher, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. When we first bought this land, our well was full in August, and we assumed it always would be. What we didn’t understand back then was how much the seasons, usage, and heat would change everything.

By our second summer, the well had run dry — a tough lesson in water management that only time and experience could teach. Now, we store over 120,000 litres (about 31,700 gallons) to make it through the dry months. Every drop feels like gold out here. 💧🌞

What’s something off-grid life has taught *you* the hard way?

19/12/2025

🌿 A self-sustaining food forest: abundance in every layer.Imagine stepping outside your home and gathering fruit, herbs, nuts, and greens — all from a thriving ecosystem that regenerates itself. That’s the beauty of a food forest. It’s a living system designed using permaculture principles, where every plant has a role: trees provide shade and fruit, shrubs offer berries and habitat for pollinators, groundcovers retain moisture, and nitrogen-fixers feed the soil.

A well-designed food forest doesn’t just feed your family — it restores your land. It builds soil fertility, attracts beneficial insects, retains water, and creates resilience year after year. The deeper the diversity, the stronger the system. Nature shows us that abundance doesn’t come from working harder, but from working with the land.It’s more than gardening — it’s a path to food security, ecological balance, and true connection with nature 🌱

19/12/2025

Some of us go “off-grid” on paper years after we’ve already done it in our heads.
It starts when you look at your life and quietly think, “There has to be another way to live,” and you can’t unsee it anymore.
Even if you’re still in a normal house, that shift – growing a bit of your own food, questioning the bills, learning real skills – is already you stepping out of the old system.
Have you felt that change yet, even just a little?

18/12/2025

💡 Off-grid doesn’t mean running on fuel every day. True independence comes from generating your own sustainable power — solar, wind, water, or a mix. Generators have their place, but if they’re your daily go-to, you’re not free from the grid… just swapping the bill for a barrel.

🔋 How often do you use a generator in your setup? Let’s talk about real energy freedom 👇

18/12/2025

Wandering through a medieval walled town in France felt like stepping back in time — stone streets, flowered balconies, and the smell of fresh bread around every corner.

Of course… someone couldn’t wait to taste the baguettes 😋🥖

Sometimes, the most magical moments are the simplest ones.

17/12/2025

Chicken coop eye candy for the chicken nerds. Drop a pic of yours in the comments.

Endereço

Castelo Branco

Horário de Funcionamento

10:00 - 17:00

Website

https://wildlandsplants.shop/

Notificações

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