I Have a New Service Idea for Those Who Dream

The dream stays a dream because the first step feels like a second full-time job. A free first call, and a mentor who has been there.

Camino 5 farm.

In the year and a half I’ve been running offgridguatemala.com, I have met and talked with countless people, men and women who want to transition to a homestead way of life but simply can’t. It’s rarely a lack of desire. It’s a lack of time and attention bandwidth.

Our modern lifestyle swamps our daily life, at breakneck speed, with a million menial tasks that steal precious time away from what is truly important and durable: crafting a life full of meaning and independence for decades to come. Instead we spend too many hours, weeks, and months overseeing passwords, bills, taxes, commutes, a constant stream of emails and texts, and obligations that in the end amount to nothing except fairly useless administrative toil and challenges, just to keep up our daily rhythm of life day after day.

Rebuilding your life from abroad means buying property, designing and building a home, sorting out residency, choosing schools, finding reliable contractors, and learning how a new country works. Most people are already stretched thin by work, family, and the endless administrative noise of modern life. The dream stays a dream because the first step feels like a second full-time job.

I should have made my house cistern 2m³ larger for the dry season. I missed installing a battery performance monitor in my solar panel system. I planted my fruit trees on the farm one month too early.

Most of these mistakes are avoidable. I’ve made some of them myself, and I’ve watched others make them.

Cobblestone road on the mountain property.

That is why I’ve decided to try something new: a service to save you time and give you back peace of mind, outsourcing the years-long learning curve of getting homesteading right. A one-stop shop to spare you mistakes that someone with enough experience can help you avoid, so your time goes to what is truly important and durable: a legacy for your family and yourself.

I’m calling it a consultation, or perhaps more fittingly, a mentoring service, for everyone who wants information, needs real data and insight into what it takes to make the leap, and is ready to start building a new life when the world pushes us that way and the right conditions arise.

Here is what I have in mind so far:

1. The first call is free. A 30-minute conversation to get to know you, hear your dreams and expectations, and see whether Guatemala is the right choice for you and which region suits you best. If it isn’t, I’ll tell you.

2. Narrowing down your path. If it becomes clear that your future, and your family’s, lies in Guatemala, we shape the clearest plan to get there: the right type of property ownership, budget, timeline, and a vision for the years ahead.

3. Your first visit. For those who have never been to Guatemala, we pick you up at the airport and spend some time showing you around town, so you can get acquainted with the area, the people, and the rhythm of daily life before making any big decisions. Nothing replaces seeing it with your own eyes.

4. Planning the move. This is where months or years (and a lot of money) get wasted when it isn’t done properly. We’ll go through construction companies, types of construction, off-grid versus partial off-grid, vehicle rental versus purchase, the legal process for residency, gun ownership options, education options for families with young children, internet connectivity, suppliers, contractors, infrastructure, the right solar array, proper water catchment, private insurance quotes, nearby hospitals and clinics, halfway-there house rentals, airport shuttles, moving logistics, and more.

5. Building and moving in. Choosing the right engineers and architectural design, sourcing materials, permitting, construction oversight, and legal guidance from the right professionals.

6. Joining the community. Meeting the people who have already gone through it and are actively making it work. Finding those who share your values and who will enrich your life in ways you can’t yet imagine.

A note in the spirit of honesty: I also sell land here. A conversation with me doesn’t obligate you to buy anything, and if another region or another seller is the better fit for you, I’ll say so. I’m also not a lawyer, so on legal matters like residency and property, I’ll share what I’ve lived and point you to attorneys I trust.

Recently finished cobblestone road on the mountain property.

This is a sketch of something I would personally find incredibly fulfilling, in no small part because I live it every day and love sharing the lessons I learned the hard way. I can’t think of a better way to give back some of what off-grid life has given me than to help others reach the dream too. It’s not much, but it’s a way of giving and a great way of making new friends.

In the end the choice will always be yours to make; we just facilitate and share our own experience. What worked and what didn’t, what we would have done differently.

These past 18 months have taught me there are many others like me out there, dreaming and wondering if dreams really do come true. It just takes, like everything in life, faith, the right advice from trusted friends, and some hard work.

If that’s you, let’s talk. Book your free 30-minute call on my personal cellphone, listed on offgridguatemala.com, or write to me with your doubts and questions and tell me what you’re dreaming of.

Our neighbor’s cabbage field.