A couple living “off the grid” in a community of 17 people praise the joys of their technology-free lifestyle, saying it gives them the freedom to do whatever they want.
Mother-of-two Ember Smith and Steph Gabbadon, both 35, say they are living their best lives in a community car in Totnes, Devon, and are encouraging others to follow their example.
The couple, who lived a nomadic life before settling on the site four years ago, have built two small houses made from recycled materials they have collected. They grow their own fruit and vegetables, as this ensures a “sustainable” and “self-sufficient” life.
Despite boasting about their exciting low-cost lifestyle, Ember, who runs a reusable sanitary pad business, admits that “winter sucks” for the couple as they are forced to chop their own firewood and make campfires.
Her partner Steph said: ‘We get to grow together and watch the children gain a wealth of wisdom and experience through the many and varied characters that make up our little slice of paradise.
Ember Smith (top) and Steph Gabbadon (bottom), both 35, have revealed the advantages of living in an off-grid community (pictured: the couple in one of their tiny homes on a car park in Totnes, Devon)
Mother-of-two Ember and Steph say they are living their best lives on a communal car park in Totnes, Devon (pictured: inside their off-grid homes)
‘This lifestyle allows me to live how I want, but it also allows me to help others live how they want, while reducing our carbon footprint and revitalizing and restoring the wild nature of the earth.
“My neighbors (if you can call them that) often feel more like family to me than anything else.”
‘(My family) can live sustainably, self-sufficiently and together, as we want,’ he added.
However, Ember, who shares two children aged 10 and 12 with her ex-partner, revealed that living off the grid “is far from easy”.
“Winters are a bitch,” Ember said. “Chopping wood in the rain, keeping the fire going constantly – doing that on your own is really hard, so finding a community is really beneficial and everyone helps each other out.
“I would tell anyone to do it, without a doubt; but my advice would be to be aware of the realities.”
Ember and Steph had been living in separate vans in the same parking lot for three months before they met for the first time.
Ember said she came across Steph while trying to clean up the local area, a task she took under her wing to discourage “anti-traveller rhetoric.”
The couple enjoyed a nomadic lifestyle before settling here four years ago and say they wouldn’t live any other way.
The couple said they built two tiny houses (pictured) made from recycled materials they collected.
Inside their homes they have built a loft-style room for the children, a storage room for their clothes, hanging lamps, bookshelves, a desk, and a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom.
She explained: ‘I was getting used to van life, trying to clean up car parks and give people a good impression of what we were doing to discourage anti-traveller rhetoric and that’s when I met Steph, who was doing the same thing; it was lovely.’
At the time, she said she had “a real yearning for community” and the experience so far has proven to be “a really transformative time in terms of shaping me as a person.”
The couple said they had friends who owned the land and, after being invited to take a look, fell in love with its “spirit,” which encouraged people to “live with the land.”
“Our friends had purchased this land with the intention of creating a community,” Ember said. “They wanted camaraderie and a support network that wasn’t based on money, but on time, friendship and connection.
‘The spirit of the project is to live with the land, so we are dedicated to permaculture, which consists of working with the land and regenerating it.’
Ember, who shares two children aged 10 and 12 with her ex-partner, revealed that living off the grid “is far from easy”
They grow their own fruits and vegetables because this way they ensure a sustainable and self-sufficient life.
Permaculture involves working with the resources you have, such as your environment and natural elements, to live sustainably and produce your own food source.
The miniature Devon community is home to 15-17 people and everything they produce is organic.
It has a 40-foot greenhouse filled with crops of vegetables, fruits and grains and at certain times of the year the community is completely self-sufficient.
After spending their first year in the community collecting building materials, they managed to build two small houses in which they live separately.
Inside these, the couple have built a loft-style bedroom for the children, storage for their clothes, hanging lamps, bookshelves, a desk, as well as a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom.
The mother runs LunaChick, a company that makes reusable pads using a solar-powered sewing machine. She also owns an events company.
Although the mother said she had always been adventurous and inspired by the outdoors, she revealed it was the 2016 general election that prompted her decision to live off the grid.
“I grew up in a residential area surrounded by large swamps,” Ember said. “It was the 1990s, so I would climb trees and not see my parents from breakfast to tea time.”
‘When I was 16, I told my mother that I wanted to live in a commune and she replied: “There aren’t any of those anymore.”
‘But it was when I grew up, had my own children and in 2016, when the Conservatives came to power and all these changes were happening with benefits, that I knew I finally had to do it.
‘We were living on the edge of what was possible. We couldn’t go on living and we were already hugely in debt.’
Steph’s off-grid journey began when she found herself living in a small car and sleeping on couches at age 15.
Despite boasting about their exciting low-cost lifestyle, Ember admits that “winter sucks” for the couple as they are forced to chop their own firewood and make campfires.
Ember, originally from Cheshire, took her children to a community in Wales but admits it wasn’t for them after being exposed to “torrential rain for a week” and losing their car when someone crashed into it.
The family lost much of their savings, but managed to save up enough to live in a yurt (a portable, round-shaped tent) where Ember homeschooled her children during their first year of school and ran her business.
The mother runs LunaChick, a company that makes reusable pads using a solar-powered sewing machine. She also owns an events company.
Currently, her two children attend a regular school and alternate between life in the community and living with their father in a house.
Breaking down life off the grid, Ember shared how each member of the community plays a different role in contributing to and maintaining their home, and then everyone comes together to help with community projects.
His role involves leading creative and artistic projects such as the design and construction of a hot tub. He is currently helping to build and decorate a party tent.
“There are no defined roles, but everyone finds their niche,” he explained. “For example, a man who is a farmer is in charge of the polytunnel. Another man who is a carpenter has been building a yurt to use as a relaxation and healing space.”
Steph’s off-grid journey began when she found herself living in a small car and sleeping on various couches at age 15.
He said he was inspired by punk rock’s spirit of “rebellion and anti-establishment values” and by his father’s ambition for him to travel.
“Punk inspired me to live my own life,” Steph said. “The music and culture challenged societal norms, promoting a do-it-yourself attitude and a sense of freedom that I desperately needed.”
‘My father believed in the value of experiencing different cultures and perspectives, and his encouragement to explore the world planted the seeds of a passion for travel in me.’
He said of life in his parking lot community: ‘It’s still punk rock, we still rebel but in a much quieter and more humble way!’
Ember added: “I wouldn’t live any other way, it’s amazing.”