BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 28, 2023
In describing how the three family members found dead this month near a Colorado campground were living, national news outlets have repeatedly used the term “off-grid.” But the story should be seen as a cautionary tale of irresponsibility and unpreparedness. A year ago Rebecca Vance told friends and family she was heading into the wilderness with her son to escape what she described as a chaotic and dangerous world. Worried family members and friends with experience of successfully living off-grid failed to talk them out of it. Nothing about Vance’s plan was living an off-grid lifestyle. She essentially made herself homeless and took her son and sister along with her. With fatal results. Plenty of people live off-grid in Maine. Quite successfully. But they will be the first to tell you there is nothing simple about the so-called simple life.