Most people can’t imagine having to drive five hours to and from the nearest grocery store—yet that is exactly what Sean and Jessica Hughes have to do twice a month to continue living their dream life in an off-grid dome home in Tennessee.
For the past six years, Sean, 44, and Jessica, 40, have endured the lengthy shopping trips because they are one of the only drawbacks to an otherwise idyllic life, one that the couple never believed they would achieve after finding themselves broke and homeless while living in Los Angeles.
It took grit, determination, and some inspiration from YouTube for the couple to achieve their goal, and today, they say they couldn’t be happier, even if their life on a 20-acre plot of dense forest land isn’t what everyone might envision as the perfect setup.
”We’ve learned how to be happy with what we have instead of what everybody wants,” Sean says.
“We just want it to be our personal retreat. We want to be able to be lost here, be in our creative space, and enjoy that; that’s the ultimate goal,” Jessica adds. “Everybody’s off-grid life is a different story. … Ours isn’t to be survivalists.”
Life before moving off-grid
Long before they moved off-grid, the Hugheses had moved from Western Pennsylvania to Los Angeles with big dreams. But life in the City of Angels turned out to be very different from what they had imagined.
Sean, who was working “basically 20 out of the 24 hours” in a day, made just over $100,000 a year. But even with that salary, the couple were only just making ends meet.
“We were working so much just to maintain a bare minimum that we were forgetting to live life,” Sean says. “We weren’t actually living life; we were barely getting by.”
The two ended up losing everything—becoming homeless on the streets of California for just over a year until they were able to purchase an RV. They escaped to the desert, and after some time, inspired by YouTube creators Off Grid w/ Jake & Nicolle, Tyler and Todd, and Eamon & Bec, they decided to pursue a life that was actually within their grasp.
“Our electrics are not going to get shut off, our water is not going to get shut off, and we were going to try and live this life that we saw on YouTube that other creators were living,” Sean recalls of their vision.
In April 2021, the Hugheses bought a plot of land for about $1,000 through an owner-financed land company. Then they set about building a home base for themselves on the parcel, determined for it to be a labor of love that they could be proud of.
“We didn’t want to just move on to the property and say everything’s built for us,” Sean says. “We wanted to kind of fumble our way through it and learn as we go, so that we could do this for the long run.”
A milestone move
Interestingly, the dome home was never meant to be the Hugheses’ final dwelling, but rather a stopgap that would shelter them while they got back on their feet.
In fact, they had initially intended to continue living in their RV, parking it on their land, until they were able to build something more concrete. Then, disaster struck when the vehicle they were residing in began to leak, resulting in a hefty amount of mold—forcing the couple out of the camper and into a 10-by-20 tool shed.
Stuck in the cramped structure with their two dogs and all of their possessions, Sean and Jessica began looking for a housing alternative that could be constructed quickly for as little money as possible. It was then that they learned about the geodesic dome home.
“It seemed like a cheaper, quicker option to put up with a lot of space,” Sean explains. It was “a solid structure that would handle some of the winds and weather that we have around here.”
The materials for the dome home, shipping fees, and an additional deck they decided to include cost around $10,000. They paid an additional $20,000 to install the various systems they needed, including a water hookup and a wood stove.
This brought the total cost of their dome home to $30,000—less than a tenth of the current median listing price for a home in the U.S., which sits at $429,500, Realtor.com® data shows.
And, as luck would have it, the duo ended up falling in love with dome home living and, six years later, are still making improvements to the structure, from upgrading their solar power to increasing the voltage of their Amazon box so they can power more appliances.
“We’re still trying to get to the spot where we’re completely comfortable, and we can just go on about our lives, because that’s the goal,” Sean says. “It’s to live a minimalist, as low-paying bill lifestyle as we can without sacrificing.”
A minimalist lifestyle
Since living off-grid, the couple have maintained a minimalist lifestyle, one that not only enables them to keep costs down, but also has little impact on the environment.
However, despite now feeling in control of the life they have built, they have made mistakes along the way.
One of the biggest was the placement of their off-grid geodesic dome. Putting their home in direct sunlight resulted in some serious temperature control issues.
In the summer, the temperature inside the dome home can reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit. In the winter, the temperature can drop to 20 degrees. Though cost-effective, the wood stove can only heat the space so much, and many evenings are chilly.
Then there are the challenges of living off-grid—which, for Jessica, started with learning to share their space with abundant wildlife.
“Bug pressure was a very real thing to me that I wasn’t expecting,” Jessica reveals. “Learning to live alongside insects and skinks and lizards and bees and things that want to come in like snakes was a huge transition for me.”
The first year living off-grid, Jessica thought she wasn’t going to be able to survive it. However, after six years, she’s “learned to live harmoniously with it.”
Another off-grid essential that the couple had to figure out was clean water.
They had purposely bought land with a creek on it, and in addition to collecting rainwater, they installed a faucet from which they could drink. But the transition still came with some complications. For example, doing laundry requires a tough slog to the creek, no matter the weather.
“Everybody sees this life as freedom, which it is in so many ways. But you are trading conveniences for the same kind of conveniences that require work that goes into them instead of money,” Sean says. “It’s labor input that’s now going into your lifestyle.”
But there are so many elements about their lifestyle that they love, including the increasingly sustainable way in which they are able to live, particularly when it comes to food. They grow their own fruit and vegetables and take twice-monthly trips to the grocery store or hardware store.
They are learning how to preserve food, as well as barter and trade with their off-grid neighbors.
“We want to get as close to self-sufficiency as we can,” Sean says. “We didn’t actually realize how much hard work that is.”
Becoming influencers
While living off-grid and working hard to maintain their lifestyle, the couple have launched careers as content creators.
Inspired by the YouTubers they watched when first transitioning toward an off-grid life and with Sean’s passion for video production and editing, the Hugheses imagined a way they could earn money without having to leave their land.
However, after starting a TikTok account and a YouTube channel, they realized that the dream they’d been sold looked a whole lot different.
“We kind of got sold the dream by some of these bigger influencers who made it look magical and beautiful, but what we realized is we were leaving one situation that was difficult to survive in everyday life to one where you just trade them for other hardships,” Sean says.
The couple decided to share the unvarnished truth of off-grid living.
“I gained such a following because we’re very honest and open about our mistakes, the bug pressures, [and] what you deal with in daily life. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns in this lifestyle,” Sean explains.
With their TikTok account, @offgridsean, gaining more than 333,000 followers, it seems that the couple’s honest approach is working.
Outside of TikTok and YouTube, the couple have corporate sponsorships and produce promotional videos for their land company to generate income. Occasionally, they film weddings and other events in their community for pay.
Additionally, companies will occasionally fly Sean to Maine and Florida to help them with their own social media.
An off-grid future
The Hugheses enjoy spending their time together working on projects, gardening, filming content, and preparing a home-cooked meal every evening.
“We just kind of do everything together. It’s a life spent together,” Jessica says. “We do it together, or divide and conquer as needed.”
Looking ahead, the Hugheses are pivoting from their original plan to build an extravagant home to retaining their minimalist lifestyle. They now plan to build a small 1,000-square-foot cabin as their permanent home with their two dogs.
They’d also like to build a greenhouse and upgrade their solar power.
While Sean would love an “off-grid hot tub and sauna overlooking the mountain,” he understands that it isn’t a necessity for him to “live a comfortable life.” Though they do plan to add more amenities over time.
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