Off the Grid?

Can you really go off the grid
and stay online?

It's kind of like hyper-miling - you can do it, but it takes some planning and you have to work at it a little.

First, get yourself a free, secure, anonymous email account (Tutanota is a good option) before you need it. You'll want it to sign up for anything else below without tying services back to your main identity. Note: Tuta (Tutanota's current name) deletes free accounts after six months of inactivity, and the address isn't recycled once it's gone - if this is meant to sit ready for when you need it, log in at least occasionally to keep it alive.

Pay cash for a "burner phone" with a pay-as-you-go data plan. Check Walmart, Dollar stores, and similar retailers - no ID required, and you can reload with cash. Get a smart phone capable of running a VPN, and add TOR on top if you want it. Many prepaid plans also let you use the phone as a mobile hotspot for a laptop or tablet.

Satellite internet (like Starlink) has made "off grid but still connected" far more realistic than it used to be, at a real but no longer exotic cost - worth a look if you're regularly somewhere without cell coverage. Amazon's Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) is a competing satellite service - it's in the works, not yet available to consumers.

Most fast-food chains, coffee shops, and plenty of other businesses offer free WiFi. Many require an email or phone number to connect - this is exactly what your private email and burner phone are for. Connect through your VPN once you're on.

Public libraries are another reliable option. You typically can't install software like a VPN on a library computer, but a browser-based proxy or a personal hotspot from your own phone can fill the gap. Library computers often have content filters in place.

For the especially privacy-conscious, some VPN providers accept payment in cryptocurrency if you'd rather not link a card to the subscription. Free VPN providers are also an option, though worth researching carefully first - many fund themselves by logging and selling the exact browsing data you're trying to hide; look for one with a published, audited no-logs policy before trusting it (see our VPN/TOR article for what to check).

These same tricks work well for anyone who travels a lot - long road trips, or just wanting a backup plan if your home connection goes down.

Side note: living full-time in an RV

Full-time RVing raises the stakes on a couple of these topics beyond what a weekend trip does - mainly because you don't have a fixed address at all, and your connectivity has to actually hold up day to day, not just bridge a gap.

The "no fixed address" problem. Banks, the DMV, voter registration, insurance, and plenty of online accounts all expect a real street address. Most full-timers solve this with a domicile/mail-forwarding service (Escapees and America's Mailbox are two long-standing, well-known options) based in an RV-friendly state - commonly South Dakota, Texas, or Florida, each for their own mix of no state income tax, straightforward vehicle registration, and no in-person renewal requirements. Worth noting for this site's angle specifically: a domicile service also happens to put a layer between your actual physical location and what's on file with every company and government agency you deal with - useful for privacy even for someone who isn't chasing anonymity, just doesn't want their real whereabouts trivially looked up.

Connectivity that has to actually work. A burner phone and free WiFi get you through a weekend; living on the road needs something more dependable:

• An unlimited (or high-cap) mobile hotspot plan is the backbone for most full-timers - and carrier coverage varies enough by region that many run two different carriers side by side (e.g. Verizon + T-Mobile) specifically for redundancy, not just to shop for the cheapest plan.
• A cell signal booster (WeBoost is the commonly recommended brand) can turn a weak, unusable signal into a workable one in rural areas - worth it if you spend real time outside cities.
• Starlink's RV-specific plan has become the default answer for "what if there's no cell signal at all" - real monthly cost, but far more realistic than the old dial-up-at-a-campground approach.

Everything else in this article - the burner phone, VPN, and library/WiFi habits - still applies on top of this; the domicile address and dependable connectivity are just the two additional pieces full-timers need that a short trip doesn't require.