Jess Taylor, 30, and her husband, Lath, 42, have taken their four kids away from ‘hustle and bustle of city life’ to live in a shed in the woods instead.
The kids – aged three, five, seven, and nine – live in woodland in Tennessee, US with their parents.
They’ve got no gas or running water, instead using a well, they wash their dishes, their clothes and take showers outside.
They also grow their own vegetables and use a compostable toilet.
Jess and Lath decided they wanted to quit their jobs working in a restaurant and chose a new home in the countryside to ‘connect with nature’.
They made the move to the tiny $350 (£305) shed to ensure they were debt-free without a mortgage after spotting a roadside advert for the place.
Now, Jess home-schools the children while Lath, a truck driver, can only stay at home for four days a month thanks to his new job as a truck driver.
Jess, a stay-at-home mum, said: ‘We’re so much happier now than when we lived in the city.
‘It can be tough raising four children and it can be so hard seeing Lath so infrequently.
‘But when I do feel like that I just remind myself it’ll be even better in the long run.
‘It’s just so nice to be back in nature and be outside whenever we want.’
Jess and Lath came to the decision that they wanted to try remote living after seeing videos on YouTube about it.
They’re not completely away from human contact, however, as Jess’s mum lives on the same piece of land.
Jess, who grew up on a farm, has been enjoying getting back to the wilderness.
After buying the shed, Lath took the roof off and extended the structure vertically to make more space for the family of six before putting the roof back on.
The Taylors currently use an outhouse composting toilet and have to take showers outdoors while their new bathhouse is under construction.
‘It’s not always as lovely as it looks when you have to empty a composting toilet, but it’s only temporary whilst we build our bathhouse,’ Jess said.
The family also has to wash their dishes outside, no matter what the weather’s like, for the time being.
‘I have to wash the dishes in the rain, even when it’s snowing, so that’s not always nice,’ she said.
But one perk is that, aside from food shopping, their living expenses are tiny, since they just pay for their electricity, which is hooked up to the grid, and their water.
Jess said: ‘The well was our first big investment we wanted our own water source.
‘We pay for regular electric and shopping – otherwise, we have no living expenses.’
The family is also able to grow their own vegetables, with their ultimate goal being the ability to live only off the land.
Jess said: ‘At the moment we’re growing some food – like gherkins, tomatoes, peppers and chillis – and I like to combine that with my foraging of fruits and nuts.
‘The ultimate goal is to expand the garden in the next few years and be able to live completely off the land.
‘I’m hoping we can grow enough to store some vegetables over the winter season.
‘I would love to also be able to set up my own farmer’s stand at the market, and have an extra source of income that way.’
As for the children, Jess says they’re big fans of their new life.
‘The kids love it, especially as they are now closer to their grandma’s,’ Jess said.
‘I’ve seen a huge change in them after going from screens to being outside most of the time.’
‘I think there’s a real draw to being isolated when we want to be.
‘We do make sure we’re focused on the community as well, as it’s important for the kids to be able to socialise and for all of us to make friends.’
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