The Quest

I'm going on a quest.

The goal is land of my own, with an RV parked on it and the systems to live there: power, water and food. This is the plan. I'm putting it out there before I feel ready, so it feels real.

If the goal is buying land, then until I own it, the goal is what I talk about.

For years I said "maybe" to anything that might get me closer. Maybe that opportunity. Maybe that idea someone else had for me. Now I'm saying no to everything that isn't the goal.

More than anything, I'm deciding to believe in myself.

I don't know much about money, and I don't love it. The old saying is that the love of money is the root of all evil.

But land costs money. Being alive costs money. So I'm going to earn it by making things people find useful.

Every skill the land will need, I'll learn on camera: power, water, food, and the rules for living on your own land. I learn each one fast, against a real test, with something on the line. Pass, and I earn the reward. Fail, and I pay up on camera, with something harmless and a bit silly.

I learn by watching. I search, I watch people do the thing, then I make my own version. YouTube University. The next piece shows how that works.

The videos will center on an old phrase: healthy, wealthy, and wise. Benjamin Franklin printed it in Poor Richard's Almanack. Relatable. Low impact. Easy to make from anywhere in the world.

My channel today: 605 subscribers and 25 videos, as of October 27, 2026. Three goals:

1. Do it

Make the videos. Make them exist first, then make them good.

2. Get better stuff

My gear could be a lot better. A decent mic is about $50, and all I need is that mic and somewhere to keep the recordings. I'm not letting that stop me.

YouTube lets a channel start earning from its fans at 500 subscribers, three uploads in 90 days, and 3,000 hours watched in a year. I have the subscribers. Next come the hours.

3. Build systems that keep me alive

I want my life centered on building systems that provide for me, whatever the economy does. Fewer games to keep making money. More resilience.

I want to be a resource for people who want to be more self-sufficient.

You live in the city and want to make your own electricity. You live out in the country and want to grow your own food. You have a 3D printer and want to use all of it. You want to live off the land, or in a community of people who do.

Getting started feels daunting. You can ask an AI, and plenty of people don't trust the answers. They want to talk to a person who has tried it. I'll be that person, and show my work.

Robots are still part of it. I think they're some of the most useful tools we'll ever have. Now they're one part of a bigger picture.

A coworker told me they're working on confidence instead of control. I keep thinking about it.

You can't control what other people say, do or feel about you. You can manage what's yours: whether you showed up, whether you did the work, even whether you took a shower today. Confidence comes from those.

If your sense of self comes from how other people see you, it changes from day to day and person to person. So I'm measuring what I can: my effort, my intention, my energy.

I'll make mistakes on this quest. That doesn't make me a failure. It makes me alive.

It's time to get out of the rat race and build some resilience. That's what I aim to do from now on: become a self-sufficient man.

One video at a time.

Before cameras, you could only see yourself in a still pond or a mirror, and only in the moment. Now so much of what we do is recorded, and a single copy can be shared without end.

We have the technology to send one message to everyone in the world at the same time.

So what would that message be for you?