I am David, Belgian, living on 4 hectares of forested land in central Slovakia, at 400m altitude, in a valley where terraced crops once covered every hillside before farms gave way to cities. I started from nothing: no existing structures, no local network, no prior farming experience.
What exists today: 1000+ fruit trees planted, animals, bees, wood heat, rainwater collection, no flush toilet. A productive garden and greenhouse. Everything built or rebuilt with hand tools and salvaged materials. Currently under construction: a walipini greenhouse, an A-frame cabin for long-term residents, a root cellar, and a semi-buried permanent house. Straw & clay constructions.
This ambitious project did not begin as a search for community in the conventional sense. It began as a conclusion: the growth trajectory of the last two centuries is physically finished. Resource depletion, net energy decline, soil degradation, biodiversity collapse and demographic pressure are converging constraints that do not negotiate and do not wait. Understanding this should be, by far, the top priority of anyone alive today, because these physical realities already structure our existence whether we are aware of them or not.
Most responses to this situation, even well-intentioned ones, try to manage the problem inside the existing framework: greener technology, softer consumption, better policy. This does not work. The existing framework is the problem. Most normal people, well-intentioned or not, ARE the problem. Not able to stop consuming, not able to rearrange their brain, not able to educate their children totally differently, etc. The only coherent response is a fully restructured life: producing your own food, drastically reducing dependence on industrial infrastructure, staying in one place and building something real instead of consuming places one after another, TRAVELLING, enjoying life as much as possible without even knowing that acts do have consequences.
I am far from a perfect example of this. I operate inside a system built by and for people going in the opposite direction, under laws that are often outdated and poorly suited to what I am trying to do. What exists here is not a finished model. It is an ongoing, serious attempt, under real constraints, to live in a way that is consistent with what the situation demands.
Right now, this is a project of one person, actively looking to grow. First and foremost, I am looking for a life partner: someone to build this with long-term, who finds meaning in daily physical work, honest conversation, seasonal food and genuine quiet. I am also open to long-term volunteers (one month minimum, longer strongly preferred) who have already started to seriously question their own way of life, not simply talk about it.
A few things I will not accommodate, without exception: veganism or vegetarianism as a fixed ethical position (I raise and eat animals); any religious or quasi-religious worldview, including wellness-as-religion frameworks such as yoga as spiritual practice, energy healing, astrology or manifestation; identitarian or woke politics, which I consider a distraction from material reality; and intellectual or material dependency, since I am a teacher, not a therapist.
I say what I think directly, and expect honesty in return. I believe this directness is, in fact, the most caring position available: treating someone as capable of understanding difficult things and changing accordingly, rather than staying silent to avoid discomfort.
To avoid poverty tomorrow, choose sobriety now: off-grid homestead built on physical reality, realistic predictions about the future, meaningful life.
There is no formal process yet, since this is currently a one-person project. For a long-term volunteer or a potential life partner, it starts with an honest conversation, ideally a video call, to establish whether our values and expectations genuinely align before any commitment to stay long-term.
Contact me directly through the email listed here and introduce yourself: explain what draws you to this project specifically, not a generic message. I read everything but do not reply to copy-paste inquiries. Minimum stay for volunteers is one month; shorter visits are considered case by case.
One person or partnership has ultimate authority.
A single person, couple, or small group makes most major decisions.
Primary authority rests with the community’s founder(s) or designated leader(s).
Decisions are currently made by the founder. As the project grows to include a long-term partner or residents, this may evolve.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Yes (84 hrs/week)
Volunteers exchange labor for food, lodging, and hands-on skill-sharing. No formal fees are currently required, though structured paid stays are available separately for those wanting a shorter, guided introduction.
Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Workshop, Outdoor Kitchen, Fire pit
Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.
Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.
Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace
There are no needs and offers
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A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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