'I'm a Gen Zer — I love living in a remote cabin without heat or running water'

20 February 2024 , 16:22

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Karma say she won't stay in the cabin forever but does plan to return (Image: Karma Wilcox / SWNS)

A 19-year-old woman is showing her peers and the older generations that living life on the edge without any comforts you'd expect from a modern lifestyle is a great path to take. Gen Z's Karma Wilcox has returned to living without running water and a central heating system. And she says it's given her back a sense of freedom she didn't have while living in bustling cities.

The California woman has returned to the Alaskan log cabin where she was raised by her dad until she was eight, before she moved back with her mother Misty, 38, a life coach in San Francisco. And despite temperatures bottoming at -24F (-31C) around her cabin in Homer, she says she is content now after being persuaded to return by dad Luna, 43, who is the creator of the Altruist Relief Kitchen, which works with people in war-torn areas.

Karma says the cabin is cosy, despite being poorly insulated (Karma Wilcox / SWNS)

Wilcox told SWNS: "The insulation is not the best, the logs are cut down and layered around the cabin with moss, with sticks nailed in between to keep some warmth in. My main source of heating is firewood, which is on 24/7, and I go through about a box of logs a day. The cabin looked very different when I lived there before. My dad has fitted a new roof."

Wilcox, who has also lived in central Hollywood, added about the two-storey cabin which she rents from Luna’s godfather, Tom for £217 a month: "The cabin is such a good place to grow up as a child because you have no worries. We used to play in the garden and go on really long hikes, and ever since coming back, it’s been nice to relive the memories.

The bedroom space in the cabin has a warm feel to it (Karma Wilcox / SWNS)

The young woman said that she has a surprisingly good 5G signal which allows her to operate and stay in touch without the need to pay for WiFi. She added that she goes snowboarding almost every day and is still able to derive a great deal of pleasure from the garden. She added: "The downstairs is the living room, so it has the kitchen and the lounge area and the upstairs has two bedrooms. People think Alaska is really off grid but it’s actually not – my 5G works just fine."

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However, she doesn't think she'll be living there for a lengthy period, with medical school on the horizon in a year, but she says she would like to return to Homer, in south-central Alaska, which has an estimated population of around 5,900 residents. She said: "I can’t live with no running water for my whole life, but I’ll probably stay in here for another year before I go to med school. I don’t want to stay in Homer, but I would like to go back there in the future."

Paul Donald