ZOE, Brian and their two children live off grid on an active volcano. The couple led a very different lifestyle back in Nevada but decided to move to Hawaii a few years ago. Brian said: “The whole goal the entire time was to be able to buy some land and build our own house and kind of live self-sustainably.” The family built their own home and now use solar power, rainwater, a composting toilet and own a lot of animals as part of their off grid lifestyle. Zoe said: “Living on an active volcano might seem kind of... 'Stupid’ I guess you could say but I feel safer here than I do in the city.” The couple have had to work on the land to cover lava tubes - which are cracks in the ground sometimes very big in size - to make it safe for the family. She said: “I think a lot of people are very animated when they think about volcanoes and they think that there must be lava everywhere.” They are unschooling their children Zaina, 7, and Isla, 3, which involves facilitating what the children want to learn. Zoe is a content creator and posts about their lifestyle online and has been met with a lot of criticism for her parenting style. Zoe said: “Motherhood gets people so mad. They’re just like ‘How dare you feed your kid your kid that, that’s not a meal’, ‘you can’t teach them that way’, ‘you’re doing it wrong, it’s not safe.’” The family are enjoying their off grid life and Zoe hopes her children continue to thrive. She said: “I feel really good about this life. I wouldn't trade it for the world.”
Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/junglefairyfarm/?hl=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@junglefairyland
Social Media Links:
https://www.instagram.com/junglefairyfarm/?hl=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@junglefairyland
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FunTranscript
00:00We live off the grid on an active volcano.
00:03All of this here, I mean, it was all holes, straight down lava.
00:08Motherhood gets people so mad.
00:10They're like, you're doing it wrong, it's not safe.
00:12You got a shovel?
00:13Yeah.
00:13You ready to process these bananas?
00:15Yeah.
00:16Do you think this lifestyle could negatively impact your kids?
00:20Absolutely.
00:22Can I have a fruit cup?
00:24Can I have one?
00:25Yeah.
00:25My name is Zoe.
00:26And I'm Brian.
00:28And I am a mom of two.
00:30And I'm a homesteader in the jungle, on a volcano.
00:34This is my little sister, Rumi.
00:35This is Zoe, my mother.
00:37And she is sometimes awkward.
00:40And she posts videos online.
00:43She is a very smart woman.
00:45She is kind to her children.
00:47So how did you two meet?
00:49Oh, man.
00:49Oh, funny story.
00:50It's kind of a story.
00:51I was a door girl at a strip club back in Nevada.
00:55And he came in to apply to get a job.
01:00And I was like, oh, well, I hope you're
01:03going to get the job because you're really cute.
01:05When did you move to the big island and here?
01:07So during the pandemic, we kind of had the crazy idea,
01:13let's move to Hawaii.
01:14The whole goal the entire time was
01:15to be able to buy some land and build our own house
01:19and kind of live self-sustainably.
01:21Welcome to my farm.
01:22And I would love to give you guys a tour.
01:24So come follow me.
01:26I've got an abundance of birds.
01:28So don't mind them.
01:29You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you.
01:34We've got an abundance of fruit right
01:36now growing around our house.
01:38So this is our fully 100% off the grid house.
01:41We run everything off of solar.
01:43We collect our rainwater from our roof.
01:46We have 3,000 gallons of water in this area.
01:50And here is our indoor-outdoor kitchen.
01:53Beautiful.
01:53I get to cook outside with the birds chirping.
01:56And when the rain starts dumping,
01:58it's just really relaxing.
02:00We have every appliance that anybody
02:02really has in a standard home.
02:04We just don't pay the utility companies.
02:06So this is our bunk bed that my partner built.
02:10It works for us because I still co-sleep with my baby.
02:14How did you build this house?
02:15And how long it took?
02:16And who built it?
02:17It was just kind of us trying to build
02:20with the kids and the dog.
02:21And it was, it was so crazy.
02:24So pretty much everything was self-taught.
02:27I did have some help from friends
02:29who are in different industries, you know, with electrical.
02:32I'm proud of what we did.
02:33You know, we do have the occasional visitor.
02:38They like to lay their eggs in our sawdust bin.
02:41We've got our composting toilet, which
02:44is just a bucket and sawdust, which
02:46here's the eggs that the chickens like
02:48to leave me, a little Easter egg in the house.
02:50Whenever we have visitors, they kind of look at me like,
02:54oh, I have to use a bucket.
02:56What do the kids think about this lifestyle?
02:58Oh my gosh.
02:58Chickens in the bathroom.
03:00I think it's really natural for kids.
03:02I think living as a kid in the jungle is really fun.
03:05But they're very wild.
03:07I almost feel embarrassed sometimes
03:08when I take them out in public because of how crazy they are.
03:12I'm like, it's obvious that they live in the jungle
03:14sometimes because I'm like, my kids
03:16are the ones that's barefoot.
03:17What is unschooling?
03:18Unschooling is, let me facilitate
03:21what you want to learn.
03:22I'm not necessarily a teacher.
03:24Even though I'm educated, I'm college educated,
03:26I'm a facilitator to my children and their interests.
03:30It's all school and life lessons.
03:34I, growing up, learned about, I think,
03:39the most impractical things at her age.
03:42And I missed out on this type of learning.
03:48I didn't get burned enough times.
03:49I didn't know that meat turned brown.
03:52And I know it sounds simple, but like,
03:55even just cooking with your kids is a lesson in itself.
04:00Like, measurements, you can make it math.
04:02I mean, it's literally a science project.
04:04She loves making her own food.
04:05She can make scrambled eggs, her own peanut butter jelly,
04:08you know.
04:09You got a shovel?
04:10Yeah.
04:10You ready to process these bananas?
04:12Yeah.
04:13Let's go harvest them, OK?
04:15Do you want to stand back for one second?
04:17Can you count how many bananas are on here?
04:20Yeah.
04:20OK.
04:21One, two, three, four.
04:28Do you think this lifestyle could negatively
04:30impact your kids?
04:32Absolutely.
04:32So you're saying this lifestyle could negatively impact them?
04:36It could.
04:37I believe that this lifestyle could negatively
04:40impact anybody who is losing sight of the message.
04:46And the sight of the message is sustainability.
04:48If they're not raised in a way that's encouraging them
04:52to stay focused on positive things,
04:55they could definitely spiral into the negative parts
04:59of this lifestyle, which can be really depressing.
05:02And I want them to have the best foot forward.
05:05Give me a high five.
05:07Good job.
05:08So living on an active volcano might seem kind of stupid,
05:12I guess you would say.
05:13But I feel safer here than I do in the city.
05:16We have lava tubes that we have to be aware of.
05:19Basically, I mean, it can be anything
05:21from a big crack in the ground that goes to a void.
05:25So these can go down anywhere from 5 feet to 70 feet.
05:30So this is one of the bigger holes
05:32that we have on our property.
05:34Even though it looks nice and sturdy,
05:37there could literally be a leg-sized hole
05:39that you could slip in.
05:40We're trying to either fill them in or work with it.
05:43All of this here, I mean, it was all holes,
05:48deep holes, cracks in the ground, straight down lava.
05:51I mean, it's a miracle I'm able to even just walk
05:53so gracefully on top of it right now.
05:55I started posting online on a whim.
05:58I realized what a powerful tool it was.
05:59So I have kind of had a wide variety of responses.
06:03I think people are very opinionated these days
06:08on their keyboards.
06:09Some of the things that I think people have said negatively
06:13about my lifestyle has been always
06:16about my style of parenting.
06:18People have said just that I'm neglecting my kids,
06:21which is crazy to me because they have everything
06:23that they need.
06:24They're always around us.
06:25Motherhood gets people so mad.
06:27They're just like, how dare you feed your kid that?
06:30That's not a meal.
06:31You can't teach them that way.
06:33They're like, you're doing it wrong.
06:34It's not safe.
06:35It's like, OK.
06:36The data says different.
06:37The data says your city is unsafe.
06:39Have you had criticism about living
06:42on an active volcano?
06:43I think a lot of people are very animated when
06:47they think about volcanoes.
06:49And they think that, oh, there must be lava everywhere.
06:54It's a beautiful feature when the lava is erupting.
06:56When Mauna Loa just went off, it was
06:58like, let's get the kids in the car
07:00and let's go drive to go see it.
07:01Let's make it a homeschool lesson.
07:03People will buy a beachfront property and not bat an eye,
07:08even though tsunamis are a massive threat.
07:12Have you been criticized for your decisions
07:14regarding health care?
07:16I was a full-time patient for over a year
07:19trying to beat cancer.
07:20I had to go to radiation every single day for months.
07:24I had to go in for chemo infusions.
07:28And a lot of people are like, gosh,
07:30why didn't you do it the holistic, natural way?
07:32You're doing everything else the natural way.
07:34And it's like, when you are stage four, literally dying,
07:38I don't find myself to be hypocritical for choosing
07:43the Western route to save my life.
07:45It's part of why you don't like me on social media
07:47and why you don't want to be a part of it.
07:49I don't like the confrontation, you know?
07:51And how it made me feel.
07:53I know in my heart, deep down in there,
07:56that it doesn't matter what people say.
07:58The big message here is being true to yourself.
08:01And so as the kids get older, embracing who they want to be
08:06and directing them towards positive things in life.
08:09I feel really good about this life.
08:11I wouldn't trade it for the world.
08:13I love you.
08:14I love you, too.
08:15Thanks for doing this crazy life with me.
08:17Thanks for talking me into it.