> can a young person today go out west and build all that stuff from nothing. (Like people did a few hundred years ago) Maybe a specific young person with a lo

> can a young person today go out west and build all that stuff from nothing. (Like people did a few hundred years ago) Maybe a specific young person with a lot of relevant experience and strong desire for this sort of life could, but it would be pretty hard and the initial costs are nothing to sniff at. Water is especially prohibitive. The American West is going through massive aridification and the water table is overdepleted in many places. Gotta watch out for water rights too. Electricity and internet are doable if you can afford the right systems. Food is really hard unless you're willing to buy everything at dollar general. Modern farming is highly reliant on artificial sources of nitrogen. And it's just not a good use of your time if you have a tech job. Social needs of humans cannot be overlooked. People even a couple hundred years ago would move whole communities. They had access to abundant natural resources and divided responsibilities differently. Maybe you're just interested in van life but + farming? It's expensive and probably a bad investment overall, but makes more sense than owning random cheap but poorly situated land outright.