Sustainable Living - Off-Grid in Romania 

Can't believe no one said anything about the crickets singing in the night ....For me that's the sound of heaven .

As a Romanian, I've always said that this type of living is one of Romania's biggest trump cards. If you take a drive throughout the country you will notice the sheer amount of villages like the one at 2:12. The thing is, at least 80% of the population has some sort of house and property in the countryside, be it our parents or grandparents. Yes, a home in the countryside that they OWN, with a property big enough to plant veggies, fruits and raise animals. And I'm talking proper houses like the ones at 2:12, Alex's is a bit more rudimentary due to what he's doing. A lot of the older people of today came to the cities from their villages during the communist regime to work in factories, but their parents kept living there. Romanians have always been a very rural oriented people throughout history. When they got old, they retired back to their homes. There are plenty of old people in the city also, but they most certainly still have their property in the countryside. My point is, with the risk of sounding scary, that in case something bad happens to our modern society in the city and everything fails, Romanians will always have a place to fall back to where they can live off grid like in the olden days. Our ancestors did it, our still living grandparents are doing it (although with electricity and TV, no plumbing or central heating though), and in some parts even young people do too. You can work the land, there are plenty of fresh water fountains and springs around, and wood for the terracotta fireplaces that the houses have built in them for heating. If you'd add solar panels nowadays, you don't even need access to an electricity grid, if you really don't want to live without any electricity at all. I've been a city boy all my life, millennial too, but I've experienced living like this when visiting my grandparents as a child. Freshly picked veggies and fruits from the garden and orchard, fresh eggs straight from the coop, meat from their animals, home made wine and brandy, all bio and natural. It's tradition and it's still a thing nowadays. Staying in touch with these roots is a huge plus. The potential is there, we have the resources and places to work with. When it comes to nature, Romania is definitely a rich country. Sorry for the huge wall of text, but I hope you read it. This type of living, or at least Romania's potential regarding it, is heavily underrated and looked down upon. I myself have been guilty of this due to the modern amenities the city life offered me in my 26 years of existence.

I love romania so much one of my dream😍 country...i am always watching romanians videos ..very nice villages tress the flowers...because im old its only a dreams.😍😍😍😍

How does one avoid falling in love with a stranger after such an experience with them ? As a Londoner, I reconnect with my loved one by a simple walk in the park . What a lovely experience , one of my favourite videos ever ! Inspired

People think those living in a village are poor, or are only living there till they can leave to the city. But I find this way of living the best one, you have nature, you eat the food you grown, because of that you dont contribute to pollution or help greedy big companies, you work out everyday doing chores. It just is so simple and beautiful. I feel like this is how we are sopposed to live, not constantly in stress over our next deadline.

Romania has some of the largest tracts original ancient forests in Europe. A truly beautiful country, people & customs. ❤👋🇦🇺

Now i miss my country more then never!! I live in London now but my heart is in Romania!

"I have time. I have a lot of time." It sounds as "I'm already infinite." I've been flirting with Romania for some time now and you made me hear its kind voice in my heart. Off the grid life may sound scary for our generation, however it's the natural state of being. Knowledge, good will and respect is all nature needs to return abundance on our way. Lovely✌. Hugs from Brazil!

I actually started crying after watching this. I'm moving to London this week to start university and this video gave me a "reality check" as to how much I'm gonna miss Romania. Beautifully done, Sandy ❤️

Beautiful! I am Romanian and I love my country. I will never leave here. I live in the village in the east of the country and I am a farmer. Life is beautiful if you like what you do. Thank you for your nice presentation! ❤️

This is Cutzu. I lost it

Loved it. I’m a Transylvanian, living in the USA 🇺🇸 Thank you for taking me home for a few minutes ❤️

'When you have time you can create...' well said Alex!

I was born in Romania, and was adopted into a Canadian family when I was 2 years old.... I was planning to go back for the first time. But then covid-19. I don't know if I will ever be able to go back🥺. Thank you for sharing this, it's really special 💖

Amazing video, I luckily got to spend a couple months in Romania when I was in the military and it is such a beautiful place. The Romanian soldiers were very professional and happy to work with us as well, all around a great experience.

I am living in Romania and I am also an Romanian. It's very nice to see other people saying beutiful things about my country. Very nice video about living in the nature.

Embracing permaculture is one of the things we should learn..Romania is lucky that many of our ancestors actually lived in a permaculture design without knowing what that terminology means. So we could pick so many information about the land by just listening and spending time with our grandparents. The landscapes created by our best designer: nature are to be observed and understood with the minimum of intervention. The sound created by this impressive network puts our mind at peace and helps us think, how to blend in with the fractal world around us, and just by observing and merging with the already systems incorporated by nature we will be able to understand it's design. I lived in Romania also in London.. what I found impressive here is how this city managed to have a bit of both worlds inside the city, the amount of trees is astonishing but also the landscaper's that lived here made impressive designs to get the human mind closer to nature.

Every time I see anything about the Romanian countryside,... the vegetation and food crops are always luscious and huge.... it looks like you can plant anything there and it explodes with growth...

Wow, Proud of Alex the hat is so popular in Romania. I wanted so bad to get away from that life and now 10 years later I realised how happy it was, I wish I cherished it.

I was so emotional watching this video so touching that I've almost crying...I love you both...God bless 🙏🙏🙏

Very nice video. My wife is from Romania so we have great tour guides when we go there. We were in Transylvania the summer of 2019 and I loved it. Where else can you see shepherds walking their sheep down the road at dusk? Or farmers cutting hay by hand and moving it with horses and carts? I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for sharing.

Can't believe I moved FROM Romania TO London. This brings back so many memories. Thank you!!

You are such a lovely and polite girl 👍 I loved all about this video and the way you show respect to different people and to their chosen lifestyle. You seem brave as well 😁 Hope you'll make more of this because IT IS WONDERFUL

I am beginning to feel so happy as many young people are getting adhered towards living natural way of lives and this is so amazing way Alex lives, thank you Sandy for the great video. i am in London you can make a video of my green house!

My family and I often crave countryside life and the chance to live off the grid. Having lived in Romania a while, this video made me want to go back 100%. Thanks for sharing, what a lovely experience.

I miss my home so much 😭 My parents used to cultivate everything , sugar, sunflower oil etc. My childhood was like this 😍 I miss those days so much ❤

I used to live "off grid" as a child when I visited my grandparents. I would like to live like that again. No bills, no depending on any public utility, no problem. Greetings from Romania.

"I have time ... I have lots of time ..." . Most certainly, you've met one of richest guys in Europe. This was a cool Vlog, on an excellent subject. ( but of course I am biased)

Wonderful. I also cried of nostalgy, as I was born and studies there. Thank you Sandy!

This guy looks so happy😍

Thank you for promoting Romania, @Sandy and we encourage you to come again as there are many other beautiful places, landscapes and nature still untouched by humans that you can enjoy and show to the world! Thank you!

Ahh...this was amazing. I am from the north east part of Romania, but I've been living in Canada for 20 years. I will be moving back home next year and I will buy a nice piece of land and I will be doing just wart Alex did, build a cob house or an A shape cabin in the mountains. Can't wait.

How beautiful! I am Romanian myself but living abroad. I just learned about Alex's way of living and had no idea that people do actually embrace this lifestyle in my home country as well. I am in love with the idea of living sustainable, off grid and having a small homestead is my dream as well. Thank you for this video , +1 sub blessed life 💚

Brilliant video and Romania looks lovely. almost makes me want to travel.

Romania 🇷🇴 ❤❤❤ how much I love and miss you.

Glad that i found your channel. My name is Alex and i live in Romania, Sibiu. My dream is to do what Alex did. Create a house in the nature with my future family. That's the most beautiful thing you can have. Hope you enjoyed your mini vacation in Romania and hope you will come again to visit our country. All the best 😊

I got emotional for watching this. So many feelings, I don’t know where to start. Thank you for sharing this. I would love to get to know Alex. He seems so genuine and appreciative. My father is from Romania so I’m naturally drawn to the country. I’ve been a few times but never to that part. Thanks again for the video.

My husband and daughters country. I miss it so much 🙂 ❤️ thank you for this! 🇷🇴 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

My god. Those united trees at 12:00!! I hope you hugged them. Nice video. I was also in Cluj in the summer of 2019. I stayed in a cool hostel near to the botanic garden, which I can recommend you if you want to go back in visit the city once again, as you mention in your video. Béke

We moved to Romainia from the UK a year and a half ago and would never look back. Like all places it has it's down sides but we've settled in nicely, the countryside is the way to go. Living in the city isn't very nice. Great vid, enjoyed it very much.

Just beautiful! Romania is my mother country,and I am proud of it. I came along with you on your journey ,and almost cried. Some things were very familiar to me,and to tell you the truth I will love to go back to live on the country side. I have been living in the state for the last 25 years,and it’s been great,but home is where your soul is. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us.

I am hoping to travel to Romania next year with my Romanian other half. It's going to be my first time ever out of the U.K. but really looking forward to it, especially after watching your video.

Thank you for visiting our country and for your positive vibe! 🙏

I am Romanian but live in South Africa. I loved your video. I recalled all good memories of my childhood. The fruits the veggies and the forest have the colors of Romania, that only a Romanian can see.

I am from Romania and I must say that this was very inspiring and heartwarming. Made me very emotional, not gonna lie. Keep up the good work! I am looking forward to seeing more videos like this ❤️

Fantastic video. What a brave, entrepreneurial young man Alex is. Doing that all by himself and having the smarts to invite tourists in to experience it with him is very admirable, as obviously is his clean way of life. He seems content and happy with himself and that's a great attribute to have. This is the first video I have watched of yours Sandy and it was very well done! You suited that house btw! Cheers.

I'm from London and lived in Bucharest the past 20yrs. Beautiful country with beautiful people . That strange root is actually celery.! Nice report, looked like fun.

I love this young man, and from my own experience (I currently live in a small cottage, and have built my own solar array, but I do have a flushing toilet and running water provided to me, which frankly, I would be happy to pump from my own well given the chance), this type of living feels very LUXURIOUS! I'm so interested in Romania and Bulgaria because of the beautiful mountain-view properties and lush farm land, plus I'm of Polish descent and naturally am attracted to Eastern Europeans. Thank you for this tour, and best wishes to this handsome young man and his lovely home!

Hi Sandy, for me your documentary video skills are superb, waking up in the morning in such an incredibly peaceful place must have been wonderful, the food looked delicious and this is certainly a hands on self sustainable experience, total respect and admiration for Alex and you Sandy should work for the BBC. You made the right choice missing Notting Hill Carnival for Romania.

That root vegetable was celery root, also known as celeriac. It and parsnip are two very common ingredients in our _sour_ soups called "ciorbă".

Hey, I'm from Cluj-Napoca, and yes, pigs do eat chicken if they catch them that is why you keep them separate. The dogs too, if they get to taste chicken.

I started to watch this video because it was about a place I call home but in the end I got much more. Your video was inspirational to say the least. Seeing the freshness, the simplicity, and the uncomplicated lifestyle gives me motivation to do something about mine. Thank you for this amazing video, I hope you make many more. Looking forward to them!

I get the feel while watching this video that .....this life style is perfect to your inner spirit. Your eyes just glowed with much joy! Blessings my friend🌻

"I have time." I got watery eyes.

Off grid in Romania, SUBSCRIBED. Some of my family comes from Romania, it holds a very special place in my heart, I think its the most beautiful looking country in the world...

The calm and peace on this guys face is remarkable. I guess Living alone in Nature is good for the soul

I watched many off grid videos but this one makes me feel they're billionaires of time 😊

ALEX is really a good GUY living in a Pristine region in ROMANIA.

Great video thank you so much. This is my dream to live sustainably, more videos like this would be magical thank you xxx

Oh how I miss my country! I was born in oradea ❤️

What a beautiful video ! Thanks for sharing it with us. Does Alex have a RU-vid channel ?

Amazing ideea Alex , let's share this video . More peopel need to see this , you can make a way of living . Thank you Alex and thank you Sandy .

Such an adorable video I loved it so much, I'm Romanian living in Canada , and I was actually borned in Cluj Napoca, is so nice to see how other people start to appreciate and discover my country. Good job , and I'm happy for your experience, I hope I can get back to visit my country again , after all the pandemic is difficult.

Wow... this was one of the best videos I have seen. I had a different picture of Romania from what people say but now I want to go there... good job Sandy

Very happy with your effort..So peaceful and REAL .. I live in Holland with my adopted.dog Cassio from Roemenia..I showed him the nature with the dogs.. And accually...he really connects with this beautiful land..

this video just made me happy. Pure happiness. Hope you had a great time!💓

I love this video. Romanian Canadian here, home is awesome!

Ahh. Refreshing! Thank you

So many Romanians live like this my mum can make a really amazing soup out of nothing i live in london for the past 11 years and my dream is to return home one day and eat healty stay safe and the most important is to "HAVE TIME " Someting that we lack here in uk

Sandy - this video was absolutely amazing! It actually had everything in it! Suspense, beauty, simplicity, and perhaps even a dash of fear? You are truly a "sensibly courageous" person and that trait is admirable. In fact, you just proved to most of us the old saying, that if done with a bit of sensibility, "nothing ventured nothing gained" is true! OMG, it just occurred to me - wait for it . . . SandyMakesSense!

I've volunteered around the world learning about permaculture, permaculture is the way to live our lives.

Awesome video and well done for taking the chance. It's so good that people like you make videos like this. It does far more for Romanian tourism that the actual tourist board can produce. Plus we've now discovered Alex. His place is about 30 minutes from my cabin and I must visit him. Can't wait to discuss building stuff and gardening. Thanks again for making this and come back to Romania soon.

What a wonderful place 🌻🌱💚

Hi Sandy, that's definitely one of the best videos I've ever watched. Please do record more videos like this. Thank your sharing!

How wonderful! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💖 I came across this video by chance and I’m grateful for it. I am Romanian myself, living as sustainably as I can in London and my very dream is to build eco-self sustainable communities in Romania and all around the world. I’m happy you’ve had this wonderful experience on my native land. Wonderful video by the way. It warmed my heart. 🤗🤗🤗

Beautiful country lots of lovely people i would recommend it to anyone .

Nice place, always watching your vlog keep it up😊

I did watch the video today, Very interesting. Romania on my agenda, hopefully I can visit after the crisis in east Europe. Thanks a lot.

I want to live like this. So peacefull

My goodness you are pretty. I`m so glad you got to experience Romania, something I`ve always wanted to do. Alex must have felt like an angel flew in and stayed for a few days. :)

I really enjoyed this video, Romania looks amazing 😉

WoW Sandy is amazing video. Thanks so much for meeting you.

I got goosebumps all over the video. Alex seems like such a cool and down to earth person.

I'm glad you liked it in Romania. There are many beautiful places worth visiting in this country. I hope you come back and make more videos like this.✌

This video is so cool! I'm from Transylvania and I always dreamed to live like this! I'm glad that you had a nice experience and I hope you will come back after all this pandemic goes away! Stay safe!💚

I found this video very relaxing

This is a tradition I hope many who once lived in the country side, will bring and share with the rest of the world. Not to lose themselves in city life but rather to enrich others by sharing the value of a simple and peaceful way of life.

I normally don't comment about these type of videos but this was special, kudos to Alex and his way of living and promoting romanian values, great video by Sandy , as a romanian living abroad this was lovely....now a message for Alex (ar face o sotie perfecta Sandy prietene....felicitari pentru tot, respect!) Love from Finland...

How did you find an airbnb like this? These are the kind of places im looking for! Would love more videos like this!!

You have to visit a lot in Romania. I miss my country because I leave in Germany and I will be happy to see more videos about 🇷🇴 🤗😉

Sustainable living is wonderful. greetings from Turkey

What a beautiful and peaceful video! Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Good job Sandy, Im glad you made this clip to show other international people how beautiful is Romania and interesting to visit, how friendly, hardworking, creative and trustworthy Romanians are, how is the taste of organic food and leaving in the nature. I'm very happy for your positive experience and adventure in Romania.

I have just one word : HEAVEN !

You 2 with your smiles were definitely inspiring .

wow.....what an amazing experience

This video made my day, thanks for showing others how beautiful Romania it is 😊big hugs

Amazing video and the way how you describe everything...really I enjoyed and I want to see more video like this one....and obviously I want you to come back to Romania 🙂🇷🇴🇬🇧❤

Beautiful Romania!❤👍

thank you for helping people like alex who is doing a wonderfull thing ,you are both 2 beautiful souls