Here is the story of a couple who lived a nomadic life for seven years. Miriam Lancewood and her husband, Peter, faced many difficulties and also enjoyed many happy moments during these seven years. The way they lived was quite interesting. Miriam used to hunt wild animals and Peter cooked them for their meals.

Their journey started in the New Zealand Alps, where they have been happily living in the wild. But then, they decided to make a move. Today, they’re walking across Europe all the way to Turkey with their luggage and tents. Stephanie Marsh, a famous writer, met them to hear why they took on the excursion.

Living off the grid for seven years

It’s been seven years since Miriam Lancewood has lived away from “the normal life” and in the wilderness. All of the good and bad moments of those seven years are still fresh in her mind and she is easily able to recall them. When talking to Stephanie Marsh, she recalls knowing when she’d broken off with social traditions.

She claims that her breakage with society started when she stumbled on the idea of washing her hair with her urine. These crude ideas drove her to consider a life in the wild. Later, she started living the “wild life” in the Alps of New Zealand.

Miriam faced troubles, but she didn’t back down

Living a wild life is not as easy as it seems. You have to become used to ugly things and difficulties. There’s a difference of just one word, “human,” between you and the animals. When Miriam started her life in the wild, she became the victim of a severe dandruff problem.

The issue was aggravating with the passage of time. Fortunately, a primitive remedy for dandruff came to her mind. It was much difficult, but it successfully eradicated the issue. She declares that she had to sit under the glaring sun for half an hour, enduring the heat and the stink of sweat, to let the dandruff soak in.

She’s a powerful lady

Miriam was born in Holland and was a simple and innocent girl. But living in the wild has made Miriam much stronger and braver as compared to other women. If we talk about her face, she has the perfect smile with pearly white teeth, which she cleans with ash.

She kept herself clean and smelt like a campfire. According to Marsh, Miriam was no less than The Terminator protagonist Sarah Connor. In fact, she deemed Miriam to be stronger than her. Fondly calling her a “Dutch Terminator,” Marsh continued to dig deeper.

Her husband, Peter, says she’s pretty strong

Miriam Lancewood is a great hunter. Hunting wild animals is essential for her and Peter, her husband, to survive. Peter declares that she is much stronger and more active than him. Smiling broadly, he says she can beat the majority of people in a physical confrontation.

He agrees that she knows much better techniques of hunting animals than him. In the couple, she hunts and he cooks. Heralding his wife as an example, he says that women are more accurate at shooting and cleverer than men. They can work according to the situation. They don’t feel compelled to prove their worth.

She’s an excellent shot

As it is in any new field, the starting phases can be quite difficult. When Miriam started living in the wild, she knew very little about killing wild animals and even less about hunting. But when she and her husband faced the problem of diminishing nutrition, they decided they had to resort to eating wild animals.

That’s when she decided she would hunt. However, finding prey was extremely difficult in the beginning. She had to practice a lot to perfect the art. And finally, today, she has become an excellent markswoman and a perfect hunter. If she sets her eye on a prey, she ensures they will have it for dinner.

They met 12 years ago in India

Miriam and her husband, Peter, met for the first time 12 years ago in India. She was a young, passionate, and stunning 26-year-old PE teacher from Holland, while Peter was a former sheep farmer, arborist, and university lecturer. It was there that they decided what route their life would take.

It was the couple’s dream to see the whole world. They decided to travel in this manner to make their journey more adventurous. They wanted to experience a life without society, technology, and electricity. They proved that life is more beautiful without unnatural distractions.

They sold all their stuff and traveled together

Before moving to Peter’s country, New Zealand, they traveled together for a few years. In 2010, they sold all their stuff and started on their outgoing off-grid experiment by camping and roaming in different areas of the remote countryside.

Miriam used to carry a sharp knife with her and target animals. Finding the animal for the hunt was more difficult than killing it. But once she did, Miriam used their Steyr Mannlicher .308 rifle without hesitation. They expected that without modern wonders like technology and electricity, their expedition would last only about a year.

They enjoy their solitary cup of tea in nature

In their hut, they kept their game and edible plants somewhere safe. Miriam revived the fire and made some tea for the both of them. She took the hot tea served in an enamel mug to Peter, who was sitting on a rock observing the calm movement of the river.

She sat down with him and both looked at the river, wondering about its origin and tributaries. Here, they are in the wild, just enjoying the peace and calmness of nature and the sound of the running water⁠—it’s all so pure and beautiful.

One day, she looked at the clear water

Sitting on the rock with the man she loves the most, Miriam looked at the clean water. She watched as the water was cascading from the mountaintop and was excited about the flow of nature. Then, a sudden realization flew through her mind.

It was a feeling that was scaring her and sent shivers down her spine. A feeling that questioned her plans of action for the future. The impending “what now?” thought eventually crept in. She was already thinking about how she could live peacefully and enjoy this adventure forever.

She realized she hadn’t seen a toilet anywhere around

She was thinking of things to do and remembered that she hadn’t seen toilet facilities anywhere around. Then she discovered that there was a long-drop toilet that was 70 meters away from the hut. The long-drop was characterized by a deep hole that is enclosed in a wooden structure. The noticeable difference between the long-drop toilet from the modern toilet was the toilet bowl.

There was a damp paper roll in a corner. When she attempted to look into the hole, she immediately regretted doing it. The smell coming out of it was awful, so she closed it back quickly. She was terrified at the thought of sitting down on it with the door closed.

Instead of panicking, she jumped into action

The thought of using the toilet was horrifying. Miriam was restraining herself from thinking about how the months ahead would pass. She braced herself, went to the river, fetched water, collected an old towel, and started washing the walls. She washed the dirty windows and even stains on the mattresses.

She did everything on her own, though. Peter chipped in to help, but she refused. Even so, boredom was a company she had to worry about every day. She then joined Peter who was reading the newspaper in the sun. They both agreed that this was a major adjustment they have to experience and more is yet to come.

She knew it was going to be a major adjustment

Adjusting to the lifestyle of the woods was not easy. Miriam was doing nothing, had no job, no project to work on, and no music. It was like she was undergoing a withdrawal process. She was thinking randomly and endless memories kept coming. Peter, on the other hand, was calm.

He claimed to know exactly how she felt. This was coming from someone who also had no chores to do and whose source of entertainment was to read old newspapers and reiterate every bit of information while living off the grid. He suggested they endure the boredom and restlessness and do nothing for a while.

Miriam dreaded doing nothing, but she had to adjust

Her greatest fear came to bite her in broad daylight. She hated not doing anything and always had to keep busy. Doing nothing meant boredom for her. She couldn’t cope with the dreaded void and horrible emptiness that came with doing nothing. The fear of sitting down idle and looking ignorantly was haunting her.

This act of doing nothing, like what Peter suggested, was scary. This is what she would be facing in the many weeks ahead. The feeling of what is to come was sending distress calls down her spine. But she had no option and had to make do with it.

Her first kill was quite unpleasant

Peter went on to disclose some more details of their adventure. At first, according to him, it wasn’t easy. They spent their first winter at South Marlborough with no modern-day conveniences. They hunted animals and foraged for edible plants. Adjusting from a lifestyle of going to supermarkets to a lifestyle of hunting was difficult.

Peter remarked that it was quite unpleasant and awful. Miriam was a vegetarian since she was a kid. Her adventure started when she killed a possum. She remembers feeling sick, guilty, and traumatized. But then, Peter cooked the possum and they both ate it. It was delicious and Miriam felt proud of her hunt.

After her first kill, it was difficult to stop her

Being a vegetarian made Miriam pity those animals at first. But she realized that for her to survive, she needed to hunt. Her first kill fueled Miriam’s hunger for more, and she was ready to hunt down animals. However, animals were not easy to come by and she was not the only hunter in the forest.

Sometimes, they fed off from dead game left by hunters. They just augmented their diet with edible plants. Peter once told her that the English peasants brought hedgehogs to New Zealand. Miriam frowned at that and asked why there weren’t any wild places in Britain.

Living off the grid took months of training

Miriam said that when someone is going away from civilization, preparation is vital. The couple spent quite a few months training how to survive the winter season in South Marlborough. The training involved first-aid courses, long treks, survival and foraging books, night walks, and calculations on what kind of and how much food supplies they needed.

The training was not an easy one, but they were determined. They slept when they were tired and worked when they woke up. They learned many survival and hunting skills in the winter of New Zealand. Miriam is proud that she can now survive anything, even if she is in Area 51.

Today, their home is a humble tent

During the interview with Stephanie, Peter declared that one can never really move far away from society in Europe. But he and his wife have become skilled at disappearing in the forests. In Bulgaria, it isn’t allowed to carry a firearm without a license. Otherwise, it would be very convenient for them to kill animals for dinner.

Stephanie says that their home was simply a tent. It was khaki-green in color, tabular in shape, and could easily accommodate three people. There were a couple of sleeping bags inside, along with two rucksacks that were neatly filled with basic supplies and also sleeping pads.

They have the bare minimum of utensils

During the up-close and personal interview with Miriam and Peter, Stephanie Marsh discovered quite a few things about this couple living in the wild. She got to observe how they procured their food, how they slept, how they kept themselves clean, and much more.

She noted that they used mugs made of enamel and placed their utensils, which mainly consisted of black prospector’s plates, on the grass. She was also able to have a look at Miriam’s bow. The set looked like that of Oliver Queen on Lian Yu in CW’s Arrow.

They sometimes reconnect with civilization

In the wild, the couple enjoys their solitary life. However, they sometimes reconnect to civilization and send emails, replenish supplies, or talk with the necessary people in case Miriam wants to continue writing her book. But that fact pops up the question of why they return to modern society when they already left it in the first place.

Peter says they aren’t cheating. He says that since they’re living out of the bounds of civilization, they live under no rules. There is no rule saying they can’t shuffle from the wild to the city and then back. It is just a beautiful fusion of traditional wild living and civilization.

They say that even if they separate, they will continue to live like this

And then, Stephanie asked a thought-provoking question: what would happen if they parted ways? A funny question to the couple that has lived for 5 years in the wild, away from the outside world! Miriam said she would try and find another similar partner and continue her adventure. Peter said that he will be dead by the time.

The couple is not ready to go back to city life filled with noise and pollution. They’ve been enjoying their hunts and forages. They said the artificial light seems extremely bright, unlike the shade they enjoy in the forest. They sleep in tranquility rather than amid the buzz of the city.

She’s penned a book about her experiences

Since she had a great experience all these years, Miriam decided to write a book about her adventures. While in Bulgaria and on their way to Turkey, they decided to take a pit stop near a river and invited Marsh for dinner. The experience was a whole new one for the writer.

They confessed that they have not seen another human for quite some time. All of them were sitting next to the fire and Stefanie did a brief interview. She found out that they do nothing special most of the day except collect wood for the fire, hunt animals, and admire nature.

Her book was a success

Once Miriam’s book was published, people responded positively to her writing. They commended her for her bravery and survival skills. Some questioned how they have been managing their expenses. She said they have savings and their lifestyle is cheap. They live on about NZ$ 5K a year and spend primarily on food.

Her aim for writing her book is not to show the world that women are strong, but to enlighten them that there is a different lifestyle in this era; one where two people can stay together for long. In this world of monogamy and infidelity, this couple has been surviving on the basics with just each other’s company.

Comments from people poured in

Comments flooded in from all over the world after Miriam published her book. Someone said they were overwhelmed to discover that a couple is living so harmoniously. Another commended the married couple for spending all their time together. Even others couldn’t believe the chemistry Miriam and Peter shared.

During the interview, Peter mockingly said that he’s married two times. But Miriam is unfazed by his worldliness. She discloses that she once had a serious boyfriend who loved big houses and kids. But Miriam was not interested in that. She loves Peter’s charisma, how he expresses himself, and the way he does things.

Miriam says this is the secret to a great partnership

The need for self-exploration is the key to great bonding, according to Miriam. Once you decide to know and understand yourself, life becomes easier. Whenever Peter says something offensive, Miriam says she thinks about it and makes sure the insult doesn’t get to her. They try not to fight for as long as they can, commented Peter.

He added that whenever he hurts her with words, she pretends that she does not listen. Peter calls such a relationship an “independent inter-dependence”. Although anger creeps in during some extreme situations like if they’re caught in the midst of a life-threatening situation, they know how to deal with it in a positive way.

Peter says no woman his age would want to live like this

They are heading to Bulgaria and looking forward to meeting a few Roma to exchange experiences. Peter says it isn’t the poor who envy them, but the middle class. Many of his friends have left him. He said that most of them are fat and can’t stand what he has.

They are envious of him because he has a young wife. It’s difficult not to think about their age gap since society keeps reminding them. But when asked if Peter would rather be with someone equal to him in age, he said he’s never come across a 60-year-old woman who’d want to fit into his lifestyle.

For them, having children is like being trapped

The couple believes that people living in the city are living in cages. They believe human beings are trapped by technology and birth. They don’t have the intention of having children, too. Miriam is using IUD to prevent pregnancy. Living with kids in the wilderness is strenuous, and Miriam said she feels it would be confining for the couple.

She said for you to nurture kids well, you need to have a house and regular earnings. The thought of having kids in the wild is scary. Miriam talked about men they’ve met in the wild and how they’ve wished that their spouses would come on hunts with them.

They’ve come across some strange people

A while back, they met a guy who said he couldn’t wait for his children to grow up and leave. They’d also met a pilot who’d said he imagined pushing his spouse out of his chopper. Peter derived a theory according to which modern life didn’t sit well with human nature.

He was sure one in three people in the world were unhappy. He talked about how it was inexplicable to him that women, despite the existence of birth control methods, chose to procreate. He added that he has met interesting 20-something women who fall prey to the societal coersion of having kids by the time they’re 30.

They say that they’re happy being where they are

In Peter’s opinion, the actual problem is people’s fixation with security. And that’s what interferes with logical thinking or the will to find happiness. He says people think that he and Miriam are living a free life. But when Peter tells them that they could also live off the grid, they would say that they can’t do that.

Peter would then advise them to sell their properties and leave their jobs so that when they come to the wild, there will be nothing to return to. Miriam believes this too and adds in that once you have cut the mundane, noisy, and unsatisfied life, there is no need to go back to it.

They love nature and wish to be in the wild, always

Deep in the wild, with the chirps of insects and songs from birds, the couple enjoys their lifestyle. There’s no cause for alarm nor honking from cars to disturb the absolute silence they’re enjoying and both of them relate with each other. Peter moved to Miriam and put her arms on his broad shoulders, being the loving partners-in-crime that they truly are.

He proudly expressed his love and support to Miriam and embraced her. Miriam sighed deeply and said she felt they were at home. Peter agreed and said that this is what all of us were born to do. Miriam held Peter’s hand and gazed at the forest and the valley around them.

They say it’s an amazing feeling

Miriam observed the plants and butterflies doing their business; pollinating flowers. She commented with satisfaction that it felt wonderful to experience isolation in such a lonely place. The closest house was a three-day walk from this point. That would be a long-distance for the trapped ones, but it is an exercise for this couple.

Miriam and Peter have gotten used to the weather and the changes that come with it. They know that during this season, especially during the winter, people leave the mountains and stay indoors until spring. How must it be to live by the seasons once again, we wonder…?