Cath Wild has endured a divorce and even broken ribs attempting to hand-build a dream home in bushland behind Flaxton, a small locality on the Blackall Range on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
She is close to finishing off an aircrete dome construction that has already won awards — and it comes with a mix of emotions.
"My advice to anybody contemplating it is still 'Do it!'," says Cath, whose project has cost her $130,000 including council fees, excavation, and septic tanks.
"I've already slept in the dome.
"It was the best sleep ever and the energy is amazing.
"It's an awesome accomplishment and it does deliver a sense of fulfillment."
Cath's "forever home", also known as Aircrete Dome Elysian Falls, features customised collection tanks at ground level because it cannot collect rainwater on the roof like traditional houses.
The dome is not yet independent of the power network, but that is a stage she hopes to reach within a few years by erecting cambered solar panels.
A mother to children aged 17 and 15, she typically works on the dome between 9am and 2:30pm each day, and balances that with working in marketing, graphic design, and sculpting.
Cath says she tried 20 engineers before encountering one who would help her along the journey and enable her to jump through red tape.
A life less ordinary
Sydney-based Michael Mobbs has a similar story in some ways but is at the other end of the off-grid spectrum in others.
Since disconnecting from mains water and sewerage in 1996, he estimates he has shown almost 25,000 people through his home in the interests of promoting sustainable living.
In 2015, Michael disconnected his home from Sydney's electricity grid.
While Cath's home is in a rural setting where population density is roughly 50 people per square kilometre, Michael's Chippendale home sits in a localised density of 17,800 people per square kilometre.
"They basically want to know 'Can I do this? Can I go off-grid?'," says Michael, who spends less than $300 on utilities some years.
"People know there is something to be gained by doing this.
"They come here wanting to know if it's easy, how much it costs … fairly commonsense questions.
"Nowadays a lot of people are doing it [sustainability] in lots of different ways. It's really popular, it's just grown."
Michael grew up in central-western New South Wales where he lived off rainwater and household wastewater was recycled.
"When I moved to Sydney and got a law degree, I worked as a consultant in the parliamentary inquiry about what do with the sewers and drainage of the city," Michael says.
"I was very disappointed with parliament's response.
"Generally, I just felt out of balance."
Like Cath, his desire to live differently has come at a personal cost, as well as a financial one.
Is going off-grid necessary?
Engineer, entrepreneur and author Saul Griffith of Rewiring Australia specialises in clean and renewable technologies and has founded a dozen technology companies in recent decades.
Dr Griffith provides a counterview, believing that the best thing for the planet is to invest in energy-saving technologies and strategies, as opposed to going off-grid completely.
"The community does better collectively than they do individually," he says.
"There will be days when the tree is shading your solar panels, but your mate's won't be. There will be days when your car has more charge than is needed and you can feed it back to the grid.
"Your batteries will be more useful and higher utilised if they are connected to the grid and coordinated, rather than doing it yourself behind the meter.
"Being off-grid is irrelevant to the question of sustainability. I love those people as characters, but they're never going to move Australia and the world to that mode of living."
Finding space for yourself
Michael says his decision to disconnect from mains water was so unusual at the time that it threw doubt on his mental health. He has also since divorced.
"My wife was both my chief critic and advisor," Michael says.
"There were questions about the resale value of the house. I think she was already considering leaving.
"If I were to give one piece of advice, it would be to find space for yourself [among your ideals]. That is what makes it truly sustainable — when you can maintain your blood pressure and your health.
"The other thing is not to agonise about where to start. Just get cracking. In between now and perfection, go for simplicity and start today."
Cath says if it is only one or two people completing the build, her advice is to go steady.
"Construct it bit-by-bit instead of tackling something grandiose all at once, which adds pressure," she says.
"Go modular. Build one part and get a sense of achievement, re-energise, and then add to it.
"Doing a project like this, you have to be on the same page with loved ones on a lot of things."
"The mental side of things — keeping one foot in front of the other day after day — is the biggest challenge," she says.
"It has felt like I was going nowhere at times.
"Maintaining mental fortitude, stamina, and having a life balance are keys — as is finding an engineer brave enough to believe in what you are doing."