Ev Dogg for Mayor

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

We're only in the very beginning stages of renovating this house. It's a great little house with a big garage and lots of potential! It was built 70 years ago (1953) and has been vacant for 10 years. Many rooms are in nice condition, just needing cleaning and minor updates. Note that the kitchen needs fully remodeled. However, today we’re looking at three rooms of the house that were filled floor to ceiling with the previous owner’s items. This is one of the reasons the house was so affordable; we are responsible for cleaning and disposing of all these items properly, which can be time-consuming, and sometimes costly. To keep costs low, Evan and I are willing to do the dirty work ourselves, as you’ll see in the video! I’ve already mentioned many times, we plan to restore and use as many of these belongings as we can. We’ve found lots of useful items, including many hand tools, power tools, lumber, beautiful antique furniture, housewares, cookware, vintage Showa era decorations, lots of “old tech” cassette tape players and CRT televisions, and even pickling equipment! The three rooms were a later addition, and they weren’t built to the same quality standard as the rest of the house. To be clear: these are the only rooms that have damage to the traditional Japanese style walls, resulting in a hole to the outside, as well as wood floor rot, which fortunately, was built on top of perfectly good cement floor. The rooms seem to have been used as a workshop, storage, and apparently, a pickling space. We began by emptying the rooms into the garage, where we cleaned and sorted. The items we plan to reuse and restore will be safe here while we renovate. I’m quite pleased that it only took us seven work days to clean the garage, and five work days to clean these rooms. Of course, this is only “phase one” of cleaning, so we still have lots and lots of work ahead of us! But one thing is certain: we won’t ever need to buy any more dishes. Accompanying Photo Slideshow: https://youtu.be/gHKfxCrbUYg Accompanying Full Blog "Sorting Items Left Behind": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/1575 Full Blog "Our First Six Weeks Living in Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/1408 Full Blog: "What We're Looking For in Mexico or Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/564 * * * * * Japan has an estimated 8.5 million akiya (abandoned homes), and we're in the process of buying this one, prior to receiving our residency status. The purchase price is ¥1 Million ($7500 USD). We have our work cut out for us! The house is in a great location for attracting tourists as they ride their bicycles along the Shimanami Kaido, so we currently intend to renovate it into a guesthouse rental. We will renovate a second nearby akiya for our own homestead, and restore nearby farmland that's been sitting unused for over a decade. We're in the process of applying for a Startup Visa, which will then allow us to apply for Business Manager Visa, and essentially sponsor our own residency in Japan. I’m documenting literally everything, with photography, as well as our rough attempts at learning to incorporate video. Please stick with me through this learning process! In the meantime, if you’re curious about looking behind-the-scenes, I’m sharing pretty much daily updates on our Benton Homestead “stories” on social media. * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Today we're looking at one of Evan's favorite hobbies: pruning! We spent two work days cleaning up the side yard, finding countless treasures buried in the soil, and even discovering some beautiful plants we didn't know were hiding in the mess. Of course this is just a preliminary clean up, as this has been completely unattended for over ten years; it needs a lot of love. Japan has an estimated 8.5 million akiya (abandoned homes), and we're in the process of buying this one, prior to receiving our residency status. The purchase price is ¥1 Million ($7500 USD). We have our work cut out for us! The house is in a great location for attracting tourists as they ride their bicycles along the Shimanami Kaido, so we currently intend to renovate it into a guesthouse rental. We will renovate a second nearby akiya for our own homestead, and restore nearby farmland that's been sitting unused for over a decade. We're in the process of applying for a Startup Visa, which will then allow us to apply for Business Manager Visa, and essentially sponsor our own residency in Japan. I’m documenting literally everything, with photography, as well as our rough attempts at learning to incorporate video. Please stick with me through this learning process! In the meantime, if you’re curious about looking behind-the-scenes, I’m sharing pretty much daily updates on our Benton Homestead “stories” on social media. Full Blog "Our First Six Weeks Living in Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/1408 Full Blog: "What We're Looking For in Mexico or Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/564 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

It took us 7 work days to clean the garage and sort the items into: keep, repair, donate, recycle, and garbage. This is the first step towards turning this abandoned garage into a a roadside farm stand, and turning the house into a guesthouse rental, while we build our own homestead just up the road! Japan has an estimated 8.5 million akiya (abandoned homes), and we're in the process of buying this one, prior to receiving our residency status. We currently intend to renovate this house into a guesthouse rental, while we restore a second nearby akiya for our own homestead, and restore nearby farmland that's been sitting unused for over a decade. We're in the process of applying for a Startup Visa, which will then allow us to apply for Business Manager Visa, and essentially sponsor our own residency in Japan. I’m documenting literally everything, with photography, as well as our rough attempts at learning to incorporate video. Please stick with me through this learning process! In the meantime, if you’re curious about looking behind-the-scenes, I’m sharing pretty much daily updates on our Benton Homestead “stories” on social media. * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

We’re still in the process of buying this abandoned house, but now we're just waiting on a notarized document to arrive from the US, to verify our identity. The seller has let us start cleaning the property prior to the sale being finalized, and we've made a lot of progress already! The first step is to clean the garage, which will give us a big, covered area to work, while we renovate the house. We'll be bringing some big items into the garage (notably, the kitchen cupboards) as I don't want those sitting in the driveway, creating an eye sore for the neighbors. And, we'll be using the garage as our workshop to build beehives. So this was a natural first step. Thank you for bearing with us as we learn to make better quality videos. My background as a photographer helps, but of course, videography is quite different. And yes, if you’re wondering, we’ve started the purchase process prior to receiving residency. Buying a house is something we can do as tourists. We weighed the low cost of the house against the huge benefit of having extra months to start working on renovations, and we decided it was clearly worth the calculated risk to move forward. We hope to rebuild our whole life and homestead here on Omishima, so the sooner we start, the better. We’ve already started cleaning and renovating! I’m documenting literally everything, with photography, as well as our rough attempts at learning to incorporate video. Please stick with me through this learning process! In the meantime, if you’re curious about looking behind-the-scenes, I’m sharing pretty much daily updates on our Benton Homestead “stories” on social media. Full Blog "Our First Six Weeks Living in Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/1408 Full Blog: "What We're Looking For in Mexico or Japan": https://bentonhomestead.com/archives/564 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drive in Mexico, then, drive across the Rio Grande to the United States? Thanks to our trusty dash-cam, we can show you! We start out in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and take a short drive on the Mexican Federal Highway 85 (free "libre") to Nuevo Lad, Tamaulipas. After stopping at the Banjercito office to cancel our car's Temporary Import Permit (TIP), and a quick drive through Nuevo Laredo, we head across the border, back to the US, where we enter into Laredo, Texas. After 14 months of traveling the beautiful country, I miss Mexico already. Please stay tuned for upcoming Driving in Japan videos! * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Besides your constant encouragement and continued friendship, we can always use some assistance! If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Flashback to our former 1/4-acre Urban Farm in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. Hurricane Ida destroyed our garden, our roof, and many other things, as well as leaving us without power for over a week. During the few weeks we were cleaning up to put the house on the market (not due to the hurricane), we let our flock of chickens run wild. Lots of digging and dust bathing in the forbidden garden beds. They are such good ladies. When we moved away, they went to live with a good friend of mine on the Northshore, who still sends me regular photo and video updates. I miss them dearly, but treasure the time we had together. Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Flashback to our former 1/4-acre Urban Farm in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. This is Patsy, a Golden Laced Wyandotte, the loudest and bossiest hen I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. She loved to sit on my shoulder like a parrot, probably because that put her in closer proximity to peck my earrings and eyeballs. They are such good ladies. When we moved away, they went to live with a good friend of mine on the Northshore, who still sends me regular photo and video updates. I miss them dearly, but treasure the time we had together. Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Flashback to our former 1/4-acre Urban Farm in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. I spent a few weeks training the hens to run past the very tempting delicious garden beds, from their coop and chicken area, to their afternoon "pasture". They are such good ladies. When we moved away, they went to live with a good friend of mine on the Northshore, who still sends me regular photo and video updates. I miss them dearly, but treasure the time we had together. Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drive in Mexico? Thanks to our trusty dash-cam, we can show you! This time, we're heading from San Miguel de Allende to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, on the Mexican Federal Highway 57 (free "libre"). This route takes us briefly through the states San Luis Potosí and Chahuila. This is a long haul to drive in one day, so it's just the highlights. My very favorite part of this video is the end... please, if you only ever watch one driving in Mexico video, check out the route we were given to exit the highway... Literally, pull off the totally normal highway onto an unmarked dirt road that may or may not be an actual road. Maybe it was the back way into town, hahaha! I love Mexico. * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Besides your constant encouragement and continued friendship, we can always use some assistance! If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *

Since leaving the US in 2021, we've been documenting our Mexico immigration, travels, and house-sitting. Now that we're in Japan, we're in the process of buying a house and farmland that have been abandoned for decades, and still navigating the very lengthy immigration process... I'm getting ready to make better videos, and do some sort of YouTube "premiere". I'll be using my photography camera to record higher quality videos, which also gives me the flexibility to shoot outside. And we just ordered a drone, to include shots of our neighborhood, and field restoration, as well as maybe some time-lapse of abandoned house remodel. We hope to create all kinds of interesting content in the future, including how to start a homestead from scratch, life in foreign countries, chickens of course, honeybees of course, turning a homestead into a business, biochar, compost, soil testing, comparing different ways to start a garden from abandoned land, lots of ideas! If y'all could help us get to 1,000 subscribers, it would mean that all of our videos might start paying off, instead of just being for fun. In the meantime, at least we do have fun making them! 🥰 * * * * * HOW CAN YOU HELP? Simple: Please subscribe! We need to reach 1,000 subscribers before YouTube will let us start monetizing these videos we love creating. If you feel compelled, you could consider becoming a supporter on our Buy Me a Coffee page, which is like Patreon. We have different monthly support levels, as well as one-time donation options. Of course, your well-wishes, subscribing to our channel, giving this video a thumbs-up, sharing our various pages, or planning a visit to our future homestead, are also ways to support! DONATIONS: Venmo » @Dani-Evan-Benton Buymeacoffee.com/bentonhomestead We also accept Bitcoin & Dogecoin donations! ON THE WEB: www.bentonhomestead.com youtube.com/@bentonhomestead instagram.com/bentonhomestead facebook.com/bentonhomestead * * * * *