Alaskan Man Ready to Go off the Grid

Chuck Baird is going off the grid for a year. The 40-year-old oil company employee and filmmaker will move to the mostly uninhabited Latouche Island in Prince William Sound at the end of May.

Published

about 1 year ago

Categories

US, Science, Wildlife

Topics

Wildlife, United States

Places

Alaska, Anchorage

Tags

explorer, explorer

Transcript

Script[Location - Date:Anchorage, Alaska - May 8][Source:AP][VO:b roll of Baird][VOICE-OVER]Take a good look at this man, because it's probably the last we're going to see of him for a year.[Notes:differenta angle of Baird]He's Chuck Baird, a 40 year old oil company worker and filmmaker, who at the end of this month will basically go off the grid by moving to a mostly uninhabited Alaskan island.SOT Chuck BairdI'll be dropped off on Latouche Island, build a cabin there, hunt, fish, and do basic homesteading type activities. And I'll actually remain there for 365 days alone and out of contact. [Notes:Baird at gun shop]He calls his experiment more modern-day homesteading than a survival game, but that doesn't mean he's go unprepared.SOT Baird I carry a .44 at all times, and then I got a shotgun and a few other weapons as well.[Notes:stuffed bear at guns shop]However he says his biggest worry may not be bears or even the 80 to 120 inches of snow that falls during the year but rather just being away from everything..SOT BairdIt is kind of a concern, being alone that long. I've worked with psychologists at Harvard and the University of Chicago, one of the leading researchers in the world is at U. of C., and talked through some of the things you can expect, you know, nightmares, and delusions and that sort of thing. [Notes:b-roll of Baird]To help fight that he will have a dog with him along with an e-reader loaded with books and an emergency beacon if things take a turn for the worse.He'll also be sending out updates via a satellite uplink, but won't be taking any messages in, so he won't who won the World Series or even who was elected president until this time next year.________ The Associated Press<(****END****) ANCHOR VOICE: -------------------------VIDEO PRODUCER: Pete---------------------------VIDEO SOURCE: AP-----------------------VIDEO APPROVAL: ----------------------------VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: None----------------------------------MARKET EMBARGO (S): None