This told essay is based on a conversation with Ryan Courtnage, 51, of Creston, British Columbia, co-founder of donation management platform Benevity. Edited for length and clarity.
When I finished my last job in 2020, I bought a large piece of land in the mountains. 22 acres.
My co-founders and I built something from the ground up that continues to make a positive difference in the world. I can’t replace that experience with anything. still, I didn’t feel like I was building anymore. Finally, Once I became a founder, all my time was spent managing the team, which I found very tiring. I’m an introvert.
That’s what I thought at that time. “This is it,” he said. We need to do something different. I’m going to get my hands oily and be a lumberjack for a while, that’s what I did.
It’s a lot of work. You’ll use lots of heavy equipment, learn about diesel engines and hydraulics, learn how to properly cut down trees, and build a small outbuilding. It’s really rewarding, practical work. It’s very different from spending your career sitting in a chair behind a monitor.
Courtneage’s land also borders public land. “If you think about it that way, it would be many hectares,” he said. ryan courtneage
I don’t consider myself retired. I consider myself to be on a kind of sabbatical, a vacation.
It was a fun transition. You wake up in the morning and think to yourself, my goal today is to get my skid steer working again, or I don’t have enough firewood to get me through the winter. I put my heart into it and finish it in a day or two, then sit down and have a beer in the sun.
I’m on the grid. However, it feels very far away. It’s a wasteland. I have a small excavator and am trying to turn a mountain slope into a flat area that can be used to build buildings. I call it “homesteading,” but it’s not completely independent. In the summer we get a lot of fruit from the trees, but we don’t do any farming or keep any animals.
I used a kit to build a geodesic dome on my property so I could book a glamping experience on Airbnb. Last year was our first year. It keeps you really busy. It’s not very profitable, but it’s rewarding and you always get the chance to talk to different people. My day is busy with work in the mountains, but afterwards I try to find as many small moments as possible to enjoy the day, like taking out my fly rod or going out to the lake to cool off.
Courtnage said he plans to use OpenClaw to manage Airbnb reservations. ryan courtneage
How am I bringing technology here?
I’m moving from here A rift appeared in my lifestyle. I probably haven’t looked at a computer screen in years. It wasn’t until ChatGPT came along that I started paying attention again.
AI coding reinvigorated my desire to build with technology. I’m starting to get back to not being able to sleep at night. I didn’t sleep much at night, but since I stopped working, I’ve been able to sleep better. Now, the wheels are constantly turning because there is so much that can be accomplished right away.
One of my passions is bringing technology, especially artificial intelligence, to the industry. I’ve dabbled quite a bit with setting up Home Assistant, and it has cameras everywhere and sensors all over the land, so it knows what’s going on in the water tank and what the temperature is under the house.
The OpenClaw system is now running and fully recognized. In fact, it has the personality to think it lives in my crawl space, and it actually does on my laptop on the shelf. It has access to all the sensors and cameras on the property and can tell me if there is anything unusual or if someone has broken into the back door of my property.
Courtnage called his land “raw land.” ryan courtneage
It’s expensive. I was shocked when I saw all the tokens I burned during the run. Yesterday I was chatting with OpenClaw and going over some ideas. When I looked at my bill this morning, I had spent $10 on tokens. It adds up.
Pay for the Google AI Pro plan. When developing with Google Antigravity, I always end up hitting a limit and getting a half-day timeout. However, it works very well for everything you want to do outside.
At least for now, I’m not building for profit. I get my hands dirty and make sure I’m on the cutting edge. We don’t know where it will attack yet, but there will be something in the future.
I also have two children. One is a college student and the other is a high school student. I believe if you know how to use this stuff can We help them gain an edge when it comes to finding employment.