My Cowboy friend is one of several people I know around here that either live off the grid, don't have deep wells or both. Hauling water for live stock is not my idea of a good time when it's -36C.
Ask them why they do it and they'll tell you they wouldn't (or couldn't) live any other way. They are either starting from scratch or rebuilding their lives after various tragedies, failed marriages and other vicissitudes of life. They don't have Iphones (we are beyond cell service in any case), satellite TV or computer service and don't miss it or want it.
Life is simpler and very much attuned to the seasonal requirements. Spring is lambing/kidding, spring is planting/growing, summer is harvesting and fall is the time for making meat and making wood. In between they find time to reroof the barn, build a new shed, tend the neighbours horses when they are elsewhere and lending a hand wherever it is needed.
Your good name and reputation are very valuable assets and while everyone seems to know about me, I still know very few of them. I tend to mind my own business, don't hang around the general store, meet at the Co-Op or stock auction so I'm generally not in the know, the last one to hear what's going down on the creek.