Meet the woman who lives outside 24/7 and eats ROADKILL so animals don't "die in vain".<br /><br />Manders Barnett, 32, has been living in a tent for the last four years and has always felt her "heart and soul belongs to nature".<br /><br />She left her job as a wildlife technician behind when she met a man living a nomadic lifestyle and felt a pull to join him. <br /><br />They travelled 500 miles from Idaho to Oregon, in the US, living off-grid together – but she has since separated from her friend and is living alone.<br /><br />Manders is now staying in Grants Pass, Oregon, in a 10 by 12 foot canvas tent with her two horses outside and uses water from a well to shower and wash her clothes.<br /><br />She hunts, forages and eats safe roadkill such as deer and coyote – as well as gathering groceries from her local farm shop.<br /><br />She sees the modern world as a "matrix" and says she couldn't go back to living "domestically".<br /><br />Manders, an artist and content creator, originally from Idaho said: “My heart and soul has always belonged to nature.<br /><br />“We’re biological creatures.<br /><br />“I eat roadkill. <br /><br />“I don’t delight in finding roadkill.<br /><br />“I’d rather eat it than let the death be in vain.”<br /><br />Manders met a nomadic man who had been living on horseback for six years in July 2019.<br /><br />She said: “We shared a lot in common.<br /><br />“For me the modern world - it’s straight out of a matrix.”<br /><br />Manders decided to leave her job and travel nomadically with her friend – and got herself two horses - both mustangs called Huittsuu, meaning small bird and Paxtwaylá, meaning friendly.<br /><br />They rode out in early 2020 and spent two-and-a-half years living outside.<br /><br />Manders said: “We were living off-grid.<br /><br />“I was surrendering everything that I thought I knew.”<br /><br />The pair went their separate ways in summer 2022 and Manders now lives alone with her horses but plans to travel when she has built up supplies.<br /><br />Manders said: “I’m used to living in a small space.<br /><br />“I spend all day every day outside.”<br /><br />She uses a wood stove for heating and cooking and washes her clothes and bathes in water from a well.<br /><br />She has a solar panel battery pack to charge her phone and doesn’t watch any TV.<br /><br />Manders does get some of her food from a local farm shop but will also forage for wild mushrooms and flowers.<br /><br />She said: “I do hunt. I do pick up roadkill.<br /><br />“I’m really good at knowing when an animal is fresh.<br /><br />“I do forage. I love to gather mushrooms and wild flowers for salads.”<br /><br />Manders will use all parts of the roadkill if it’s safe to use.<br /><br />She said: “I use all parts of the deer.<br /><br />“I take the bones to make tools, and tan hides to make clothes and bags."<br /><br />Manders cares for the land and plants seeds where she can to give back.<br /><br />She said: “The landscape wants to provide for us.<br /><br />“It’s my comfort zone out here.”<br /><br />Living outside, Manders does have encounters with big cats and predators – but hasn’t had any close calls.<br /><br />She said: “I’m not afraid to die.<br /><br />“What I’m afraid of is living an unfulfilled life.<br /><br />“I’m absolutely at home outside in nature.<br /><br />“It’s home for me - it’s where I belong.”<br /><br />Manders said the transition to her lifestyle has “profoundly changed” her in the most “beautiful way”.<br /><br />She said: “Humans, by becoming so satisfied with domestic lifestyle have lost the ability to know the language of nature.<br /><br />“I pay my respects by being present.<br /><br />“I’m not going back to anything domestic.”
