Curious about farmsteading or going off-grid? More and more people are trading fast-paced city life for self-sufficiency, slower mornings, and a deeper connection to the land. Whether you're growing your own food, raising animals, or just looking to live with less, off-grid living starts with the right setup—and the right shelter.
We spoke to Frankie, Jo & Pamela of Libellula Blu farms and Sara & Tori, travelers and off-grid adventurers, to hear more about their off-grid journeys with CanvasCamp Tents.
Libellula Blu is run by a multigenerational family of 11 from the USA, with Italian roots — and as of recently, Italian citizenship too! In June 2024, they bought 9 hectares (23 acres) of land in Sardinia and began building their organic, off-grid homestead.
We moved onto the land in October 2024, setting up five CanvasCamp Apex Bell tents as our homes and a Mess Tent III as our kitchen. It’s been eight months of tent life — and we’re loving every moment of it.
Family, solar power, spring water, pond building, orchard planting, tree grafting, organic gardening, plant-based cooking, river swims, waterfall hikes and laughter… pretty much sums up our life here at Libellula Blu!
Off-grid living isn’t just something we chose—it’s in our blood. For decades, our family has followed a path of resilience, freedom, and harmony with the Earth, from the mountains of North Carolina to a Caribbean island and a Hawaiian Island.
Now, we’ve brought that journey full circle— back to our Italian roots— to the wild beauty of Sardinia, Italy.
Together—three generations strong—we’re transforming a piece of raw land into a fully off-grid, organic farm. This farm is a living expression of teamwork, tradition, and love.
With a vision and a handful of CanvasCamp tents, we moved onto the land 8 months ago. The six tents became more than just shelters—they became our homes, and the start of something bigger. They allowed us to live on the land, as we began shaping our homestead, our systems, and our future.
What we’ve accomplished so far—together:
• Built a gravity-fed spring water system for clean drinking water and irrigation
• Planted gardens and orchards to grow food for our family and neighbors
• Dug irrigation ponds to carry us through Sardinia’s hot, dry summers
• Installed a solar power system to keep us fully energized and off-grid
• Cleared and shaped roads and trails across our 9-hectare property
Follow along on Libellula Blu’s homesteading journey and tent living on their YouTube channel
@LibellulaBlu.Sardinia.
We spent five years traveling full time in our old van, but last year we sold it to take on a bigger dream of ours: building out two new and improved vans from the ground up.
We thought the builds would only take us two months.. but over a year later, we’re still deep in the process and we really needed a place to stay in the meantime. That’s when we found Citizen Canvas.
We decided to get a canvas tent from Citizen Canvas for the remainder of the van builds, to have our own little sanctuary in nature to go home to at the end of every work day. We added a bed, rugs, two chairs and a small coffee table along with some cozy touches like our Winnerwell wood stove and Barebones gear.
Living in this tent has completely shifted the energy of this period of our lives. We wake up to the beautiful wildflowers of Texas, and go to bed under some of the most incredible views of the night sky. Now, we can really take our time and soak in every moment of this process.
Watch how Sarah & Tori organize their living set up in our Bell tent!