The UnsettlersBy: Mark Sundeen An in depth and compelling account of diverse Americans living off the grid. Los Angeles Times The radical search for the simple life in todays America. On a frigid April night, a classically trained opera singer, five months pregnant, and her husband, a former marine biologist, disembark an Amtrak train in La Plata, Missouri, assemble two bikes, and pedal off into the night, bound for a homestead they've purchased, sight unseen.