Freeside is a Living Co-op* on Mars that offers off-grid housing and other amenities but has no specific academic or programmatic focus. As a community (and assemblage of pallet-rack structures), our aim is to make Freeside a comfy and supportive home base so that Freesiders can interact with and explore the many Mars programs and/or develop their own independent projects.
*Living Co-ops are how Martians band together for daily life needs, look out for people in their group, and make sure everyone has access to necessary services like water, laundry, showers, cooking space, grocery access, etc.
Freeside may be for you if you’re interested in communal living, in sharing chores and hang out space, in cooking and other cozy domesticities while still valuing independence and flexibility in your personal projects and schedule.
Housing
We will be located on Mars, in the desert about a mile from the nearest town. Last year, many Freesiders car camped or brought their own trailers or RVs. For those arriving without their own housing, we built dorm rooms. We’re planning on building some form of housing again this year — designs TBD. At minimum, we’ll have some kind of barrier to blunt the wind, some kind of roof cover to mitigate dust, rain, and sun, and places to insert water, power, and to hang out.
The rest is up to us – if we want a cozy hangout space or toothbrushing station, we build it; if you want snazzy storage space or a moon-viewing window in your tent/tiny-dwelling, you build it. Some basic materials (e.g. pallet racks and plywood) will be provided, and there are a few tents and mattresses available from past years - if we want more, we as a group have to make it happen.
As a baseline, you can think of living in Freeside as camping in the desert for three months. But the experience can be whatever we want to make it. By our powers combined, we can aspire to glamping.
Many of us are returning Freesiders, and we promise it’s doable and even… pretty nice.
Amenities
We will also have a kitchen (another pallet rack structure) with camp stoves, fridge(s), freezer, and pantry space. Last year we built the “Libaby”, a cozy living room/co-working space. It’s likely we’ll build some version of this again.
We will be organizing a regular weekly grocery run. (The nearest grocery store is a 40-minute drive away. You are, of course, free to go whenever you want if you have a car.) We will be fully solar-powered and have access to the internet and to running water in town. We will figure out some sort of solution to showers and laundry. For toilets, we’ll most likely be renting Mars-wide portapotties.
Communal Living
While Freeside won’t provide or require any artistic/academic participation, we will expect a certain amount of community buy-in. This means contributing to camp services like Mars build and unbuild weeks (if at all possible), power, water, trash, grocery runs, cooking, kitchen deep cleans etc.
Last year, the Freesiders all pitched in together to buy groceries. This worked well and will likely happen again. Here’s what the grocery list consisted of. It averaged about $40/person/week.
In addition, as part of the larger Mars community, we will be benefiting hugely from the offerings of other programs and camps. As such, be prepared to pitch in on wider-Mars needs and activities, as well.
If you’d like to read more about last year’s Freeside experiment in community living, I wrote about it in more depth in this Supernuclear post.
Cost
TBD for now, but Freeside will emphasize low-cost living. We are planning on stocking items in a communal pantry (eggs, oats, rice, etc.) and will also be collecting funds for shared infrastructure like portapotty rentals, propane, internet, and extra building supplies if needed. Ballpark estimate is to be prepared to budget something like $500-$700 per month while living on Mars (with significant individual variation depending on how well-equipped you are on arrival, your eating and amazon habits, your own project supplies, etc).
If you are planning on living in one of the Freeside dorms, it’s likely there will be an additional up-front cost. It will likely be in the range of $300-$500.
Schedule
2025
Mid-August
Applications for Mars 2026 Open - acceptance to Mars is on a rolling basis.
Mid-October
Build Semester (Optional) Begins – the Freeside build will likely start in early December for those who can make it.
Mid-December
Applications for Mars 2026 Close
2026
January 3-4
Arrive at Mars
January 5-11
Build Week
January 12-18
Orientation & Ideas Week*
January 19
Academic Semester Begins
February 20-22
Midterms Weekend
March 27-29
Finals Weekend
April 6-17
Unbuild
*This schedule spans longer than three months. Those on three-month Visas should prioritize arriving at Mars in time for Orientation and Ideas Week (January 12). We will coordinate with you as to whether it’s better for you to participate in one week of build or one week of unbuild.
APPLY
Apply to the general Mars application here. If you’re interested in joining Freeside, at the end of the application where it asks “Anything else you'd like us to know?” please note “I am interested in joining Freeside.”
See you on Mars. :)
