'Back to the Frontier' Families Reveal Why They Gave Up Electricity and Modern Comforts in Chip and Joanna Gaines' New Series (Exclusive)

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11-07-2025

'Back to the Frontier' Families Reveal Why They Gave Up Electricity and Modern Comforts in Chip and Joanna Gaines' New Series (Exclusive) originally appeared on Parade.
No electricity, running water or the conveniences of technology. That's what three families signed up for in Back to the Frontier, a new series from Chip and Joanna Gaines. For eight weeks, the Lopers from Alabama, the Hanna-Riggs from Texas and the Halls from Florida lived as 1880s homesteaders—harvesting produce and raising animals—in a remote wilderness in Alberta, Canada.
But why would someone (voluntarily) give up the comforts of modern living? They each had their reasons for choosing to do Magnolia Network's first social experiment, but for JasonHanna and Joe Riggs, it was an opportunity for their twin sons, Ethan and Lucas, to disconnect from their devices and take on new responsibilities...like checking chickens for eggs.
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"In the 21st Century, our kids have it pretty easy. They don't really have a lot of chores and responsibilities, and we knew coming here that that would change. We knew that they would have to step up and start doing a lot of the things around the homestead that they wouldn't necessarily have to do," Jason told Parade during a visit to the frontier. "So I think we looked at it as, like getting off devices and trying to figure out how to navigate that, but also teaching a whole new set of responsibilities, and hoping that when we go back to the 21st Century, that that's something that they'll take with them as well."
Over in another homestead, JeremeHall and his wife Lina and their three kids, Mia, Zoe and Jet, wanted to learn, grow and see what it was "like to go backwards."
"This is such a drastic change from our regular life that it has brought so many lightbulb moments that were like, 'Wow. Life can be simple, but still so full of stuff,' right? You can learn how to cook. You can learn so many different things if you really focus on it, and that's what we've had the time to do here," Lina said.
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While the "1880s struggles [are] real," Joaquin Loper's experience on the frontier was very similar to how he grew up, and he wanted his sons, Landen and Maddox, to live it themselves.
"My boyshave never experienced anything like this," Joaquin shared. "This is better than the stories I try to tell them and say, 'This is how daddy grew up. Be appreciative to what you have.' But living it? Living it, I knew, would change their whole concept of the way they look at things, the way they perceive things and the way they receive things, even the way they treat people and treat themselves."
Back to the Frontier was additionally the perfect opportunity for Stacey Loper and Joaquin's sons to understand why they are the way they are as parents. "I think this experience kind of drove it home for Landen and Maddox. It's that level of appreciation, that humility, the honor and respect that you have for your parents, that you have for the work that they put in, like that's what we wanted to show them," Stacey said.
For Joaquin, the social experiment was a lesson that "everything that we strive for in the 21st Century is not a necessity."
Away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world, a newfound appreciation for the simpler things was gained. "Just because life can be simple, it can still be very meaningful and you can find so many happy moments if you just keep it simple," Lina pointed out.
When watching the show, Stacey hopesviewers see love, struggle, unity and family. "That they also see that you can navigate marriage, you can navigate family, you can navigate parenting amongst the struggle of life itself," she said, adding, "That your struggle, your trauma, your experiences don't have to be passed down to the next generation. Sit down and have a conversation with your kids, sit down, let the electronics go and just be engulfed in what you have right in front of you, that love of family that was created by the hand, the heart and the minds of the people from the 1880s."
Joe, too, encourages others to put devices away and have family time. He said, "I think most people are mindful of their screen time, but it reinforced for us to really limit it, especially in the evenings, and make the time as a family to not just have our dinners together, but also game nights and other activities and having those experiences as a family is what's most important.
Jason added, "Focus on the foreground and not the background."
But what exactly is homesteading? Modern homesteader Melissa K. Norris explained to Parade, "The best overall generalization [of modern homesteading] is going to be looking to become more of a producer than a consumer, so that you're producing through your own hands, in your own home, etc, more things than you're just consuming and bringing in." Norris noted that a lot of the elements of modern homesteading and the homesteading the families did on the show are the same.
As long as someone is teachable and enjoys learning, Norris thinks anybody can learn to homestead. The expert said, "You have to be teachable and have a learner's heart, and you absolutely have to be resilient because you're gonna face failures. There's no way you can't and so if you're someone who's like, 'Oh gosh, this was too hard,' or 'I had this setback,' and you don't have resilience or the ability to bounce back, you're not gonna make it."
Back to the Frontier will stream on HBO Max and air on Magnolia Network at 8 p.m. ET with a new episode released every Thursday over the course of the show's eight-week run.
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'Back to the Frontier' Families Reveal Why They Gave Up Electricity and Modern Comforts in Chip and Joanna Gaines' New Series (Exclusive) first appeared on Parade on Jul 11, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.