So where does one even start with re-inventing a system that has been built up incrementally over a period of fifteen or so years?

You need to register for new services. But for that you already need an email address. You could try to set up your own email from home but then you need a domain, which requires an email address…

Catch22. However you slice it you need that email address first…

So how about protonmail huh?

Fully encrypted mailbox where not even the service provider knows the key. That should serve as a good basis for getting started.

Of course I run it with double passwords! You might think I’m being paranoid but I just don’t want to be sorry.

Ok, so we have an email address. How about getting some domains and some systems running.

Since I happen to work at a hosting company, I can get some nice staff discounts as well as perfect transparency for their services. A DNS, a web-server, a linux VPS and two domain names should suffice for now.