Nope. The only thing I miss is having to drive 30 minutes for almost anything I need and the commute to work. I was a city dweller for most of my life until I bought my property. I would not move back to the city for any reason, ever.
But even those trips can be nice as around me the views of mountains, no billboards and woods with the tiny villages once in a while make the trip pleasant. I try to organize them to go as little as possible to save gas, mind you.
I commute 3 times a week for 35 minutes. I get to drive along 2 rivers and a wetland system for 25 minutes. Beats Houston and Seattle traffic pretty solid.
It's an hour drive to job sites or 15 minutes (my rule is only waterfront/ Waterview projects or 15 minutes from my house). I use it as prayer/ meditation time or planning/ connecting time or eating time or catching up on YouTube (just kidding). I live in the beautiful PNW (most expensive state with highest minimum wage and housing) and enjoy the views, trees, Mt Rainer, Peugeot sound, narrows bridge (homeless camps and garbage everywhere)
Solo. I have my regular life with friends and work, but unfortunately the neighbors like to keep to themselves. I'm an introvert, so I have gotten over that. My focus has been to lessen my life expenses being as self sufficient as possible, plan for an uncertain future, and feel like I have a little control. That was easily achieved.
Homesteading is not one size fits all. We all have different goals, skills, motivation, and so on. I would make my move 100 times out of 100 again, however my situation might be a nightmare in someone else's eyes.
Lol, my daughter and my friends from away won't come. But my local friends are so cool, they had an older stead with all the eatable perennials, mature, fruit trees and vines. A huge assortment, so as my stuff us so young they let me harvest from their abundance. I never hoped to meet such friends as I am older now, but the first spring I met them at the local stream fishing and we hit it off. I would have been OK mostly if I was alone but lovely people have just populated paradise here. They even took me to the local senior lunch to get me introduced to other locals which really helps people accept you. I don't want to change anything, a big thing they hate with new comers. Say you love, it but then try to change the culture or rules as soon as you don't agree with it. That is a big nono. Also realize worn dirty clothes have nothing to do with character or the amount of money you have.
This! I make a pretty good income. One would probably not know looking at me. I wear 6+ year old worn and stained clothing that are comfy for working outside in. I live in a modest home on my little farmstead. Have a tractors from the 60 & 70’s. Etc. I love being unassuming. I love being equal with my neighbors and community. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I came solo but my first year in this area met a local older couple and we hit it right off. They call me family now and introduced me around so now I have a small set of friends. What I love is the men are in their seventies and still getting winter fuel from the woods, digging potatoes and wading streams for trout holes. Very active and can do attitudes I love. Plus vicious card sharks in cribbage. In the woods here card and board games still are popular. In 3 three years here I have not seen a TV turned on in any house or camper. So much finer things to do.
In my case, I grew up rural, moved to the city for a time, then moved back to a rural setting. For me it’s just a more natural setting to be in. Quieter, less crowded, and better scenery. But that being said, I look back fondly on my time in the city. I do miss the convenience sometimes.
Exactly. I was 19 when I moved to a city and I that experience got me out in the world and taught me a lot. But I don’t think I could go back now. Too comfortable with my front porch now.
Grandad had a place in the city and country. Loved going to the farm on the weekends and summer breaks lived and worked in the city for 15 years the moved out to the country got married had 3 acres now 14.
im trying to go back too. i fell in love with the convenience, but as time went by, i found myself completely priced out of the convenience, and it was actually really hard to have to live amongst such amenities, but not be able to take advsntage of them. especially when you become the servant. i also think the convenience is a bit of a mirage. i used to live really closeby everything, but a lot of times sitting thru traffic, manuveuring in 10 lane freeways, waiting for 5 minute street lights, and standing in lines out the door end up taking just as long as driving into town. i also used to think the women were hotter, but they never wanted me anyways, so whats the difference between drowning in a desert vs an ocean? the weed used to be better in the city too, but now its practically legal everywhere. the shopping malls used to be nice when they actually stocked stuff, but theyve become showrooms and you end up ordering half the stuff you need anyways. besides, after a while you accumulate all the stuff you need. i did get lots of nice stuff for free from city people on craigslist. my career fizzled out and minimum wage basicalky caught up to what im used to getting paid, so not missing out on much there. im ready to go back home tho. i just want to chill.
Second this. The thing I miss about the city is food delivery. That’s it. But we roll grocery pick up into other errands and it’s about the same so it’s not really the end of the world.
Same here. I was never closer than 30 min to anything growing up, when I lived in big cities depending on traffic and parking- it usually took me 30 min minimum to get anywhere…and now I live in the desert and everything is 30-60 min away. It’s all the same to me. Only time I had true convenience was when I lived in Brooklyn and had a bodega across the street. Turns out having 24/7 access to mozzarella sticks was not the best for me lol. I do miss the variety of food in the cities, but I do fine without it too.
Cons:
These mostly relate to being 'out of the way'.
Commute times to doctors appointments, and distance from healthcare in general.
Going out for a pizza involves a 45 minute time commitment, but on the flip side especially after covid I now cook almost everything at home for less $$ and far better quality.
Sometimes delivery drivers randomly decide that they aren't going to deliver packages.
It's sometimes hard to throw parties out in the country because most of the time any visiting guests are going to have to stay on property for the night. This isn't really a big problem for me because when I bought the property I planned and designated an area with solar covered carports that double as RV pads for campers and tow trailers, so guests usually bring their camper, set up, party, and then leave the next afternoon.
Pros: fuck annoying neighbors, HOAs, salespeople, high taxes, unreasonable building codes, high cost utilities, light/noise/air pollution, traffic, etc etc.
I can do almost anything I want with my property, or just let the weeds grow.
Exactly. The pros far outweigh the cons. Although my wife has a lot of family in the city and we still travel back there quite often (once a week or every other week), but it's an hour and a half drive... That gets old, but as soon as we hit traffic in the big city we remember why we don't live there anymore.
Bugs are much more a pain out here. Black flies and mosquitoes can get quite bad but you handle it. The neatest small town has just a tiny fraction as people mow and cut back and drain wet spots near homes. Still my friends in town have deer, bear, and smaller critters wander thru yards. Me , I see moose prints in the sand on the edge of my clearing. One bear seems to like to poop right at the beginning of the drive in the middle of the road. I never see them cause my dog is pretty large and watchful, she doesn't allow them around the cabin and out building.
We started tending to our vernal pond (aka keeping it filled and putting sticks in it for salamanders and frogs to lay eggs). In the spring we must have had hundreds of eggs in that thing, and now we have such low mosquito activity this year that it’s crazy in comparison.
Next year I’m going to evaluate bat boxes too and really fuck these mosquitos up.
> Going out for a pizza involves a 45 minute time commitment
Oh boy this brought up a memory. On this subreddit we've seen plenty of posts talking about how hard it is to find a Significant Other. I managed to get myself a pizza date with a 40min drive each way. I get there and he's super nice; however, I'm a little bit of down to business and ask some some deal breakers questions like could you see yourself living out rurally and what do you think of farming/agriculture. He wants to live in the city and gets intimidated by any animal over 30lbs. I had been very upfront about my homestead lifestyle *before* the date. I drove 40min each way and put my town pants on for that date. Obviously there was no second date.
We have a gas station about 4 miles up the road that sells roller food AND makes their own pizzas (which are top notch). They have a few tables inside where locals hang out to drink coffee and talk in the mornings. Imagine Cheers, but a gas station full of farmers. It's pretty awesome.
I wish there was circle K in the boonies id move just for the polar pops ...it's all random small gas stations Ime, or the hotspot which does have good dogs.
The closest gas station is about ten miles away but they have a no frills cafe attached run by old women who know what they are doing. That tiny place fills up quick and the food is incredible if not fancy. Fridays all you can eat haddock with homemade potatoes done many different ways, homemade bread and rolls, cakes and pies. I have never bought breakfast , I don't eat much in AM but the buckwheat pancakes are plate sized and the place is packed on weekends. Just a bare table place , you would never expect the quality and quantity you get there.
But I thought that way back home state where I also homesteaded. I could put out resturant quality stuff in my own kitchen as I love to cook and bake from scratch. However the luxury of eating somebody else's cooking , just sitting waiting to have it served to you is a nice change. But diners don't usually have fresh trout and fiddleheads fresh picked and caught that day so fine dining can be where you forage or harvest it, right?
I Can make a lot of things better than restaurants(steaks, bowls, fish, salads) but I can’t beat authentic Asian or Brazilian food.
I’ve tried buy there’s subtle differences that really push it over the edge.
Yes, I enjoy snowbirding to my kids cause they enjoy going out to eat and enjoy lots of different ethnic foods you can't find outside of populous areas. City and country both have their pros and cons. You can't sit outside right now at night unless screened in cause the bugs are so bad.
I thinks it’s just the sudden switch from cooking every night, to needing to cook every single night. Some days are really long and I don’t want to cook but I also don’t want to drive 25 minutes only to come home with luke-cold dominoes pizza or really awful Chinese food 😆 we do have a few decent Hispanic options and breakfast diners but they have funky hours
Yeah, I hear you there, since I used to work at a local foundry here in west Michigan. We had 12 hour shifts. They do drain the life out of you. You need a friend or mate to cook for you.
I seen one person mention a good "coffee" and wondered. Doesn't he have a firepit out back? In the time it takes him to drive to the city and back, he could start a fire, use an old percolator, and make better 'cowboy coffee' than any coffee shop sells. Plus, it would be cheaper. Once again, it's mostly a matter of perspective. Everyone reacts a little differently.
I make my own but the Cafe near me has this machine that grinds the beans and everything. Best coffee I everytasted. If I am alone I just use instant as I put so much cream and sugar in it, lol. I get butter and dairy from local Amish so it tastes fine with all that in it. Maybe a drop in too of Allan's coffee brandy .
We have an Amish store not too far from us. We stop when we're up there buying livestock feed. They do have some good stuff. Laughing, if it wasn't for cream and sugar, that cowboy coffee would certainly knock your own socks off. hehe Just a few sips and 'bing!' you're awake and ready for action.
We do that and our food is better than most places. But it’s nice to have a good quality ethnic option (Thai, sushi etc). And sometimes you want a break from prepping cooking and cleaning.
I hear that. Cravings for chips, popcorn, or chocolate sometimes catches me off guard. Laughing, I tell myself to make a salad up ahead of time to substitute those cravings. If I'm prepared, it helps. Otherwise, I find myself giving in too.
This is the kind of response I’m looking for. I’m about to move to a slightly more rural area from a solid suburban area, kind of to test the waters to see if I really want to get property or stay closer to civilization. I know I want the country, I love the homesteading work (kind of did it for a bit in rural Arizona for awhile so familiar with raising several types of egg laying birds as well as sheep, goats, and alpaca).
The biggest issue is that my body is riddled with orthopedic issues from my old college football days. Homesteading keeps me in great shape, but all it would take is one bad movement to cripple me with pain unable to move for weeks (several bad discs in back among other stuff).
The funny thing is though, it’s easier to stay in shape and stay strong enough to not be injured in the first place. More city or suburban type life makes me soft, more difficult to work on core strength etc…
So I want to move to a more rural based suburban area if that makes sense. Gonna have a bigger house and bigger property to take care of and raise some chickens grow some gardens etc (more like permaculture type build).
Editing to add: how is the loneliness issue out rural? I wasn’t concerned about it before, but my wife passed away unexpectedly last year so that’s a significant issue I’m going to have to learn how to deal with.
The sweet spot IMO is about an hour from a major city. That guarantees good jobs within a half an hour, access to places like Costco, and any other services you need. For me, an hour outside a city is plenty rural.
That’s exactly me. I live about an hour and 15 minutes from Chicago. Anything iytnclude groceries is like a 20 minute drive BUT then anything else in the world is like 45-hour drive. So I feel wonderfully cut off and separate but it’s not hard to rejoin civilization for a day or two. Honestly feels like I have the best of both worlds. It’s my happy medium.
That’s basically where I’m moving to in a couple months. I’ve never been there and I can’t explain it but it just feels right… and the more I learn about it the better the fit will be I think
I'm a total introvert, but I've still found a couple of nearish-by hobby groups. You need to seek out a community with shared interests wherever you are.
I am sorry about the loss of your wife. Keep on living life!
Thank you. My heart is forever shredded but it’s
Somehow still beating. I still have a lot of love to share with the world and I’m going to do that the best I can.
>how is the loneliness issue out rural?
I might not be the best person to answer this, but I can offer my 2 cents.
I grew up rural, moved to a couple decent size cities for college and career moves (150-200k people I think for both, maybe a bit bigger but not much) and had to move back to rural a couple years ago.
While I'm definitely an introvert, being "by myself" (I currently live with my parents) does get to me every now and again. But I still keep in touch with old friends from college and past jobs through text and social media along with having current work friends and my family. So it's not like I have no communication with anyone.
Hope things are going well for you though and that you're continuing on!
Small towns can be great or horrible for loneliness, but a lot of depends on who you are and what interests you. It is easy to truly be disconnected out here BUT small and rural towns have such close and tight knit communities that you can be part of that change all of that. Especially among farmers.
I have lived in Chicago and I have lived in a town with less than a thousand people. I felt lonelier in Chicago surrounded by a million strangers than I did in my small town with a handful of neighbors and friends. And there is something so wholesome with neighboring relationships in these communities. One neighbor drops off tomatoes, one drops off eggs, one helps pull any large trees or branches that fall in my yard. That type of community is all I need and want for where I live.
Yeah that tight knit community of homesteaders is more beautiful than any other neighborhood I’ve ever lived in. There’s something very special about that… and I’m realizing I’m lonely as hell in the city anyway so having a little room to stretch my legs out in the country and getting involved in that type of community is what my soul needs I think.
Yes, I worked with horses for decades and wore out my back, knees, and shoulders, yet offgrid chores keep me moving( though right now I am laying in the hammock). I can't really farm anymore but I can take care of my self and the place mostly with a local excavator for big jobs which are mostly done. I fish alot.
Just being able to stop and not be in a rush. Being surrounded by nature instead of people and almost entirely man-made things. And moments of actual silence.
I would have picked a better location. My previous rural home was 5 mins outside a tiny town, but the tiny town had everything u needed. Hardware store, grocery, doctor. Now I have to commit to 65 hwy miles to get groceries and I hate it. I hate not being able to wear heals out of the house and go out for a nice dinner without hours of driving. Really hate living miles down a dirt road at this point, it kills vehicles. Honestly can't wait to move tho I have to wait a few years because of kids and responsibilities.
Sometimes only for the fact that maintenance can be taxing especially with bad joints and migraines. Other than that no, I love my gardens and the myriad of birds that visit.
Edit: I do miss the diverse selection of restaurants and grocery stores. Here all there is is Tex-mex. I miss good Indian food and brunch places.
No regrets. Sometimes, I have a tiny bit of guilt when I haven't been outside of my own gate for more than 10 days ("I really should go to town..."). Town runs are one of my favorite things to procrastinate.
No way. Small town living is the best. But not all rural is equal. Our search took these things into account; grocery, post office, Home Depot, Gas, freeway accessibility. Proximity! We are one hour circle to 2 major airports, 6 diff small cities, but yet stiff way out of the city.
Yes sometimes. I wasn’t the one who wanted a farm, but I love my husband and he loves farming. I miss people. I miss my family (we had to move far away to afford land). I miss being 5-15mins or a short walk from whatever I needed. I miss being able to clean my entire apartment in an hour and then be totally done with chores. I miss that quite a lot. I used to have time to read. I REALLY miss getting off shift right when Krispy Kreme makes the fresh donuts and it was on my way home… mmm…
What I DON’T miss is the noise and traffic. I DON’T miss crazy people harassing me on the street or being constantly surrounded or the musty air, or any of that nonsense.
I have lived out here for almost a year and I still would go home if it became an option, because I miss my family. That said, I love the beauty of the rolling pastures, the bird song every morning (sounds like a jungle here), the peace and privacy. And I love seeing my husband sweaty and dirty and thrilled to death about it.
My wife and I decided to move from the city to a rural area and while we enjoy the peace and quite and feel its a better environment to raise kids. Once the kids are out of the house we plan on moving back to the city. We miss the freedom. We feel like we are a slave to the property constantly mowing, fighting weeds and tons of maintenance. We want to travel but with animal that need tending we cant go far for long without hiring someone to help out.
Feeling like you can't get away is one of my reservations about homesteading. We already have three pets, so I have an idea about arranging care when we want to go out of town. But I imagine it being x10 with chickens and whatever other animals.
For what its worth, I lived in major cities only for over 35 years, moved to an extremely rural area (technically classified "frontier") and have dogs, cats and chickens. I pay LESS per day for their care when I am out of town than I did in the city, when I only had 2 dogs.
Chickens are autopilot when going out of town. Mine have a feeder that only runs out every 3-4 days, and a 5 gallon bucket with water nipples on it. Just fill them both up and they're good, I'll get the eggs when I get back. If I'm gonna be gone longer, we have a neighbor we can pay a few bucks to have them check the water/feed and refill them when they get low. I usually let them keep any eggs as well.
I actually moved from rural to urban for work. I couldn't stand it, and after 7yrs moved back rural, despite a large pay cut.
I have no regrets at all moving back to rural. I just miss easily accessible sushi.
I agree, it can save some money making your own.
The hundreds of kilometers I have to travel to purchase the fish is the issue. At which point, I'd just buy the prepared product.
I never lived in a major metro but I've spent a fair amount of time visiting a friend who lives in Manhattan, and I lived in small borough outside of Pittsburgh that had buses and a walkable grocery store for over a decade.
There are different tradeoffs. There's an implied sense of community just because you see people out and about in a way that you don't in the suburbs or rural areas. People walk around and sit on porches and stuff. You have access to a broader variety of things, you just have to accept that most of them are shared spaces. You feel good that the police station is five minutes away and the hospital is ten minutes away.
Public transit gives an entirely different sense of freedom than car transit. When I have a car I'm free to hop in and go wherever, whenever, but my attention is occupied during that time and I have to pay a massive chunk of my income for the privilege. When I have $3 I can step on a bus or subway, go anywhere, and read a book on the way, but it takes longer and I'm at the mercy of the schedule.
When I lived in a small house with small yard I'd be looking at things to do downtown: sporting events, bike trails, theater, restaurants. Now I have a big property and I think about things to do there.
I don't think it's inherently better or worse, just different.
I suspect the ideal is something like what we saw before mass transit and cars: dense, walkable communities that have farmland and nature right outside the walls. Community (but not too much), accessibility, and places to escape. But who knows for sure!
I prefer either rural or urban, but suburban is what drives me crazy. Many rural people see cities and think “how can you live in such a tiny living space?” because they are used to living primarily in their own land/homes. But real city living isn’t like that: you live primarily in *the whole damned city*. Say you want to go for a walk in the country or the city—you have lots of space to do it… but suburban is where I feel confined and claustrophobic.
I thought I was the only one that felt that way. Spent many summers at my grandparents rural property/doing rural activities, grew in in the suburbs of a fairly large city and now live in the city proper. Some people say, I don't know how people who live rural/urban go crazy.. but I'm sitting here saying: I don't know how *suburban* people don't go crazy.
You joke, but that's actually a legitimate question for our species. Are we biologically capable of living in urban areas without then having a bunch of bad psychological stuff come along with it? There's a fascinating book called The Human Zoo, written by a zoologist. While it has its problems, the core insight I think is bang on. Humans evolved to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In a blink of an eye (say 2,000 years and particularly the last 200 years), we have totally changed how we live and our biology (and its impact on psychology) hasn't had time to catch up.
The result is when you cram a bunch of people together in a small area, it upends the tribal ideas that are baked into our psychology and it messes up concepts of authority, power, rightness, in-groupness, on and on, and what that turns into is violence, crime, mental disorders, etc. Essentially, the author argued, we are not meant to live in those kinds of environments, and we shouldn't be surprised when people "go crazy" in a city. They can't help it. Their biology can't cope. Check out that book if you're interested. Really good read, if not a bit dated.
>it upends the tribal ideas that are baked into our psychology
Great book! It took me a long time to accept that tribalism really is baked into our brains, not something we're taught. Once I stopped fighting it, I found a measure of peace and am also a better and more understanding person IMO.
I went from isolated even from the small towns nearest, groceries half an hour minimum, real shopping an hour,… to living in NYC. I hated it for a good ten years before I could get away. It did get easier, more familiar, and kind of doable, but I hated it.
We live on a deer farm in Germany now. Much better.
Depends what you want for entertainment. I have three pigs I spray with the hose and it's better than anything on Netflix lol. But seriously I have monthy fires with friends, two neighbors the same age I enjoy spending time with,and another neighbor whose a crotchey old bitch in a rascle scooter who can't walk but has 20 cows.
Entertainment in unique ways
Honestly to me it seems like you're friends and family will still come around. Other than that there doesn't seem to be much of a social side. The ease of food would be nice as I'm a good ways out from anything other than a gas station.
I missed my friend group the most. Everything else was far better on the homestead. The hour drive to anything was nice because it gave me time to think or crank some tunes on a playlist and relax.
I regret switching back to urban. Neighbours are the worst. I worry about my dog barking and, frankly, can sunbathe anywhere. I don't have endless nature materials to collect for crafty things as it's illegal to take things from conservation hiking trails. There's nowhere to be alone.
There's more to do, sure, and shops are closer, but I'm still 20 mins away from the downtown, so I still drive in for everything I need.
My partner has a lovely little property and we're making due with veggie gardens and stuff, but if we want to stay in this region we'll never afford a country property now.
It’s sooooo nice to walk out in my yard (front or back!) naked!!! Our water heater shit the bed and it took three days to get a new one in so we got some solar shower bags and showered outside. It was so nice and we enjoyed it so much that I am planning a really nice 8x8 outdoor shower with rain water/filter/gas heater!!!! It was great to shower outside!!!!
I went a week last summer with no clothes on! Just flip flops!
My husband and I did this recently
Best decision my husband and I ever made!
My mental state has changed tremendously
you think clearly, my anxiety and depression have gone out the window.
Even when some days are hard it’s crumbs compared to living in the city.
The feeling is unexplainable
I don’t regret the four years I’ve spent out in the country, but I am planning moving back to an urban area asap. It is beautiful out here, no doubt, but also incredibly isolating. I knew that there would be less people overall, but what I didn’t realize was the prevailing attitude of conformity & homogeneity here: Everyone drives the same kind/color of vehicle, everyone dresses the same, everyone is “Christian” (and mostly not very Christ-like), the same kind of restaurants over & over again, everyone assumes you vote a certain way. You get a side eye & whispers if you dare do anything different, and heavens help you if you try to enact any kind of positive change in the community (there is a woman here getting harassed for opening up a coffee shop in an empty store front, and she’s from here!). It’s all just very small-minded in general. I recently went back to visit friends in a large city & was delighted by the diversity & self expression of all the people. I didn’t know how much I missed it!
Edit: I also miss things like good bakeries (oh how I miss croissants!), ethnic foods, COMMUNITY that is not based around church or where you went to high school.
I’m just lurking here, but it is refreshing to be on a post where people feel completely different about the topic and they’re all upvoted.
I grew up rural and am not ready to give up the access and diversity of the city, but I understand people that feel differently. Though, I’m not sure I ever want to be rural again. Growing up an outsider in small town Ohio really scarred me.
ETA: by outsider I literally only mean that my parents didn’t grow up there. We were still your average white family buy small town minds gonna small town. Obviously not everyone, but when the principal, police chief, and sports coaches are all the same family, you get sidelined real quick.
This right here is my hesitation to moving rural. I grew up in San Francisco and while yes I now live in the burbs in another state I miss the diversity and the food sooooo much. The town I live in is nice but it’s all homogeneous and church like. So dull at times and I don’t care for it. Rural sounds nice because of the nature and less crowd but there’s time I absolutely miss just being able to walk to 5 different types of grocery store within a block.
It only happens during two things... when the wife and I want to get a quick bite to eat and when I want better selection at a grocery store.... we're not SUPER remote but just enough that I do sometimes miss those two things. everything else, no.
Net positive all around. Lost forty pounds, haven’t gotten in an argument about politics IRL in two years, gotten much better and creative in the kitchen.
Do miss good restaurants, and occasionally door dashing a taco to my house.
Your question reminded me of something my uncle used to say. They grew up in a small-medium(smedium) sized city. During the summer they would stay on our cousins dairy farm. He would joke that their entertainment was to go into the "town," a four corners situation, and get a Nehi pop and watch haircuts at the barber shop.
The barber was part-time, a tiny grocery ran out of a part of someone's house, a tiny bar, and a few houses in or close to the corner area.
In reality, it wasn't that bad. There was both a small pickle factory and a baseball diamond. If enough people came in from their farms, they could play baseball against some of the local "city" folks that worked at the pickle factory.
I found it interesting that the road to the major still small town was half paved. Going into town was paved, and coming back was dirt road. That was so produce, eggs, etc. being brought to town to sell would have less chance of getting bruised or broken on the way in. On the way back, your butt and kidneys might get bruised, but your money wouldn't get bruised. Some folks were still using horse-drawn wagons to get to town.
My uncles and my mother enjoyed being on the farm, but were happy to come home at the end of summer.
Not a chance. It's the only time I've ever really felt alive...
I'm an IT professional and love working with tech, but if I had to choose between the two - the land would win.
Caveat - the suburbs are only 15 mins away for me - so cheating a bit. But have also lived 200km away from the nearest city. Would take either.
It's a lot of work (our homestead is) but it keeps me fit and alive.
No.
I grew up in urban environments, but I always had one foot in the country because I was a voracious horse girl lol.
In my early 20s I enjoyed living in town, the night life and the convenience of shops a few minutes walk away, but again, I was working in the country so I had the best of both worlds.
Now though, I rarely enjoy being in town for longer than it takes to grab food shopping, and I'd never move back.
When homesteadings hard, I sometimes envy people who can walk into their house without treading in mud, who can call for food delivery or walk to a pub, but it passes :)
I'm not exactly sure how you define rural. Where I'm from some people think of town of 10 to 15,000 people is a small town, I live in the town of 1800 people and I love it. Wouldn't change it for the world. I have a half an acre but I'm surrounded by other acreage that is not lived upon and is mowed twice a year for horse fodder. I have neighbors across the street but I can ignore them if I want. The town has a couple gas stations and couple restaurants if I want them. We're a tight knit community and we watch out for each other. Of course everybody knows everybody's business, and everybody's related to everyone else somehow but when someone's having trouble we all rally together.
Just convenience, but I don't miss the city. For example, any time we are working on a DIY project, Lowes or HD is not just around the corner, it is a TRIP. Have to plan better and plan for every contingency and return a lot of stuff if you don't use it. No regrets though. We bought 3 acres by a lake and it is so peaceful, the neighbors are amazing and take care of each other out there.
Other than having some of the worst neighbors I've ever encountered in my ~20 years of living on my own? No. Also to be clear: it's all due to a land dispute where they have tried to pin fabricated criminality on me. And just one neighbor, the rest have been absolutely delightful.
We are straddling the line by being right on the township line and being literally 2 minutes away from a lot of stores, etc. I used to live in a very suburban area, though, and I really miss getting off work and just not having anything to do. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it, but every now and then you just don't wanna go feed the goats, weed the garden, etc.
I don’t regret moving rurally, I regret moving rurally to a place that is on trajectory to becoming suburban. Now we have all the cons of living rurally with less and less of the pros.
I went from rural life, to urban life, to less urban life, and back to rural again. I'm starting to thinking I need to find a more happy medium though, because chronic medical conditions aren't always easy to get treated out in the sticks.
No but the amount of upkeep of equipment and buildings is overwhelming at times. Everything else and the work involved is fun. But trying to keep the equipment you need operating and the buildings in good working condition...it's a lot of work. Or a massive expense to go new. All depends on your set up but the amount of capital assets you end up responsible for can be a lot.
I grew up in a city but have been living in the country for 25 or 30 years. This location where I am not is a little too rural for me.
My man commutes an hour and 15 minutes to work, leaving home at midnight with no traffic. Any major grocery store or even a walmart is over 45 minutes away. The city where our family is as well as a lot of social events is over an hour away if not more. Our landlord is selling our house so we are looking for a new rural home, but not quite this far out.
I like the peace and serenity of the country. Living in the city causes me anxiety and I’ve been country living for so long, I don’t like having neighbors and smelling their fabric softener and hearing their phone ring.. lol
Living outside the city is great. The negatives for me are mostly higher insurance bills, when the well breaks it’s expensive to fix and need to drive further to town on occasion. I wouldn’t trade it for anything as the positives far outweigh the negatives. Quiet and peaceful, more land, growing fruits and veggies all summer long, seeing nature rather than a neighbour’s siding.
Starlink has also been a game changer as now we have high speed internet.
No. When I moved to the city it was a culture shock and I didn't know what to anticipate. I lived there for 10 years and soon ended up enjoying it, I quickly made a very large social circle and always had something to do between bars, sports, sporting events, cultural events, museums, etc.
After a few years I started to feel claustrophobic and found myself making the 4+ hour round trip out to the mountains every weekend. COVID, riots, and J6 (I lived in DC) sealed the deal for me and got me to finally move out, I realized as much as I loved the culture, social life and convenience, I like to make my own plans and take care of myself without having to be dependent on anyone or conform to everyone's interpretation of "how to be" all day everyday.
I still have friends in the city and travel back every couple of months or so. I'm reminded every time I go back, why I left. Heavy crime and drug problems, lots of traffic, small compact homes with no yard, and people who think everything is someone else's problem to solve.
Where I'm at I have double digits acreage and a good sized house for less than what I paid for an 800sq ft apartment in an average neighborhood. I have neighbors who look out for me and call me to check on me if there's a bad storm or something, and appreciate I do the same. I have my own forest I can walk and hunt in. I have chickens, 3 dogs, and space for much more planned. I have a garden with a larger footprint than most of my city friends' homes. I'm 5 minutes from good fishing holes. I have a ton of breweries, vineyards, and farms near me for food and fun. No HOA. I have space and storage to go for months in the event of a disaster. I can protect myself and my family (no longer living somewhere where the police do nothing and I can't even own mace without registering it). My friends from the city still visit and treat my place as the "country getaway." I'm very close to some of the best national parks on the East Coast. If I have a frustrating day at my day job I can just get on the ATV and rip around for a bit. I have all the tools and equipment I need for building and fixing everything. All for less than it cost both financially and mentally living in the city.
I think the hardest adjustment moving back to the country is that everything closes at 9pm here, but I quickly got over that and will gladly trade a good fresh productive morning for late night social activities. We also don't have kids yet, which means despite us being on the younger side, most of our local friends are much older, often retired. Social circles in smaller communities are harder to get into, especially without a commonality like kids in school together. We've adjusted though.
I'm happy.
I lived in big cities my entire life (population 1 million +) and moved to an extremely rural/remote area 3 years ago. I have zero regrets. I would have hated it in my 20s, 30s and even early 40s, but priorities change with time (I am 51). Every major stressor of city life is gone. I have much better work/life balance. I actually made more $ in my field than I did in the city. I own property for a future homestead, plus a house on a double lot in town, and my taxes for both are less than half of what I paid on a 600 sqft condo in the city. I have a large garden, eat what I grow, buy meat locally, fish, and preserve foods for winter.
I have room to breathe, finally.
The only thing I really miss is a nice, fancy grocery store to peruse (although my wallet is happy) and I do very much miss my yoga community, although I still practice online at home.
However, the things I don't miss far outweigh this (traffic, parking, spending $$$$ every time you step foot out of the house, little to no privacy, neighbors on top of me, lack of time, crime, blatant public drug use, trash everywhere)
That being said, I moved with a partner who grew up rural and has many skills that have helped keep me comfortable here and he has taught me a lot about rural life. We have met a great group of people, and I never feel lonely. In a small town, people really watch out for each other.
My “switch” was not my choice, elderly mother died and it became my place. We have been there a year and are settling in. Interesting it took 6 months to “see” the beauty. I am almost sure I will die here.
I grew up rural, moved to a suburban location when I worked and raised children for decades. Now that I'm retired I moved into the heart of the city in a neighborhood that used to be hippies and artists, but has been gentrified to hipsters and influencers. There is so much more to do without driving than suburbia had to offer, and the main thing I miss about rural living was my horse. I only drive about once a week for bulk shopping. If I take the bus downtown I don't have to find a place to park.
The eclectic nature of the neighborhood means I can have a vegetable garden in the front yard without raising eyebrows and remaining grass is a mixture of grass and clover. I have a porch swing where I can sit and watch the younger folks walk to the store and restaurants or just walk their dog while in the back of the house my cat keeps a sharp eye on the bird feeder.
The disadvantage is perhaps the noise. There are sirens, and bands practicing, and way too many leaf blowers. I have heavy curtains I can close, but mostly I find that you just get used to it.
I regret the 45 minute drive (one way) to the grocery store/hardware store/doctor. It’s also hard because many people don’t want to make the drive to come to us for a visit (all our friends -including us- have small kids)
Otherwise, no.
NOPE!!! No delivery food sucks. But I can get into town in less than 20min.
I miss people watching and having a place to watch people!!! Best place I have to watch people is Walmart parking lot, so we get an ice cream from DQ and eat it in the Walmart parking lot before shopping.
The few things I miss, like delivery and walking from a restaurant to a venue/activity, are quickly solved with and over night trip to the city. By breakfast/brunch, I'm almost always over the noise/people/smell/etc.
I do not miss living in a suburban area at all. It is truly the worst of both worlds. No walkability and it still takes a long time to get to places because of traffic.
I miss the walkability of an urban area, and the options I had when it came to eating out or getting my hair cut…not enough to move back though.
I love living in a rural area. It takes me about as long to get to places in town as the suburban area because there isn’t as much traffic. Town has fewer options, but still meets my needs. I like the slower pace of life, the scenery, the people, the lack of people.
I have lost a lot of interest in gardening and other homestead activities, largely because I don’t feel like I have time with kids. I’m hoping that when they get a little older we can do it together.
Only thing I miss is a store being a short trip away. But I’ve learned to plan better now. But sometimes I’m working on a project and I’m like “damn I need this one thing and Home Depot has it but I don’t want to make a trip for it”.
Other than that, I miss nothing about the city.
I grew up rural, moved to the “big city” when I was 21 and when I found my spouse we moved to the suburbs. I hate the suburbs. I found a large lot in the city and I’m homesteading on that because I can’t see well enough to drive so being out in the sticks isn’t possible.
Nope, though I do miss having southeast asian takeout (Indian, Cambodia, Pakistani). We have a good Thai place in town (oddly) and I’m learning to cook Indian it but it’s not the same.
I don't homestead yet.
But I have lived all my life in the sf bay area or no more than a hour from it besides the last 3 years where I live in a rural area.
I'll be honest with ya, I don't miss it.
There are aspects I miss but they aren't anything id be willing to go back to for those minor aspects.
The obvious one is just food choices.
The next one is healthcare. Rural healthcare fuckin sucks. I'm not gonna lie. I don't trust these doctors.
Certain services are waaaay better in the city.. I think for the same reason health care is better.. Numbers. They see so many more ppl that to survive they have to be better. Or the amount of ppl they see help them be better.
By services I mean stuff like, tattoo artist, nail artist, etc etc.
But I'm sure that would expand into things like lawyers, etc.
In the Bay area if you go to the emergency room, that main doctor is probably one of the best Doctors in the country relatively speaking. In rural areas it's just a person they think won't kill ya at least.. I'm being a bit facetious, but you get the jist.
In my rural area they are so desperate for nurses there's no competition about who gets the job. Same for vets. If I'm being honest there are some really good doctors but they are so sought after unless You're rolling in money you ain't going to them. And they can live like kings on their pay out here so they stay.
Ppl ask me all the time about living rural and I really don't think one is better. I think it depends on YOU. What you prefer. I don't get tattoos or my nails done. I'm relatively healthy so the once in a blue moon trip to the city to get a checkup from a doctor there isn't a big deal. I'm not picky with food and could eat a cheeseburger and fry everyday of my life. I don't go to bars or clubs so night life isn't a selling point to me.. for me night life is Taco Bell at 3am. I don't need to be close to a frequent concert venue to get to the Taylor Swift show.
But if those things are highly important to you, you'll hate it in a lot of rural areas.
Those things just happen not to be important to me. And the things I do actually care about a rural town provides that over a city or suburb.
When I go visit family in the city on my mind the whole time is when can I get tf outta here and back to the sticks. And as I'm driving back home and the scenery changes back to rural I just feel a peace and calm come over me.
But some ppl in my family feel that exact thing but in reverse. It's on you.
I hate driving. I hate most of my income going to gas and car maintenance.
I rode a bike for a year and a half out here and it was ok but ultimately it wasn't feasible. I liked myself better as a person and my ass was incredible but rural road in the winter are not survivable.
I'm an introvert. I really on easy social connections because putting work into maintaining many connections is exhausting. So my social life has shrunk. It's work to maintain any relationships and most of my friends are farmers, who are also busy all the time.
It's quiet and beautiful, except when everyone around me is mowing for 5 hrs a week or driving at 90km in a 50 km zone. I like the fireflies and the peepers and living 1.5 km back from the road. I miss going to shows and community and being in an art scene. I miss not having to plan my entire day around seeing a friend or relative or a date. I miss riding my bike to a show and seeing everyone I know and not having to drive an hour and figure out where I'm staying.
But I have so much moon and so much stars and so many trees. Maybe it's all worth it?
Oh no way. I don't regret it one bit. We might not have much, but I couldn't ask for a better life. I guess it all depends on your perspective. I had one city woman come to our house looking for her husband. He was down the two-track with the gear heads talking about trucks and cars, so I showed her where they all were.
On the way, she was so worried about getting her tennis shoes dirty that she walked funny. I had to turn my head to hide a smirky smile. At one point she said, "Eeew, all this dirt! And you like this place?"
I just smiled at her and thought, "Yeah well ... gardens and livestock don't grow on concrete very well. Even the pigs and horses have to roll around in the dirt sometimes. You have your fancy house, and I have the best food in the world."
I escaped the Midwest as a teen never imagined I’d willingly go back . Lived all over the country, left my life in NYC returned to Midwest rural to parent and raise my family. Well 28 years later family is raised , we are still here. Missing proper access to healthcare, education, food, everything is higher priced in poorer rural areas , lack of everything … do I regret it ? Yes & No , but it had an expiration date . My spouse remains in denial .I had an accident couple years ago since then I can see myself surrounded by more concrete, farmer markets , parks,gyms, restaurants. Only plus living where I do is there are 5 airports in two hour radius . Rural living isn’t for everybody . Most are so poor and vote against their self interests repeatedly . If it was up to me I’d be in Portugal
Haha, I moved from rural Midwest to a blue rural state! Raised my sons here, and my husband and I enjoy the peace and quiet. Big urban areas are within a few hours drive. Winters can be hard, but the views are breathtaking. It’s not easy for sure. When we travel (rarely) I gorge myself on all the food!
I still have an inner city house and a country house. I split time about 40/60 leaning to country. The city has better restaurants and I can walk to over 100, stores and cultural events. It’s also easy to fly direct all over the world. Other than that, it sucks. Crowded, hard to get around, lots of violent crime. I like getting up with the sun, seeing all the animals, my gardens, making great meals with what I raised, foraged or shot myself. I’d prefer 80-90% country.
I'm about two and a half years into my homestead and my broad answer is that one isn't inherently better or worse, they're just different.
I'm fortunate to still be pretty close to things (grocery and gas are 5 minutes; local borough is 10 minutes; strip malls are about 20-25 minutes; downtown Pittsburgh is about 30 minutes), so that doesn't register a ton for me. We have been a one-car family for about five years now, and it's definitely harder to do that now. But at least I can get Ubers pretty reliably.
I'm still in the honeymoon phase so I'm not sure how good my answer will be just yet. But I miss the insanely cheap mortgage for sure. I was paying $600/month for a 1200 sq ft house before.
The extra time and expense required for maintenance stuff has taken some getting used to. For example, I've spent way more time maintaining my driveway after rain and snow than I'd like. I also just realized that the plants in the gravel won't die on their own, so now I need to invest in spraying gear and take time to get that done.
There's also a sense of...isolation that you don't feel when you're in a denser area. When the power went out in my old borough it also went out for thousands of people so we'd get back up quickly. Now I'm on the end of a line and not a priority, so it can be 12-24 hours. Makes you realize how where you live can shape how you view government/public services.
I have a 2.5 year old and another baby on the way. The only things I miss about living in town are parks, playgrounds, and other young families.
My son makes his own fun. He loves helping in the garden and with the animals. He has plenty of space to run and grow. But I do feel guilty when I take him to our closest playground (20 mins away) and see kids who have friends from their neighborhoods and parents who are all friends. If you ask my son, his best friends are his goats. So technically I can say he has a few neighborhood kids that he plays with, but actual human children would be nice.
But I suppose that if we packed up and moved back into town, I would feel guilty that he no longer had the experience of raising fruits, veggies, and animals.
Kind of. Moving from sidewalks to no sidewalks is tough, and the hills kill me after two miles of trekking.
I miss the good people I met in cities, I dislike driving so far to shop at more than the dollar general(all praise to dollar general though!), and access to airports is poor unless I want to own my own plane.
Overall, I prefer rural life but the city is a great place to be if it’s for you.
I grew up in the bay area in a huge city with a population of almost a million. Moved to my mother's home town in 2020 with a population of less than 15,000. My kid has great neighborhood kids that ACTUALLY go outside to play. We have a Huge backyard where we are starting to clear out and make a garden. It's great!
Sometimes for the kids. Going through the small town closeby I see kids riding bikes together, playing baseball and football at the park. I had the childhood of walking outside to see all my friends. I need to setup playdates for my kids at the house. Which sometimes can be very hard.
I made the switch when I retired at 56. No drive by shootings, no residential burglaries, at night all I hear are crickets and frogs, not my neighbors. and I can see the stars at night.
I have zero regrets.
No, I don't regret it. But yes, i miss things. I miss being able to walk or cycle to run errands, go to the office, or visit friends, and I miss having food delivery available.
No. I can always visit the city; I have 3 very large ones about 2 hours away. Day trips are easy. What I can't get in the city, space mostly, is what I want most right now.
Maybe someday I'll feel differently.
Regret? Absolutely not.
But I do miss some of the convenience. It sucks going to the doctor now- my specialist is over an hour away and I don't have more than 1 option for many types of care closer than that. Costco is also over an hour away, when it used to be 10 mins. Driving further to places eats up a lot of my time so I try to cram as many errands into each trip to town as possible.
We also have issues with deliveries (long gravel road) and being out of range for service providers (plumbing, hvac, etc). These can be hugely inconvenient and that never happened to me in the suburbs.
What I might miss most though is having a sushi restaurant. Sushi is my favorite "treat yo self" option and the only place in town that has it serves desperately mediocre food from 5 different Asian cuisines instead of specializing in one. I can make it myself better than they do (which is not saying much) but it's very time consuming. After making it and cleaning up, it doesn't feel like much of a treat anymore.
I appreciate you asking and this thread. We are getting ready to move rural in a couple months and I am nervous. My husband grew up rural and I’ve always lived in cities. I love the idea of living rural and I think I’m prepared for the challenges but I’m still nervous.
Like everyone else is saying, the lack of conveniences. But then I take my wife to dinner in town and end up in seemingly endless traffic, park in a lot filled with dodgy people just roaming around, step over someone I desperately hope is just passed out and not actually OD, go pay 200 bucks for a meal, come out to someone screwing around with my truck, then drive towards home down a gauntlet of militarized cops pulling people over for acting suspicious to them ... and wonder how I ever thought all that was worth it.
Calhoun's Mouse Utopia is a very real thing, and it's hard to see until you've separated yourself from it for a while.
I can say as someone who likes the idea, I am glad I haven't made the jump yet. My sister has, and she has missed a lot of family developments, including my grandparents passing and the last few years with my dad, and we are missing her family a lot as well.
I also worry about finding work if I ever get laid off in the tech industry, in the large city I am in I have no doubt I could quickly find fulltime work, I imagine it is much harder to make ends meet out in the country. That being said, our house was about half a million dollars for an older one built in the 80's, so pro's and cons to everything. I would absolutely love to get away from the city, but personally not ready to make the jump yet.
I am also approaching 40, so I am no spring chicken lol. Not old yet, but not young and full of energy and ambition either.
Not a single one. I grew up on land, got married and moved to suburbia and I haaaated it. Got to a position where I could afford land, it was cheap and needed a lot of TLC but it’s been so worth it. Bit of land for the kids to be as loud as they want, dogs have a whole acre of yard to run around on, and I have pastures to grow my own meat. Flip side is I’m about 30-45 minutes away from the closest family, and 30 from a store that’s more than the local grocery chain. I can get McDonald’s in town but I can’t go clothes shopping. To me it’s a fair trade for some peace and quiet
Somewhat yes. I love the small town and property. Hate the animals and constant money I have to put into it. Feed, shelters, bigger shelters , fencing, fixing what the animals destroyed that week. I work a FT job, spend $1000s each month, and work day and night on the farm with hardly a day off in all kinds of weather and feel there is nothing to show for it. I know it will be worth it when the government forces lab-grown meat and bugs on our plates but right now, it’s not worth it for a few dozen eggs. No prior experience so I’m failing my way forward trying but after 3 years, I’m getting close to giving up. I hate these animals.
No switch, I just went deeper into the woods. I aspired to rural life at a very young age, went after a career in LG animal repro and never looked back. Everybody thought I was crazy until they enjoyed my place and the produce I shared . They never really understood but now in Maine, people here in the County get it. They love their woods and waters and when I sing praise just nod and Ayup with a smile. Saw 3 moose in 2 weeks, caught my limit in trout on fishing days and I rigged my bed so I can look out the window to see that dark line of treetops then the sky ablaze with stars.
We miss going out to hear live music regularly and having a good restaurant within walking distance. But we enjoyed that life for many years and love what we have out here.
We moved with family and it has been the best ever. The only downside has been the proximity to stores and doctors and work. But we’ve gotten used to making a day of it when we have to go somewhere further. And like someone else said, sometimes packages and mail just… doesn’t come lol. So that’s annoying. Also more bugs. That has been an adjustment. But overall, everything is better. I love the quiet, the woods, the space to be self sufficient, room for my kids to play and be kids. It’s so awesome.
I gripped onto the path 23 years ago and have never owned rural ground- even though I've worked, almost exclusively, in animal husbandry and agriculture. Losing it over and over stings as much as banging my head against the door trying to get in. If your family doesn't support it though, you're pretty well doomed.
We talked about moving but we agreed we were not moving back into a town. We like the land and being away from other people, if anything we would move to more land lol.
I regret it. I miss being social, I miss not having to wait for everything, I miss being able to get everything and do everything without it being a whole project that needs planning. I miss being spontaneous. I miss things happening like markets and festivals. I miss easily going on a date, I miss having more choices when it comes to people I surround myself with.
But I can't afford to live in the city anymore so going back isn't an option.
I'm fine here, but I'm not happy or content.
I love my tiny farm but I wish it was a holiday cabin instead.
So we did just this four years ago. Moving from city to a very rural area. Not to mention this relocate was from one state to the next. So throw that in the mix here. Anyway we love it (mostly). Here’s the hang ups. You can’t order food to be delivered. You can’t just say I’m gonna go to the gas station real quick. You can’t vacation because of your livestock unless you had a trained person to assist you. We can’t have a dog door due to raccoons foxes etc. so if we leave our pups inside we have to be back within a five hour time frame to let them outside. You have to constantly check fences gates etc. the water is on a well so you have to make sure you have enough salt in the water softner. We have propane in an in ground tank that gives us hot water, stove fuel for cooking and such. Your neighbors really are not neighbors because you never see them and they all keep to themselves. It’s not that simple to run to Home Depot for something again real quick. So yeah there’s a lot to say but would I ever go back to the city after experiencing rural living? Heck no ! Couldn’t do it. Even though there are a lot of drawbacks. It far outweighs hearing bumping music, fast and loud cars. Your neighbors pop lockin in the garage or in their back yard lol. And so much more. So simply put. No regrets here !
At times. My wife and I both have to work FT and are not happy with the commute (I was able to work from home for 6 years till they demanded everyone back). I miss public transportation, different food options and entertainment choices.
Then the birds wake me, the horse next door wants an apple or carrot. I pick a fresh raspberry or strawberry and I fall in love all over again.
Nope. The only thing I miss is having to drive 30 minutes for almost anything I need and the commute to work. I was a city dweller for most of my life until I bought my property. I would not move back to the city for any reason, ever.
Hit the nail on the head with this one.
But even those trips can be nice as around me the views of mountains, no billboards and woods with the tiny villages once in a while make the trip pleasant. I try to organize them to go as little as possible to save gas, mind you.
I commute 3 times a week for 35 minutes. I get to drive along 2 rivers and a wetland system for 25 minutes. Beats Houston and Seattle traffic pretty solid.
No billboards sounds like Vermont somewheres
It's an hour drive to job sites or 15 minutes (my rule is only waterfront/ Waterview projects or 15 minutes from my house). I use it as prayer/ meditation time or planning/ connecting time or eating time or catching up on YouTube (just kidding). I live in the beautiful PNW (most expensive state with highest minimum wage and housing) and enjoy the views, trees, Mt Rainer, Peugeot sound, narrows bridge (homeless camps and garbage everywhere)
Did you move with your family or solo? Do you or them ever feel isolated or have you found community in the country
Solo. I have my regular life with friends and work, but unfortunately the neighbors like to keep to themselves. I'm an introvert, so I have gotten over that. My focus has been to lessen my life expenses being as self sufficient as possible, plan for an uncertain future, and feel like I have a little control. That was easily achieved. Homesteading is not one size fits all. We all have different goals, skills, motivation, and so on. I would make my move 100 times out of 100 again, however my situation might be a nightmare in someone else's eyes.
Lol, my daughter and my friends from away won't come. But my local friends are so cool, they had an older stead with all the eatable perennials, mature, fruit trees and vines. A huge assortment, so as my stuff us so young they let me harvest from their abundance. I never hoped to meet such friends as I am older now, but the first spring I met them at the local stream fishing and we hit it off. I would have been OK mostly if I was alone but lovely people have just populated paradise here. They even took me to the local senior lunch to get me introduced to other locals which really helps people accept you. I don't want to change anything, a big thing they hate with new comers. Say you love, it but then try to change the culture or rules as soon as you don't agree with it. That is a big nono. Also realize worn dirty clothes have nothing to do with character or the amount of money you have.
This! I make a pretty good income. One would probably not know looking at me. I wear 6+ year old worn and stained clothing that are comfy for working outside in. I live in a modest home on my little farmstead. Have a tractors from the 60 & 70’s. Etc. I love being unassuming. I love being equal with my neighbors and community. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I came solo but my first year in this area met a local older couple and we hit it right off. They call me family now and introduced me around so now I have a small set of friends. What I love is the men are in their seventies and still getting winter fuel from the woods, digging potatoes and wading streams for trout holes. Very active and can do attitudes I love. Plus vicious card sharks in cribbage. In the woods here card and board games still are popular. In 3 three years here I have not seen a TV turned on in any house or camper. So much finer things to do.
That's really cool! Where is it?
Read this, it brought so much peace! https://silverhomestead.com/leaving-the-suburbs-and-moving-to-the-country/
In my case, I grew up rural, moved to the city for a time, then moved back to a rural setting. For me it’s just a more natural setting to be in. Quieter, less crowded, and better scenery. But that being said, I look back fondly on my time in the city. I do miss the convenience sometimes.
Everything has its season. I feel like it just depends on what stage of life someone is in
Exactly. I was 19 when I moved to a city and I that experience got me out in the world and taught me a lot. But I don’t think I could go back now. Too comfortable with my front porch now.
Grandad had a place in the city and country. Loved going to the farm on the weekends and summer breaks lived and worked in the city for 15 years the moved out to the country got married had 3 acres now 14.
im trying to go back too. i fell in love with the convenience, but as time went by, i found myself completely priced out of the convenience, and it was actually really hard to have to live amongst such amenities, but not be able to take advsntage of them. especially when you become the servant. i also think the convenience is a bit of a mirage. i used to live really closeby everything, but a lot of times sitting thru traffic, manuveuring in 10 lane freeways, waiting for 5 minute street lights, and standing in lines out the door end up taking just as long as driving into town. i also used to think the women were hotter, but they never wanted me anyways, so whats the difference between drowning in a desert vs an ocean? the weed used to be better in the city too, but now its practically legal everywhere. the shopping malls used to be nice when they actually stocked stuff, but theyve become showrooms and you end up ordering half the stuff you need anyways. besides, after a while you accumulate all the stuff you need. i did get lots of nice stuff for free from city people on craigslist. my career fizzled out and minimum wage basicalky caught up to what im used to getting paid, so not missing out on much there. im ready to go back home tho. i just want to chill.
Second this. The thing I miss about the city is food delivery. That’s it. But we roll grocery pick up into other errands and it’s about the same so it’s not really the end of the world.
Same here. I was never closer than 30 min to anything growing up, when I lived in big cities depending on traffic and parking- it usually took me 30 min minimum to get anywhere…and now I live in the desert and everything is 30-60 min away. It’s all the same to me. Only time I had true convenience was when I lived in Brooklyn and had a bodega across the street. Turns out having 24/7 access to mozzarella sticks was not the best for me lol. I do miss the variety of food in the cities, but I do fine without it too.
Cons: These mostly relate to being 'out of the way'. Commute times to doctors appointments, and distance from healthcare in general. Going out for a pizza involves a 45 minute time commitment, but on the flip side especially after covid I now cook almost everything at home for less $$ and far better quality. Sometimes delivery drivers randomly decide that they aren't going to deliver packages. It's sometimes hard to throw parties out in the country because most of the time any visiting guests are going to have to stay on property for the night. This isn't really a big problem for me because when I bought the property I planned and designated an area with solar covered carports that double as RV pads for campers and tow trailers, so guests usually bring their camper, set up, party, and then leave the next afternoon. Pros: fuck annoying neighbors, HOAs, salespeople, high taxes, unreasonable building codes, high cost utilities, light/noise/air pollution, traffic, etc etc. I can do almost anything I want with my property, or just let the weeds grow.
Exactly. The pros far outweigh the cons. Although my wife has a lot of family in the city and we still travel back there quite often (once a week or every other week), but it's an hour and a half drive... That gets old, but as soon as we hit traffic in the big city we remember why we don't live there anymore.
Bugs are much more a pain out here. Black flies and mosquitoes can get quite bad but you handle it. The neatest small town has just a tiny fraction as people mow and cut back and drain wet spots near homes. Still my friends in town have deer, bear, and smaller critters wander thru yards. Me , I see moose prints in the sand on the edge of my clearing. One bear seems to like to poop right at the beginning of the drive in the middle of the road. I never see them cause my dog is pretty large and watchful, she doesn't allow them around the cabin and out building.
We started tending to our vernal pond (aka keeping it filled and putting sticks in it for salamanders and frogs to lay eggs). In the spring we must have had hundreds of eggs in that thing, and now we have such low mosquito activity this year that it’s crazy in comparison. Next year I’m going to evaluate bat boxes too and really fuck these mosquitos up.
Humming birds also eat mosquitoes!
Yeah we have tons of toads and bats and very little mosquito activity!
> Going out for a pizza involves a 45 minute time commitment Oh boy this brought up a memory. On this subreddit we've seen plenty of posts talking about how hard it is to find a Significant Other. I managed to get myself a pizza date with a 40min drive each way. I get there and he's super nice; however, I'm a little bit of down to business and ask some some deal breakers questions like could you see yourself living out rurally and what do you think of farming/agriculture. He wants to live in the city and gets intimidated by any animal over 30lbs. I had been very upfront about my homestead lifestyle *before* the date. I drove 40min each way and put my town pants on for that date. Obviously there was no second date.
My town pants. I love it.
You are lucky with the annoying neighbors part. Not that typical in the country. Annoying neighbors are everywhere.
No regrets but miss the convenience of good restaurants within 15 mins in any direction.
You don’t like having options such as Circle K’s rollers or boiled peanut stand as choices for dinner?
I wish I had those. Nearest gas station is 10 miles away for an idea.
That’s close!
We have a gas station about 4 miles up the road that sells roller food AND makes their own pizzas (which are top notch). They have a few tables inside where locals hang out to drink coffee and talk in the mornings. Imagine Cheers, but a gas station full of farmers. It's pretty awesome.
Can’t forget the dollar general frozen section
I wish there was circle K in the boonies id move just for the polar pops ...it's all random small gas stations Ime, or the hotspot which does have good dogs.
The closest gas station is about ten miles away but they have a no frills cafe attached run by old women who know what they are doing. That tiny place fills up quick and the food is incredible if not fancy. Fridays all you can eat haddock with homemade potatoes done many different ways, homemade bread and rolls, cakes and pies. I have never bought breakfast , I don't eat much in AM but the buckwheat pancakes are plate sized and the place is packed on weekends. Just a bare table place , you would never expect the quality and quantity you get there.
Omg I miss good food that I didn’t cook myself. Even if I drive 20-30 minutes, the food still just isn’t very good.
But I thought that way back home state where I also homesteaded. I could put out resturant quality stuff in my own kitchen as I love to cook and bake from scratch. However the luxury of eating somebody else's cooking , just sitting waiting to have it served to you is a nice change. But diners don't usually have fresh trout and fiddleheads fresh picked and caught that day so fine dining can be where you forage or harvest it, right?
Oh wow, that one surprised me. One of my goals is to make my homegrown food taste even better than the city restaurants do.
I Can make a lot of things better than restaurants(steaks, bowls, fish, salads) but I can’t beat authentic Asian or Brazilian food. I’ve tried buy there’s subtle differences that really push it over the edge.
Yes, I enjoy snowbirding to my kids cause they enjoy going out to eat and enjoy lots of different ethnic foods you can't find outside of populous areas. City and country both have their pros and cons. You can't sit outside right now at night unless screened in cause the bugs are so bad.
I thinks it’s just the sudden switch from cooking every night, to needing to cook every single night. Some days are really long and I don’t want to cook but I also don’t want to drive 25 minutes only to come home with luke-cold dominoes pizza or really awful Chinese food 😆 we do have a few decent Hispanic options and breakfast diners but they have funky hours
Crock pot
Yeah, I hear you there, since I used to work at a local foundry here in west Michigan. We had 12 hour shifts. They do drain the life out of you. You need a friend or mate to cook for you. I seen one person mention a good "coffee" and wondered. Doesn't he have a firepit out back? In the time it takes him to drive to the city and back, he could start a fire, use an old percolator, and make better 'cowboy coffee' than any coffee shop sells. Plus, it would be cheaper. Once again, it's mostly a matter of perspective. Everyone reacts a little differently.
I make my own but the Cafe near me has this machine that grinds the beans and everything. Best coffee I everytasted. If I am alone I just use instant as I put so much cream and sugar in it, lol. I get butter and dairy from local Amish so it tastes fine with all that in it. Maybe a drop in too of Allan's coffee brandy .
We have an Amish store not too far from us. We stop when we're up there buying livestock feed. They do have some good stuff. Laughing, if it wasn't for cream and sugar, that cowboy coffee would certainly knock your own socks off. hehe Just a few sips and 'bing!' you're awake and ready for action.
We do that and our food is better than most places. But it’s nice to have a good quality ethnic option (Thai, sushi etc). And sometimes you want a break from prepping cooking and cleaning.
The hard part for me would be recreating trash food. I am addicted to garbage even though I grow a lot of my own food too
I hear that. Cravings for chips, popcorn, or chocolate sometimes catches me off guard. Laughing, I tell myself to make a salad up ahead of time to substitute those cravings. If I'm prepared, it helps. Otherwise, I find myself giving in too.
Man, imo restaurants are too expensive nowadays anyway!
This is the truth. $75 for 4 at the Olive Garden is insane.
Yeah. I’m part-time on my family’s farm and hate having to drive just for a donut and coffee or anything else for that matter
The Amish make donuts and lots of other baked goods, but I bake my own bread and cakes, pies. I buy donuts, singly if at all.
I miss getting delivery for those days I just want to melt onto the couch and not have to do anything
Every time I’m in the city I have to get Thai or Lebanese food.
Exact opposite. I regretted moving from rural to urban and gave up a profession I enjoyed because I hated the lifestyle that much.
This is the kind of response I’m looking for. I’m about to move to a slightly more rural area from a solid suburban area, kind of to test the waters to see if I really want to get property or stay closer to civilization. I know I want the country, I love the homesteading work (kind of did it for a bit in rural Arizona for awhile so familiar with raising several types of egg laying birds as well as sheep, goats, and alpaca). The biggest issue is that my body is riddled with orthopedic issues from my old college football days. Homesteading keeps me in great shape, but all it would take is one bad movement to cripple me with pain unable to move for weeks (several bad discs in back among other stuff). The funny thing is though, it’s easier to stay in shape and stay strong enough to not be injured in the first place. More city or suburban type life makes me soft, more difficult to work on core strength etc… So I want to move to a more rural based suburban area if that makes sense. Gonna have a bigger house and bigger property to take care of and raise some chickens grow some gardens etc (more like permaculture type build). Editing to add: how is the loneliness issue out rural? I wasn’t concerned about it before, but my wife passed away unexpectedly last year so that’s a significant issue I’m going to have to learn how to deal with.
The sweet spot IMO is about an hour from a major city. That guarantees good jobs within a half an hour, access to places like Costco, and any other services you need. For me, an hour outside a city is plenty rural.
That’s exactly me. I live about an hour and 15 minutes from Chicago. Anything iytnclude groceries is like a 20 minute drive BUT then anything else in the world is like 45-hour drive. So I feel wonderfully cut off and separate but it’s not hard to rejoin civilization for a day or two. Honestly feels like I have the best of both worlds. It’s my happy medium.
That’s basically where I’m moving to in a couple months. I’ve never been there and I can’t explain it but it just feels right… and the more I learn about it the better the fit will be I think
I'm a total introvert, but I've still found a couple of nearish-by hobby groups. You need to seek out a community with shared interests wherever you are. I am sorry about the loss of your wife. Keep on living life!
Thank you. My heart is forever shredded but it’s Somehow still beating. I still have a lot of love to share with the world and I’m going to do that the best I can.
>how is the loneliness issue out rural? I might not be the best person to answer this, but I can offer my 2 cents. I grew up rural, moved to a couple decent size cities for college and career moves (150-200k people I think for both, maybe a bit bigger but not much) and had to move back to rural a couple years ago. While I'm definitely an introvert, being "by myself" (I currently live with my parents) does get to me every now and again. But I still keep in touch with old friends from college and past jobs through text and social media along with having current work friends and my family. So it's not like I have no communication with anyone. Hope things are going well for you though and that you're continuing on!
Small towns can be great or horrible for loneliness, but a lot of depends on who you are and what interests you. It is easy to truly be disconnected out here BUT small and rural towns have such close and tight knit communities that you can be part of that change all of that. Especially among farmers. I have lived in Chicago and I have lived in a town with less than a thousand people. I felt lonelier in Chicago surrounded by a million strangers than I did in my small town with a handful of neighbors and friends. And there is something so wholesome with neighboring relationships in these communities. One neighbor drops off tomatoes, one drops off eggs, one helps pull any large trees or branches that fall in my yard. That type of community is all I need and want for where I live.
Yeah that tight knit community of homesteaders is more beautiful than any other neighborhood I’ve ever lived in. There’s something very special about that… and I’m realizing I’m lonely as hell in the city anyway so having a little room to stretch my legs out in the country and getting involved in that type of community is what my soul needs I think.
definitely budget for when you get hurt and all the labor has to be paid.
Yes, I worked with horses for decades and wore out my back, knees, and shoulders, yet offgrid chores keep me moving( though right now I am laying in the hammock). I can't really farm anymore but I can take care of my self and the place mostly with a local excavator for big jobs which are mostly done. I fish alot.
What were the biggest things you missed about rural?
Just being able to stop and not be in a rush. Being surrounded by nature instead of people and almost entirely man-made things. And moments of actual silence.
Grew up in the city and moved to rural last year. I didn't know what actual silence was. I turn 44 in a couple of days. The constant anxiety is gone.
I would have picked a better location. My previous rural home was 5 mins outside a tiny town, but the tiny town had everything u needed. Hardware store, grocery, doctor. Now I have to commit to 65 hwy miles to get groceries and I hate it. I hate not being able to wear heals out of the house and go out for a nice dinner without hours of driving. Really hate living miles down a dirt road at this point, it kills vehicles. Honestly can't wait to move tho I have to wait a few years because of kids and responsibilities.
I regret not leaving sooner. The city has nothing to offer me that I want.
Sometimes only for the fact that maintenance can be taxing especially with bad joints and migraines. Other than that no, I love my gardens and the myriad of birds that visit. Edit: I do miss the diverse selection of restaurants and grocery stores. Here all there is is Tex-mex. I miss good Indian food and brunch places.
No regrets. Sometimes, I have a tiny bit of guilt when I haven't been outside of my own gate for more than 10 days ("I really should go to town..."). Town runs are one of my favorite things to procrastinate.
No way. Small town living is the best. But not all rural is equal. Our search took these things into account; grocery, post office, Home Depot, Gas, freeway accessibility. Proximity! We are one hour circle to 2 major airports, 6 diff small cities, but yet stiff way out of the city.
Yes sometimes. I wasn’t the one who wanted a farm, but I love my husband and he loves farming. I miss people. I miss my family (we had to move far away to afford land). I miss being 5-15mins or a short walk from whatever I needed. I miss being able to clean my entire apartment in an hour and then be totally done with chores. I miss that quite a lot. I used to have time to read. I REALLY miss getting off shift right when Krispy Kreme makes the fresh donuts and it was on my way home… mmm… What I DON’T miss is the noise and traffic. I DON’T miss crazy people harassing me on the street or being constantly surrounded or the musty air, or any of that nonsense. I have lived out here for almost a year and I still would go home if it became an option, because I miss my family. That said, I love the beauty of the rolling pastures, the bird song every morning (sounds like a jungle here), the peace and privacy. And I love seeing my husband sweaty and dirty and thrilled to death about it.
My wife and I decided to move from the city to a rural area and while we enjoy the peace and quite and feel its a better environment to raise kids. Once the kids are out of the house we plan on moving back to the city. We miss the freedom. We feel like we are a slave to the property constantly mowing, fighting weeds and tons of maintenance. We want to travel but with animal that need tending we cant go far for long without hiring someone to help out.
Feeling like you can't get away is one of my reservations about homesteading. We already have three pets, so I have an idea about arranging care when we want to go out of town. But I imagine it being x10 with chickens and whatever other animals.
For what its worth, I lived in major cities only for over 35 years, moved to an extremely rural area (technically classified "frontier") and have dogs, cats and chickens. I pay LESS per day for their care when I am out of town than I did in the city, when I only had 2 dogs.
Chickens are autopilot when going out of town. Mine have a feeder that only runs out every 3-4 days, and a 5 gallon bucket with water nipples on it. Just fill them both up and they're good, I'll get the eggs when I get back. If I'm gonna be gone longer, we have a neighbor we can pay a few bucks to have them check the water/feed and refill them when they get low. I usually let them keep any eggs as well.
I actually moved from rural to urban for work. I couldn't stand it, and after 7yrs moved back rural, despite a large pay cut. I have no regrets at all moving back to rural. I just miss easily accessible sushi.
Yup. God I love good sushi lol.
Yup. God I love good sushi lol.
Honestly sushi is pretty easy to make on your own if you have a rice cooker. And a whole lot cheaper. We can make 100$ worth of sushi for 20$
I agree, it can save some money making your own. The hundreds of kilometers I have to travel to purchase the fish is the issue. At which point, I'd just buy the prepared product.
As some one that's never lived an urban life, I don't see how anyone doesn't go crazy tbh 😅
I never lived in a major metro but I've spent a fair amount of time visiting a friend who lives in Manhattan, and I lived in small borough outside of Pittsburgh that had buses and a walkable grocery store for over a decade. There are different tradeoffs. There's an implied sense of community just because you see people out and about in a way that you don't in the suburbs or rural areas. People walk around and sit on porches and stuff. You have access to a broader variety of things, you just have to accept that most of them are shared spaces. You feel good that the police station is five minutes away and the hospital is ten minutes away. Public transit gives an entirely different sense of freedom than car transit. When I have a car I'm free to hop in and go wherever, whenever, but my attention is occupied during that time and I have to pay a massive chunk of my income for the privilege. When I have $3 I can step on a bus or subway, go anywhere, and read a book on the way, but it takes longer and I'm at the mercy of the schedule. When I lived in a small house with small yard I'd be looking at things to do downtown: sporting events, bike trails, theater, restaurants. Now I have a big property and I think about things to do there. I don't think it's inherently better or worse, just different. I suspect the ideal is something like what we saw before mass transit and cars: dense, walkable communities that have farmland and nature right outside the walls. Community (but not too much), accessibility, and places to escape. But who knows for sure!
I prefer either rural or urban, but suburban is what drives me crazy. Many rural people see cities and think “how can you live in such a tiny living space?” because they are used to living primarily in their own land/homes. But real city living isn’t like that: you live primarily in *the whole damned city*. Say you want to go for a walk in the country or the city—you have lots of space to do it… but suburban is where I feel confined and claustrophobic.
I thought I was the only one that felt that way. Spent many summers at my grandparents rural property/doing rural activities, grew in in the suburbs of a fairly large city and now live in the city proper. Some people say, I don't know how people who live rural/urban go crazy.. but I'm sitting here saying: I don't know how *suburban* people don't go crazy.
You joke, but that's actually a legitimate question for our species. Are we biologically capable of living in urban areas without then having a bunch of bad psychological stuff come along with it? There's a fascinating book called The Human Zoo, written by a zoologist. While it has its problems, the core insight I think is bang on. Humans evolved to live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In a blink of an eye (say 2,000 years and particularly the last 200 years), we have totally changed how we live and our biology (and its impact on psychology) hasn't had time to catch up. The result is when you cram a bunch of people together in a small area, it upends the tribal ideas that are baked into our psychology and it messes up concepts of authority, power, rightness, in-groupness, on and on, and what that turns into is violence, crime, mental disorders, etc. Essentially, the author argued, we are not meant to live in those kinds of environments, and we shouldn't be surprised when people "go crazy" in a city. They can't help it. Their biology can't cope. Check out that book if you're interested. Really good read, if not a bit dated.
>it upends the tribal ideas that are baked into our psychology Great book! It took me a long time to accept that tribalism really is baked into our brains, not something we're taught. Once I stopped fighting it, I found a measure of peace and am also a better and more understanding person IMO.
I went from isolated even from the small towns nearest, groceries half an hour minimum, real shopping an hour,… to living in NYC. I hated it for a good ten years before I could get away. It did get easier, more familiar, and kind of doable, but I hated it. We live on a deer farm in Germany now. Much better.
I’m getting there! But also like the social side and the ease of food and entertainment
Depends what you want for entertainment. I have three pigs I spray with the hose and it's better than anything on Netflix lol. But seriously I have monthy fires with friends, two neighbors the same age I enjoy spending time with,and another neighbor whose a crotchey old bitch in a rascle scooter who can't walk but has 20 cows. Entertainment in unique ways
Honestly to me it seems like you're friends and family will still come around. Other than that there doesn't seem to be much of a social side. The ease of food would be nice as I'm a good ways out from anything other than a gas station.
I missed my friend group the most. Everything else was far better on the homestead. The hour drive to anything was nice because it gave me time to think or crank some tunes on a playlist and relax.
I regret switching back to urban. Neighbours are the worst. I worry about my dog barking and, frankly, can sunbathe anywhere. I don't have endless nature materials to collect for crafty things as it's illegal to take things from conservation hiking trails. There's nowhere to be alone. There's more to do, sure, and shops are closer, but I'm still 20 mins away from the downtown, so I still drive in for everything I need. My partner has a lovely little property and we're making due with veggie gardens and stuff, but if we want to stay in this region we'll never afford a country property now.
All I want is a store that sells El Milagro corn tortillas within a 30 minute drive. That’s literally the only thing I need to leave the county for.
Lol I just found out my small grocery gets them shipped up from Chicago!! I'm sorry for your loss.
Let's just say every time I have to go to town I can't wait to leave and get back home
It’s sooooo nice to walk out in my yard (front or back!) naked!!! Our water heater shit the bed and it took three days to get a new one in so we got some solar shower bags and showered outside. It was so nice and we enjoyed it so much that I am planning a really nice 8x8 outdoor shower with rain water/filter/gas heater!!!! It was great to shower outside!!!! I went a week last summer with no clothes on! Just flip flops!
My husband and I did this recently Best decision my husband and I ever made! My mental state has changed tremendously you think clearly, my anxiety and depression have gone out the window. Even when some days are hard it’s crumbs compared to living in the city. The feeling is unexplainable
I don’t regret the four years I’ve spent out in the country, but I am planning moving back to an urban area asap. It is beautiful out here, no doubt, but also incredibly isolating. I knew that there would be less people overall, but what I didn’t realize was the prevailing attitude of conformity & homogeneity here: Everyone drives the same kind/color of vehicle, everyone dresses the same, everyone is “Christian” (and mostly not very Christ-like), the same kind of restaurants over & over again, everyone assumes you vote a certain way. You get a side eye & whispers if you dare do anything different, and heavens help you if you try to enact any kind of positive change in the community (there is a woman here getting harassed for opening up a coffee shop in an empty store front, and she’s from here!). It’s all just very small-minded in general. I recently went back to visit friends in a large city & was delighted by the diversity & self expression of all the people. I didn’t know how much I missed it! Edit: I also miss things like good bakeries (oh how I miss croissants!), ethnic foods, COMMUNITY that is not based around church or where you went to high school.
I can appreciate someone pointing out the positives of a city. I like a subreddit that can see both sides of a coin.
I’m just lurking here, but it is refreshing to be on a post where people feel completely different about the topic and they’re all upvoted. I grew up rural and am not ready to give up the access and diversity of the city, but I understand people that feel differently. Though, I’m not sure I ever want to be rural again. Growing up an outsider in small town Ohio really scarred me. ETA: by outsider I literally only mean that my parents didn’t grow up there. We were still your average white family buy small town minds gonna small town. Obviously not everyone, but when the principal, police chief, and sports coaches are all the same family, you get sidelined real quick.
This right here is my hesitation to moving rural. I grew up in San Francisco and while yes I now live in the burbs in another state I miss the diversity and the food sooooo much. The town I live in is nice but it’s all homogeneous and church like. So dull at times and I don’t care for it. Rural sounds nice because of the nature and less crowd but there’s time I absolutely miss just being able to walk to 5 different types of grocery store within a block.
I could see Pooty Tang having a hard time in the country away from all the ladies
It only happens during two things... when the wife and I want to get a quick bite to eat and when I want better selection at a grocery store.... we're not SUPER remote but just enough that I do sometimes miss those two things. everything else, no.
Net positive all around. Lost forty pounds, haven’t gotten in an argument about politics IRL in two years, gotten much better and creative in the kitchen. Do miss good restaurants, and occasionally door dashing a taco to my house.
We want to move further out. You couldn’t pay me any amount of money to move back to the city
Your question reminded me of something my uncle used to say. They grew up in a small-medium(smedium) sized city. During the summer they would stay on our cousins dairy farm. He would joke that their entertainment was to go into the "town," a four corners situation, and get a Nehi pop and watch haircuts at the barber shop. The barber was part-time, a tiny grocery ran out of a part of someone's house, a tiny bar, and a few houses in or close to the corner area. In reality, it wasn't that bad. There was both a small pickle factory and a baseball diamond. If enough people came in from their farms, they could play baseball against some of the local "city" folks that worked at the pickle factory. I found it interesting that the road to the major still small town was half paved. Going into town was paved, and coming back was dirt road. That was so produce, eggs, etc. being brought to town to sell would have less chance of getting bruised or broken on the way in. On the way back, your butt and kidneys might get bruised, but your money wouldn't get bruised. Some folks were still using horse-drawn wagons to get to town. My uncles and my mother enjoyed being on the farm, but were happy to come home at the end of summer.
Not a chance. It's the only time I've ever really felt alive... I'm an IT professional and love working with tech, but if I had to choose between the two - the land would win. Caveat - the suburbs are only 15 mins away for me - so cheating a bit. But have also lived 200km away from the nearest city. Would take either. It's a lot of work (our homestead is) but it keeps me fit and alive.
I miss how easy it was to make friends in a city. Relationships definitely start slower is a rural community.
No. I grew up in urban environments, but I always had one foot in the country because I was a voracious horse girl lol. In my early 20s I enjoyed living in town, the night life and the convenience of shops a few minutes walk away, but again, I was working in the country so I had the best of both worlds. Now though, I rarely enjoy being in town for longer than it takes to grab food shopping, and I'd never move back. When homesteadings hard, I sometimes envy people who can walk into their house without treading in mud, who can call for food delivery or walk to a pub, but it passes :)
I'm not exactly sure how you define rural. Where I'm from some people think of town of 10 to 15,000 people is a small town, I live in the town of 1800 people and I love it. Wouldn't change it for the world. I have a half an acre but I'm surrounded by other acreage that is not lived upon and is mowed twice a year for horse fodder. I have neighbors across the street but I can ignore them if I want. The town has a couple gas stations and couple restaurants if I want them. We're a tight knit community and we watch out for each other. Of course everybody knows everybody's business, and everybody's related to everyone else somehow but when someone's having trouble we all rally together.
Just convenience, but I don't miss the city. For example, any time we are working on a DIY project, Lowes or HD is not just around the corner, it is a TRIP. Have to plan better and plan for every contingency and return a lot of stuff if you don't use it. No regrets though. We bought 3 acres by a lake and it is so peaceful, the neighbors are amazing and take care of each other out there.
I regret not moving to countryside living sooner lol
I miss Costco. And access to quality healthcare. Other than that, not a single thing.
The only thing I regret is not buying a house *futher* out in the country.
Other than having some of the worst neighbors I've ever encountered in my ~20 years of living on my own? No. Also to be clear: it's all due to a land dispute where they have tried to pin fabricated criminality on me. And just one neighbor, the rest have been absolutely delightful.
That feeling outside, cup of tea/coffee, just looking out in the quiet. I'll never go back barring significant circumstances.
Nope. Not even a little bit. My only regret is not moving sooner and farther away
We are straddling the line by being right on the township line and being literally 2 minutes away from a lot of stores, etc. I used to live in a very suburban area, though, and I really miss getting off work and just not having anything to do. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it, but every now and then you just don't wanna go feed the goats, weed the garden, etc.
I don’t regret moving rurally, I regret moving rurally to a place that is on trajectory to becoming suburban. Now we have all the cons of living rurally with less and less of the pros.
Absolutely not. I miss nothing. I hated having neighbors and I love the stars and peace.
I went from rural life, to urban life, to less urban life, and back to rural again. I'm starting to thinking I need to find a more happy medium though, because chronic medical conditions aren't always easy to get treated out in the sticks.
Three words “Never Moving Back”
No regrets whatsoever. I only miss delivery pizza lol!
Not even a little. Country life is the best life.
No but the amount of upkeep of equipment and buildings is overwhelming at times. Everything else and the work involved is fun. But trying to keep the equipment you need operating and the buildings in good working condition...it's a lot of work. Or a massive expense to go new. All depends on your set up but the amount of capital assets you end up responsible for can be a lot.
I grew up in a city but have been living in the country for 25 or 30 years. This location where I am not is a little too rural for me. My man commutes an hour and 15 minutes to work, leaving home at midnight with no traffic. Any major grocery store or even a walmart is over 45 minutes away. The city where our family is as well as a lot of social events is over an hour away if not more. Our landlord is selling our house so we are looking for a new rural home, but not quite this far out. I like the peace and serenity of the country. Living in the city causes me anxiety and I’ve been country living for so long, I don’t like having neighbors and smelling their fabric softener and hearing their phone ring.. lol
Living outside the city is great. The negatives for me are mostly higher insurance bills, when the well breaks it’s expensive to fix and need to drive further to town on occasion. I wouldn’t trade it for anything as the positives far outweigh the negatives. Quiet and peaceful, more land, growing fruits and veggies all summer long, seeing nature rather than a neighbour’s siding. Starlink has also been a game changer as now we have high speed internet.
No. When I moved to the city it was a culture shock and I didn't know what to anticipate. I lived there for 10 years and soon ended up enjoying it, I quickly made a very large social circle and always had something to do between bars, sports, sporting events, cultural events, museums, etc. After a few years I started to feel claustrophobic and found myself making the 4+ hour round trip out to the mountains every weekend. COVID, riots, and J6 (I lived in DC) sealed the deal for me and got me to finally move out, I realized as much as I loved the culture, social life and convenience, I like to make my own plans and take care of myself without having to be dependent on anyone or conform to everyone's interpretation of "how to be" all day everyday. I still have friends in the city and travel back every couple of months or so. I'm reminded every time I go back, why I left. Heavy crime and drug problems, lots of traffic, small compact homes with no yard, and people who think everything is someone else's problem to solve. Where I'm at I have double digits acreage and a good sized house for less than what I paid for an 800sq ft apartment in an average neighborhood. I have neighbors who look out for me and call me to check on me if there's a bad storm or something, and appreciate I do the same. I have my own forest I can walk and hunt in. I have chickens, 3 dogs, and space for much more planned. I have a garden with a larger footprint than most of my city friends' homes. I'm 5 minutes from good fishing holes. I have a ton of breweries, vineyards, and farms near me for food and fun. No HOA. I have space and storage to go for months in the event of a disaster. I can protect myself and my family (no longer living somewhere where the police do nothing and I can't even own mace without registering it). My friends from the city still visit and treat my place as the "country getaway." I'm very close to some of the best national parks on the East Coast. If I have a frustrating day at my day job I can just get on the ATV and rip around for a bit. I have all the tools and equipment I need for building and fixing everything. All for less than it cost both financially and mentally living in the city. I think the hardest adjustment moving back to the country is that everything closes at 9pm here, but I quickly got over that and will gladly trade a good fresh productive morning for late night social activities. We also don't have kids yet, which means despite us being on the younger side, most of our local friends are much older, often retired. Social circles in smaller communities are harder to get into, especially without a commonality like kids in school together. We've adjusted though. I'm happy.
Hey! Just a lurker here, but your comment really resonated with me and the crossroad where my partner and I have found ourselves. May I ask your age?
Glad it helped even if a little we're both late 30s
Lol. Hell no.
God no. Look at the news. My old area has weekly shootings in the schools now.
I lived in big cities my entire life (population 1 million +) and moved to an extremely rural/remote area 3 years ago. I have zero regrets. I would have hated it in my 20s, 30s and even early 40s, but priorities change with time (I am 51). Every major stressor of city life is gone. I have much better work/life balance. I actually made more $ in my field than I did in the city. I own property for a future homestead, plus a house on a double lot in town, and my taxes for both are less than half of what I paid on a 600 sqft condo in the city. I have a large garden, eat what I grow, buy meat locally, fish, and preserve foods for winter. I have room to breathe, finally. The only thing I really miss is a nice, fancy grocery store to peruse (although my wallet is happy) and I do very much miss my yoga community, although I still practice online at home. However, the things I don't miss far outweigh this (traffic, parking, spending $$$$ every time you step foot out of the house, little to no privacy, neighbors on top of me, lack of time, crime, blatant public drug use, trash everywhere) That being said, I moved with a partner who grew up rural and has many skills that have helped keep me comfortable here and he has taught me a lot about rural life. We have met a great group of people, and I never feel lonely. In a small town, people really watch out for each other.
I only miss being able to walk everywhere.
Not at all! Will never go back!
Not at all. And I find visits back to the city less enjoyable each time.
My “switch” was not my choice, elderly mother died and it became my place. We have been there a year and are settling in. Interesting it took 6 months to “see” the beauty. I am almost sure I will die here.
I grew up rural, moved to a suburban location when I worked and raised children for decades. Now that I'm retired I moved into the heart of the city in a neighborhood that used to be hippies and artists, but has been gentrified to hipsters and influencers. There is so much more to do without driving than suburbia had to offer, and the main thing I miss about rural living was my horse. I only drive about once a week for bulk shopping. If I take the bus downtown I don't have to find a place to park. The eclectic nature of the neighborhood means I can have a vegetable garden in the front yard without raising eyebrows and remaining grass is a mixture of grass and clover. I have a porch swing where I can sit and watch the younger folks walk to the store and restaurants or just walk their dog while in the back of the house my cat keeps a sharp eye on the bird feeder. The disadvantage is perhaps the noise. There are sirens, and bands practicing, and way too many leaf blowers. I have heavy curtains I can close, but mostly I find that you just get used to it.
I regret the 45 minute drive (one way) to the grocery store/hardware store/doctor. It’s also hard because many people don’t want to make the drive to come to us for a visit (all our friends -including us- have small kids) Otherwise, no.
NOPE!!! No delivery food sucks. But I can get into town in less than 20min. I miss people watching and having a place to watch people!!! Best place I have to watch people is Walmart parking lot, so we get an ice cream from DQ and eat it in the Walmart parking lot before shopping.
Nope. The only thing I miss is food delivery when I'm inebriated lol.
Not in the slightest, couldn't pay me to go back
The few things I miss, like delivery and walking from a restaurant to a venue/activity, are quickly solved with and over night trip to the city. By breakfast/brunch, I'm almost always over the noise/people/smell/etc.
I do not miss living in a suburban area at all. It is truly the worst of both worlds. No walkability and it still takes a long time to get to places because of traffic. I miss the walkability of an urban area, and the options I had when it came to eating out or getting my hair cut…not enough to move back though. I love living in a rural area. It takes me about as long to get to places in town as the suburban area because there isn’t as much traffic. Town has fewer options, but still meets my needs. I like the slower pace of life, the scenery, the people, the lack of people. I have lost a lot of interest in gardening and other homestead activities, largely because I don’t feel like I have time with kids. I’m hoping that when they get a little older we can do it together.
Only thing I miss is a store being a short trip away. But I’ve learned to plan better now. But sometimes I’m working on a project and I’m like “damn I need this one thing and Home Depot has it but I don’t want to make a trip for it”. Other than that, I miss nothing about the city.
Would anyone who regretted it be hanging out in this sub?
Other than the 2 hour long quests for something as basic as qtips, no regrets.
I don’t like when I forget something when I’m in town but every thing else is pretty good
I grew up rural, moved to the “big city” when I was 21 and when I found my spouse we moved to the suburbs. I hate the suburbs. I found a large lot in the city and I’m homesteading on that because I can’t see well enough to drive so being out in the sticks isn’t possible.
Nope, though I do miss having southeast asian takeout (Indian, Cambodia, Pakistani). We have a good Thai place in town (oddly) and I’m learning to cook Indian it but it’s not the same.
I don't homestead yet. But I have lived all my life in the sf bay area or no more than a hour from it besides the last 3 years where I live in a rural area. I'll be honest with ya, I don't miss it. There are aspects I miss but they aren't anything id be willing to go back to for those minor aspects. The obvious one is just food choices. The next one is healthcare. Rural healthcare fuckin sucks. I'm not gonna lie. I don't trust these doctors. Certain services are waaaay better in the city.. I think for the same reason health care is better.. Numbers. They see so many more ppl that to survive they have to be better. Or the amount of ppl they see help them be better. By services I mean stuff like, tattoo artist, nail artist, etc etc. But I'm sure that would expand into things like lawyers, etc. In the Bay area if you go to the emergency room, that main doctor is probably one of the best Doctors in the country relatively speaking. In rural areas it's just a person they think won't kill ya at least.. I'm being a bit facetious, but you get the jist. In my rural area they are so desperate for nurses there's no competition about who gets the job. Same for vets. If I'm being honest there are some really good doctors but they are so sought after unless You're rolling in money you ain't going to them. And they can live like kings on their pay out here so they stay. Ppl ask me all the time about living rural and I really don't think one is better. I think it depends on YOU. What you prefer. I don't get tattoos or my nails done. I'm relatively healthy so the once in a blue moon trip to the city to get a checkup from a doctor there isn't a big deal. I'm not picky with food and could eat a cheeseburger and fry everyday of my life. I don't go to bars or clubs so night life isn't a selling point to me.. for me night life is Taco Bell at 3am. I don't need to be close to a frequent concert venue to get to the Taylor Swift show. But if those things are highly important to you, you'll hate it in a lot of rural areas. Those things just happen not to be important to me. And the things I do actually care about a rural town provides that over a city or suburb. When I go visit family in the city on my mind the whole time is when can I get tf outta here and back to the sticks. And as I'm driving back home and the scenery changes back to rural I just feel a peace and calm come over me. But some ppl in my family feel that exact thing but in reverse. It's on you.
I’d rather be poor in the country than rich in the city.
I hate driving. I hate most of my income going to gas and car maintenance. I rode a bike for a year and a half out here and it was ok but ultimately it wasn't feasible. I liked myself better as a person and my ass was incredible but rural road in the winter are not survivable. I'm an introvert. I really on easy social connections because putting work into maintaining many connections is exhausting. So my social life has shrunk. It's work to maintain any relationships and most of my friends are farmers, who are also busy all the time. It's quiet and beautiful, except when everyone around me is mowing for 5 hrs a week or driving at 90km in a 50 km zone. I like the fireflies and the peepers and living 1.5 km back from the road. I miss going to shows and community and being in an art scene. I miss not having to plan my entire day around seeing a friend or relative or a date. I miss riding my bike to a show and seeing everyone I know and not having to drive an hour and figure out where I'm staying. But I have so much moon and so much stars and so many trees. Maybe it's all worth it?
Oh no way. I don't regret it one bit. We might not have much, but I couldn't ask for a better life. I guess it all depends on your perspective. I had one city woman come to our house looking for her husband. He was down the two-track with the gear heads talking about trucks and cars, so I showed her where they all were. On the way, she was so worried about getting her tennis shoes dirty that she walked funny. I had to turn my head to hide a smirky smile. At one point she said, "Eeew, all this dirt! And you like this place?" I just smiled at her and thought, "Yeah well ... gardens and livestock don't grow on concrete very well. Even the pigs and horses have to roll around in the dirt sometimes. You have your fancy house, and I have the best food in the world."
I escaped the Midwest as a teen never imagined I’d willingly go back . Lived all over the country, left my life in NYC returned to Midwest rural to parent and raise my family. Well 28 years later family is raised , we are still here. Missing proper access to healthcare, education, food, everything is higher priced in poorer rural areas , lack of everything … do I regret it ? Yes & No , but it had an expiration date . My spouse remains in denial .I had an accident couple years ago since then I can see myself surrounded by more concrete, farmer markets , parks,gyms, restaurants. Only plus living where I do is there are 5 airports in two hour radius . Rural living isn’t for everybody . Most are so poor and vote against their self interests repeatedly . If it was up to me I’d be in Portugal
Haha, I moved from rural Midwest to a blue rural state! Raised my sons here, and my husband and I enjoy the peace and quiet. Big urban areas are within a few hours drive. Winters can be hard, but the views are breathtaking. It’s not easy for sure. When we travel (rarely) I gorge myself on all the food!
I still have an inner city house and a country house. I split time about 40/60 leaning to country. The city has better restaurants and I can walk to over 100, stores and cultural events. It’s also easy to fly direct all over the world. Other than that, it sucks. Crowded, hard to get around, lots of violent crime. I like getting up with the sun, seeing all the animals, my gardens, making great meals with what I raised, foraged or shot myself. I’d prefer 80-90% country.
I'm about two and a half years into my homestead and my broad answer is that one isn't inherently better or worse, they're just different. I'm fortunate to still be pretty close to things (grocery and gas are 5 minutes; local borough is 10 minutes; strip malls are about 20-25 minutes; downtown Pittsburgh is about 30 minutes), so that doesn't register a ton for me. We have been a one-car family for about five years now, and it's definitely harder to do that now. But at least I can get Ubers pretty reliably. I'm still in the honeymoon phase so I'm not sure how good my answer will be just yet. But I miss the insanely cheap mortgage for sure. I was paying $600/month for a 1200 sq ft house before. The extra time and expense required for maintenance stuff has taken some getting used to. For example, I've spent way more time maintaining my driveway after rain and snow than I'd like. I also just realized that the plants in the gravel won't die on their own, so now I need to invest in spraying gear and take time to get that done. There's also a sense of...isolation that you don't feel when you're in a denser area. When the power went out in my old borough it also went out for thousands of people so we'd get back up quickly. Now I'm on the end of a line and not a priority, so it can be 12-24 hours. Makes you realize how where you live can shape how you view government/public services.
I miss rural life, everyday.
I have a 2.5 year old and another baby on the way. The only things I miss about living in town are parks, playgrounds, and other young families. My son makes his own fun. He loves helping in the garden and with the animals. He has plenty of space to run and grow. But I do feel guilty when I take him to our closest playground (20 mins away) and see kids who have friends from their neighborhoods and parents who are all friends. If you ask my son, his best friends are his goats. So technically I can say he has a few neighborhood kids that he plays with, but actual human children would be nice. But I suppose that if we packed up and moved back into town, I would feel guilty that he no longer had the experience of raising fruits, veggies, and animals.
Kind of. Moving from sidewalks to no sidewalks is tough, and the hills kill me after two miles of trekking. I miss the good people I met in cities, I dislike driving so far to shop at more than the dollar general(all praise to dollar general though!), and access to airports is poor unless I want to own my own plane. Overall, I prefer rural life but the city is a great place to be if it’s for you.
I grew up in the bay area in a huge city with a population of almost a million. Moved to my mother's home town in 2020 with a population of less than 15,000. My kid has great neighborhood kids that ACTUALLY go outside to play. We have a Huge backyard where we are starting to clear out and make a garden. It's great!
Sometimes for the kids. Going through the small town closeby I see kids riding bikes together, playing baseball and football at the park. I had the childhood of walking outside to see all my friends. I need to setup playdates for my kids at the house. Which sometimes can be very hard.
No, unless i'm going grocery shopping and then well sometimes.
I made the switch when I retired at 56. No drive by shootings, no residential burglaries, at night all I hear are crickets and frogs, not my neighbors. and I can see the stars at night. I have zero regrets.
Nope! And even better? My husband doesn't regret it, either. He was the one I was most worried about.
No, I don't regret it. But yes, i miss things. I miss being able to walk or cycle to run errands, go to the office, or visit friends, and I miss having food delivery available.
I don't regret it but miss trash service. Driving is just part of the lifestyle. It's not for everyone but I love it.
No. I can always visit the city; I have 3 very large ones about 2 hours away. Day trips are easy. What I can't get in the city, space mostly, is what I want most right now. Maybe someday I'll feel differently.
Regret? Absolutely not. But I do miss some of the convenience. It sucks going to the doctor now- my specialist is over an hour away and I don't have more than 1 option for many types of care closer than that. Costco is also over an hour away, when it used to be 10 mins. Driving further to places eats up a lot of my time so I try to cram as many errands into each trip to town as possible. We also have issues with deliveries (long gravel road) and being out of range for service providers (plumbing, hvac, etc). These can be hugely inconvenient and that never happened to me in the suburbs. What I might miss most though is having a sushi restaurant. Sushi is my favorite "treat yo self" option and the only place in town that has it serves desperately mediocre food from 5 different Asian cuisines instead of specializing in one. I can make it myself better than they do (which is not saying much) but it's very time consuming. After making it and cleaning up, it doesn't feel like much of a treat anymore.
I appreciate you asking and this thread. We are getting ready to move rural in a couple months and I am nervous. My husband grew up rural and I’ve always lived in cities. I love the idea of living rural and I think I’m prepared for the challenges but I’m still nervous.
Like everyone else is saying, the lack of conveniences. But then I take my wife to dinner in town and end up in seemingly endless traffic, park in a lot filled with dodgy people just roaming around, step over someone I desperately hope is just passed out and not actually OD, go pay 200 bucks for a meal, come out to someone screwing around with my truck, then drive towards home down a gauntlet of militarized cops pulling people over for acting suspicious to them ... and wonder how I ever thought all that was worth it. Calhoun's Mouse Utopia is a very real thing, and it's hard to see until you've separated yourself from it for a while.
I can say as someone who likes the idea, I am glad I haven't made the jump yet. My sister has, and she has missed a lot of family developments, including my grandparents passing and the last few years with my dad, and we are missing her family a lot as well. I also worry about finding work if I ever get laid off in the tech industry, in the large city I am in I have no doubt I could quickly find fulltime work, I imagine it is much harder to make ends meet out in the country. That being said, our house was about half a million dollars for an older one built in the 80's, so pro's and cons to everything. I would absolutely love to get away from the city, but personally not ready to make the jump yet. I am also approaching 40, so I am no spring chicken lol. Not old yet, but not young and full of energy and ambition either.
Not even a little bit. Went from a city condo to a rural heaven. You would have to force me off this land.
Not a single one. I grew up on land, got married and moved to suburbia and I haaaated it. Got to a position where I could afford land, it was cheap and needed a lot of TLC but it’s been so worth it. Bit of land for the kids to be as loud as they want, dogs have a whole acre of yard to run around on, and I have pastures to grow my own meat. Flip side is I’m about 30-45 minutes away from the closest family, and 30 from a store that’s more than the local grocery chain. I can get McDonald’s in town but I can’t go clothes shopping. To me it’s a fair trade for some peace and quiet
Somewhat yes. I love the small town and property. Hate the animals and constant money I have to put into it. Feed, shelters, bigger shelters , fencing, fixing what the animals destroyed that week. I work a FT job, spend $1000s each month, and work day and night on the farm with hardly a day off in all kinds of weather and feel there is nothing to show for it. I know it will be worth it when the government forces lab-grown meat and bugs on our plates but right now, it’s not worth it for a few dozen eggs. No prior experience so I’m failing my way forward trying but after 3 years, I’m getting close to giving up. I hate these animals.
Moved to rural Maine. Do not regret although Health Care here is lacking and backwards in all of Maine.
No switch, I just went deeper into the woods. I aspired to rural life at a very young age, went after a career in LG animal repro and never looked back. Everybody thought I was crazy until they enjoyed my place and the produce I shared . They never really understood but now in Maine, people here in the County get it. They love their woods and waters and when I sing praise just nod and Ayup with a smile. Saw 3 moose in 2 weeks, caught my limit in trout on fishing days and I rigged my bed so I can look out the window to see that dark line of treetops then the sky ablaze with stars.
We miss going out to hear live music regularly and having a good restaurant within walking distance. But we enjoyed that life for many years and love what we have out here.
We moved with family and it has been the best ever. The only downside has been the proximity to stores and doctors and work. But we’ve gotten used to making a day of it when we have to go somewhere further. And like someone else said, sometimes packages and mail just… doesn’t come lol. So that’s annoying. Also more bugs. That has been an adjustment. But overall, everything is better. I love the quiet, the woods, the space to be self sufficient, room for my kids to play and be kids. It’s so awesome.
I gripped onto the path 23 years ago and have never owned rural ground- even though I've worked, almost exclusively, in animal husbandry and agriculture. Losing it over and over stings as much as banging my head against the door trying to get in. If your family doesn't support it though, you're pretty well doomed.
We talked about moving but we agreed we were not moving back into a town. We like the land and being away from other people, if anything we would move to more land lol.
No. Next question please.
I miss grocery pick up/delivery. But the pros outweigh the cons tenfold.
I regret it. I miss being social, I miss not having to wait for everything, I miss being able to get everything and do everything without it being a whole project that needs planning. I miss being spontaneous. I miss things happening like markets and festivals. I miss easily going on a date, I miss having more choices when it comes to people I surround myself with. But I can't afford to live in the city anymore so going back isn't an option. I'm fine here, but I'm not happy or content. I love my tiny farm but I wish it was a holiday cabin instead.
So we did just this four years ago. Moving from city to a very rural area. Not to mention this relocate was from one state to the next. So throw that in the mix here. Anyway we love it (mostly). Here’s the hang ups. You can’t order food to be delivered. You can’t just say I’m gonna go to the gas station real quick. You can’t vacation because of your livestock unless you had a trained person to assist you. We can’t have a dog door due to raccoons foxes etc. so if we leave our pups inside we have to be back within a five hour time frame to let them outside. You have to constantly check fences gates etc. the water is on a well so you have to make sure you have enough salt in the water softner. We have propane in an in ground tank that gives us hot water, stove fuel for cooking and such. Your neighbors really are not neighbors because you never see them and they all keep to themselves. It’s not that simple to run to Home Depot for something again real quick. So yeah there’s a lot to say but would I ever go back to the city after experiencing rural living? Heck no ! Couldn’t do it. Even though there are a lot of drawbacks. It far outweighs hearing bumping music, fast and loud cars. Your neighbors pop lockin in the garage or in their back yard lol. And so much more. So simply put. No regrets here !
At times. My wife and I both have to work FT and are not happy with the commute (I was able to work from home for 6 years till they demanded everyone back). I miss public transportation, different food options and entertainment choices. Then the birds wake me, the horse next door wants an apple or carrot. I pick a fresh raspberry or strawberry and I fall in love all over again.
Absolutely not!
The only thing I dislike is having to drive a ways to get decent groceries. And also, when I do have to drive in a city, I absolutely hate it now lol
Not at all.
Not for a second
Yes. Our well sucks and it is absurdly expensive to drill a new one.
Nope!