Who went from a city to small town? How long did it take to adjust?

[katyusha25]

I moved from Los Angeles (where I lived my whole life) to a small rural village (population 30 people) in Virginia - I love it.
I'm STILL adjusting to the insects and spiders that are here (and how they're of prehistoric size) - and how they're always in the house I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it, to be honest.

Other than that, it's my dream living.

[GregW]

I grew up in a rural turning to suburb west of Albany, NY. After sampling a BIG city (NY,NY) a CT suburb, a college town and now an expanding suburb in NH, I plan on settling into a relativly small (approx. 9k population) town in NM. I really do not like big cities but I have become adapted to being able to stop at a grocery store on the way home for work. We will likely need access to a hospital and other health care.

The result is I do not think moving to wilderness or a near ghost town is in the works. In any case the place we are looking at is about a twentry minute motorcycle ride from total silence.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

I moved from Los Angeles (where I lived my whole life) to a small rural village (population 30 people) in Virginia - I love it.
I'm STILL adjusting to the insects and spiders that are here (and how they're of prehistoric size) - and how they're always in the house I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it, to be honest.

Other than that, it's my dream living.

If you don't mind divulging more - what's your story? Did you buy in cash? What did you buy/how much did you pay? Was it a fixer upper? What do you live off of? Do you have an online job, a local job nearby or live off of bank account...?

Thanks,
OD

[katyusha25]

Originally Posted by ognend

If you don't mind divulging more - what's your story? Did you buy in cash? What did you buy/how much did you pay? Was it a fixer upper? What do you live off of? Do you have an online job, a local job nearby or live off of bank account...?

Thanks,
OD

No, I still have my house in CA, I wanted to keep it. I rent a cottage on someone's farm here. I ride a lot, so I wanted to be in horse country and it's perfect where I am. I've only been in VA for a little over a year, so I wanted to be here for a bit before I decide to sell my house in CA and buy here.

But to answer your question, I transferred here for work (by choice) because I was sick of CA; I always thought VA (or any eastern seaboard state) was gorgeous. I feel I'm lucky enough to live out in the boonies but still be relatively close to my job - 27 miles.

[ognend]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

No, I still have my house in CA, I wanted to keep it. I rent a cottage on someone's farm here. I ride a lot, so I wanted to be in horse country and it's perfect where I am. I've only been in VA for a little over a year, so I wanted to be here for a bit before I decide to sell my house in CA and buy here.

But to answer your question, I transferred here for work (by choice) because I was sick of CA; I always thought VA (or any eastern seaboard state) was gorgeous. I feel I'm lucky enough to live out in the boonies but still be relatively close to my job - 27 miles.

Alright - thank you for that - see, a lot of books and popular magazine articles don't divulge any information on this. I just read a story about a young lady who is an organic farmer featured in an online project to follow the stories of six modern farmers. She went to school in Africa, came back, interned on a few organic farms and "then decided to buy her acreage and start her own organic farm in North Carolina". Journals like "Mother Earth News" etc. feature a lot of these but they never really divulge how the people were able to afford their spreads, starting a business, financing it for a year or more (a farm needs a significant investment up front and takes time to start paying back if at all) etc. All you see is smiling faces and stories of how life is great now but nobody will tell you how they got there. Just like anything else in America, journals and back to the land books and stories are a business and a lot of people get "taken" with romantic dreams of living on a farm and going back to living the simple life off the land. End of rant

Anyways, my wife and I ride too and it always brings a smile to my face when I hear that someone is getting to live their dream. Good for you!!!

OD

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by ognend

... Journals like "Mother Earth News" etc. feature a lot of these but they never really divulge how the people were able to afford their spreads, starting a business, financing it for a year or more (a farm needs a significant investment up front and takes time to start paying back if at all) etc. ...

Farmlandtrust helps pair up farm land with farmers.

Also in our state is a large network of farms with an apprenticeship / journeyman program. Pretty sure that every year they place farmers onto farm land.

There are many farms that get started each year without any start-up capital.

My DW and I attended a meeting this past spring that had three new farms, each is share-cropping to get started.

I know a guy here who starts a farm, brings in apprentices, after a couple years incorporates it as a partnership and he lets the former apprentices buy out his share of the farm. Then he goes on to start-up the next farm. Currently he is working on his third farm.

While it can be said that to startup a farm may require a lot of capital. It is not also true. Some farms startup each year with little more than a selection of hand tools.