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The farthest I've lived from town is about 5 miles. My ex and I liked living there because we were out of town, but close enough if we needed to run to town to get something. We were in a smaller town but we had places we could take a walk in the country and let our dog run for a little while. But, I joke with people that, with Dollar General stores popping up everywhere, you don't have to worry about running into town to get something. lol
This topic caught my eye about planning a trip to town to shop.
We live a couple miles near grocery stores in New Jersey and plan our trips once or every other week. We make a running grocery list on the fridge and buy in bulk. We can go a month without shopping if we weren't picky.
I lived in Maine for awhile and was always taken back how people would rush the stores for a shovel, batteries, food etc. every snow storm.
When hurricane Sandy hit us we lost power for two weeks and were fine, just used the grill. The police saw us at our yard and started "you are not supposed to be here! you really are fine?!" He was the one making a big issue not us, in the National Guard Humvee he was in with three solders and assault rifles.
Do an assessment of your house, flashlights, batteries, dry goods, case of water. A backup of your phone and computer on a hard drive or your provider.
I love where we live in the "country". On 120 acres that back ups to Indiana State Forest, and right next to a beautiful state park. I am about 15 minutes to Corydon, Indiana (1st capital of the state), which has multiple grocery stores, fast food galore, and a few chain restaurants.
If I want the city, Louisville, KY is only about 35 minutes away, and has anything and everything I could want other than vacations lol I personally think I have the "perfect" setup, sometimes just wish it was in the mountains! This picture is from a bluff on our land where we often camp and have a big fire pit, you can't see it but there's a very nice & clean river that runs below as well!
We're only ten minutes from the nearest town, but that town is pretty darn small. One grocery store, two gas stations, a couple of small restaurants, no fast food, and zero stoplights. We live in rural Wyoming.
If we want any big time shopping we travel an hour and forty-five minutes to another state and that's where we go to Walmart, Costco, target, home Depot etc. That's also where a variety of restaurants and fast food is. When we go to the "big" city, it's an all day trip and we try and stock up for the month.
We love where we live. We used to have all the things, at all times of day, and it was a hectic stressful life. We're much happier where we are now.
We lived in a rural area in Maine that was five miles from the nearest small town (pop. 4,200) that had a small grocery store (but larger than a general store); and it was 16 miles to Walmart which was the only place to do major shopping within a one-hour drive. That was just too rural for us.
Our retirement home, where we are moving to next year, will be in a rural small town (pop. 1,200), but it is more upscale and has a very nice market (not huge, but with a great selection that includes many fine wines) that is only two miles from our home, and there are two major grocery stores 20 minutes away (one is north of us and one is south of us), so I think that will be just right. A major hospital is only 15 minutes away, too.
Yes, it is very nice to live in a rural area, but I learned that one should also be practical.
Last edited by katharsis; 06-20-2019 at 06:25 AM..
We lived in the boonies for 14 years. A bit over 10 miles to the nearest small town grocery, 60 miles give or take to either Austin or San Antonio. I never thought much about the commute to San Antonio for work... until we moved 30 miles closer. The first time I drove back out to old place I couldn't fathom that I'd driven all that way for so many years. That said, we learned to stop and pick things up on the way home as necessary, and I always liked the feeling that when I DID get home, work and big city traffic was a memory, at least 'til the next day.
Been moved for over 10 years now, but I still get a kick out of life-long city folks whining about having to drive 10 miles to get somewhere.
I lived in the boonies of Kansas growing up. I prefer where we live now. It's 7 miles to the small city near us, about 1/2 an hour to a slightly larger city and about an hour to downtown Dallas. It's fairly quiet where we live (small subdivision) but we're close enough to everything we could want. We were about an hour, by train, from NYC before we moved here, so that hour drive has been our "normal" for many years.
I’m 20 minutes out of town on a gravel road, but the town of 1300 has a hospital, a few farm implements dealers, ford and GM dealer, schools, post office, couple of banks, a small, crappy, expensive grocery store, a dollar general, and a couple hardware stores and of course a bar. The nearest real grocery store with organic, healthy food is an hour away along with a Tractor Supply. The nearest real city of 80,000 with fast food, Walmart, department stores, Lowe’s, airports, Uber drivers, college, ect., is over two hours away and a tank of gas in my truck. But is very quiet where my place is, lots of deer, turkeys and cattle. Once in a while elk or moose.
I grew up twenty minutes from town, but town was a rural farming community of 7,000 with a small medical clinic, a single grocery store, a consolidated public school system, a post office, a hardware store some taverns and gas stations, a weekly newspaper (amazingly) and a couple of small diners. Not much else.
For things like grocery selection, most retail, beyond basic healthcare, dining options beyond diner fare, driving an hour or more was standard.
I'd likely do it again if it made sense professionally. As long as reliable internet was available, many of the largest inconveniences are greatly alleviated.
Being closer to reliable healthcare is a biggie, though. I found this when pregnant, and also with my parents aging back on the farm. Driving hours to specialists sucks. Especially if you're still working and have to take time off.
For over 6 lustrum we have happily lived out in the boonies, on side of a beautiful forested mountain. We love it here. Down in the Valley there is a year round creek. I have a bass pond. Overflow from an artesian spring feeds into it.
About every 4-5 weeks we drive half hour to town to get some vittles & other goods we will be needing.
For less then $100 a year, we have emergency ambulance service & emergency helicopter service in case we need to get to the hospital, in a hurry.
Have a wonderful coming week, folks...
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