It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was a fish out of water in our new country life adventure.
More like an octopus, actually, thrashing about trying to make my new life look like it was working. I did NOT want to admit that there were things I didn’t know how to do. But after 22 years in the city, one thing was painfully clear: Two decades of lounging in cafes, riding mountain bikes, working in an office, and attending cultural events hadn’t prepared me one iota for my new lifestyle. rural. No way.
I couldn’t start a fire, or figure out how the well pump worked, and chop wood? That’s a topic for another post… Suffice it to say that without my team’s mentor, I probably would have packed it up and headed back to my beautiful condo.
Except that he had sold it.
And then the housing market crashed.
I had to admit that all the reading, studying and pretending in the world wasn’t going to save me from the fact that I had become a ‘city girl’. Then, of course, the doubt arose. Big moment.
Could I really do this? Would I have to go back to the city and admit to everyone that my dream was just that, a dream? Who was I to think that I could actually do this on my own?
I spent many hours in this place, wondering if I had done the right thing. But the thought of going back made me nauseous, so that was out.
He needed to figure out how to learn what he needed to learn, and fast. So, after much soul searching (and more than a few broken nails), I realized I had a few proverbial tricks up my sleeve that would serve me well in my new life.
These are the same traits, preferences and preparations that will serve YOU as well.
Check the list. Dig deep and see what comes up for you as you read. We think we’d be fine with some of these things, but the reality may be something completely different. Let’s face it: when faced with a relentless squirrel trying to munch its way into your house and more mouse poop on your favorite boots, the romantic ideal of country living can fade pretty quickly.
Are you ready to live in the country?
Here are some character traits and preparations that should make your transition to country life more comfortable and enjoyable:
1. You don’t mind getting dirty.
This goes without saying, but it’s amazing how dirt rains down on us when we live in the city. Probably because the dirt in the city is usually pretty disgusting (yes, all those people who let their dogs do their thing in the parks, I’m talking to you). But country dirt is something else entirely. Usually anyway…unless it’s mouse poop. The bottom line is that it’s pretty hard to do the work that needs to be done on a family or rural property without getting dirty in one way or another. If you agree with that, you’re halfway there. Something like…
2. You can survive without a hair dryer.
I love my hair dryer and straightener. I don’t leave the house without using one or the other unless of course the power goes out in the middle of the night (it happens a lot around here). So if you need to look good for work or have an important meeting planned the day after a big storm, you’ll want to be able to improvise: keep one of those gas-powered or rechargeable hair styling tools handy, or get a haircut. that does not require a motorized style. This may sound silly, but I’ve been on backcountry rafting trips with women packing hair dryers in their dry bags. What they thought would connect them is beyond me. But I understand the desire to look fabulous, even when you’re knee-deep in yard dirt…or vacuuming mouse poop off your sweater rack. Just because we’re living off the land doesn’t mean we can’t look good, but if you can look good without the dryer, you’ll be much more comfortable living in the country.
3. You don’t need to transfer huge files over the Internet to work.
Yuck. This almost killed me. My future job requires me to connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access our corporate mail and file servers. Unfortunately, VPNs are notoriously slow and consume a lot of bandwidth. Even more sadly, the only internet connection I can access in our part of the world is via satellite, which is also slow. Slower than ADSL or cable, anyway, and some days not much faster than dial-up. Double ugh… So my advice here is to be very careful to check all of your internet access options before you decide to move. It was an afterthought for me, which is something I wholeheartedly advise against. Do your homework before you move in and you might save yourself a big headache later on.
4. You have some money saved, in case everything goes wrong. I suppose the same could be said for any new company, but the way things are these days, you can’t be too careful in the ‘roll back’ department. Maybe you’ll stay at your job after you move, in which case this won’t apply to you as much. But what if you decide you love the rural lifestyle so much that you want to stop traveling and live in the country full time? So what? It always pays to have a longer-term plan and a few dollars set aside for any lean months that may occur. I’m leaving the ‘job’ in a couple of weeks, and I’m very happy that I’ve positioned myself in such a way that we’ll be okay financially for a while. If I had to immediately worry about where the next paycheck would come from, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the blessings of this lifestyle as much.
5. You are flexible.
For all the reasons listed above and many more (including snowy driveways that don’t get cleaned for weeks if ever, power outages that last for days, and persistent squirrels that wake you up every morning at 3: 00 with its incessant chewing). ), rural life requires a sense of flexibility that city life does not usually require. Not for most, anyway. What would you do if you had a big project pending and the power went out for three days? What kind of backup systems will you have in place? Are you able to go out to other places that have power and internet connection? Is your drinking water well pump electric, so you don’t have water if the power goes out? Are you okay with finding mouse poop on your counter in the morning? These are just some of the things you need to be able to deal with if you live in the country. But if you’re ready and willing to ‘go with the flow’, you and rural life will hit it off just fine.
6. You are willing to cultivate a ‘beginner’s mind’.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’m not really the ‘beginner’s mind’ type of person. I have been lucky in my life because I have been competent in almost everything I have tried. Maybe I’m also competent in this concert of rural life, but it sure doesn’t seem like it sometimes. And he sure didn’t feel that way in that first year. In short, I don’t like to seem like I don’t know what I’m doing. But I’m working on it. I have to get out here, because if I’m not willing to ask for help and advice, I’m going to waste a lot of time and possibly money on solving it. Don’t get me wrong: failure is a great way to learn, but in most cases on the farm, it’s not really necessary. If you’re a busy person, working or running a business and managing your home, you don’t want to waste a lot of time. There is a lot to be said for the old-fashioned community. Ask questions, locate mentors, and be willing to appear like you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re like me (and still am in many ways), you probably aren’t.
7. You feel comfortable asking for help.
This goes with the beginner’s mind, but it goes beyond asking questions and spending time with mentors. It’s about swallowing your pride and knowing when you need to ask your neighbor to help you get the wood for the winter, or the local organic gardener how to prepare your raised beds for planting, or the pest control guy how to stop the squirrel crazy. He is driving him crazy with incessant chewing on him in some corner of the house that he cannot locate! Of all the traits and preparations on this list, this is the one that will give you the most mileage and the most reward. There are so many people out there who would be happy to help a novice farmer. All you need to do is ask.
So, are you ready for your move to the countryside?
These seven traits and preparations are pretty critical for anyone looking for a rural lifestyle. Well, maybe not critical, but they sure do make life here a lot more enjoyable. Let’s face it: without them, the chewing squirrel and mouse poop will surely send you packing. They almost killed me.