This exactly. The level of austerity that comes with traditional homesteading can be shocking to most Americans.

There's a reason kids sold their parents farms to Monsanto and moved into the city.

Make a trip once a week or every other week into town (1hr drive) to pick up groceries.

Doctors, etc. - why do you need to be close? 1-2 hr drive for something so infrequent does not seem to be an issue.

You learn to fix your own stuff.

At least during the pandemic, housing outside of city centers have been in high demand as people seek more land/space.

At the very least, you will get injured doing farmwork. I don't have statistics on hand, but I'd wager the need for emergency medical support is likely far higher than a white collar office job.

You seem to be healthy with no chronic issues, which is good to hear. If you become sick or injured, and especially if you or a family member develops certain long term issues, you may need to visit a specialist multiple times a month. Sometimes these specialists are only available in major cities.

fair enough!

I can't speak to grocery stores or doctors, but the idea that you should be abele to fix everything in your home isn't that far fetched.

Perhaps the modern world has made things appear otherwise but even the most average adult has the capability to do basic vehicle maintenance, plumbing, simple electrical work, basic carpentry and so on. In fact even if you do live in an urban area you might be in for a a bit of regret not learning those skills when you call for a contractor or electrician but no one is available for months due to the ongoing labor shortage.

> but the idea that you should be abele to fix everything in your home isn't that far fetched

> basic vehicle maintenance, plumbing, simple electrical work, basic carpentry and so on

There’s a big gap between simple electrical work, basic plumbing, basic carpentry etc and the full range of issues that can go wrong with a house. At the first sign of a natural gas leak, or any electrical tasks involving high voltages I’m calling a professional.

For us, we've decided that we need to be around a fair number of university-educated people (or at least people who are able to think at that level - they don't have to have a degree). So, first, we need at least a town, not to live 40 miles from nowhere. And second, we need that town to be either a college town or the kind of town where people move there after college.

That's just us. You may be different.

The first year living here was definitely a culture shock, I must admit that people in the country do think differently than in the city. I have over time come to appreciate their points of view though and TBH if I was to show them your comment about Uni Educated people they would just smile and say bless their heart!

You make very valid points and I appreciate your input as it echo's many of my issues.