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Successfully moving to "the middle of nowhere."

This is something my wife and I talk about more and more often as of late. We went to a wedding in the Ozarks on the MO/AR border over the weekend, and it REALLY intensified our feelings about just bailing out on city/suburb life and getting a house on a piece of land at the edge of a forest. Something with acreage, easy access to deep woods, and preferably no neighbors for at least two miles in any direction.

We both work from home, but I need to occasionally go into an office and to client meetings. My wife works from home and doesn't need to visit an office for any reason. Because of my occasional need to actually SEE people, the move would be inconvenient. But more and more I think the pros vastly outweigh the cons (the biggest con being easy access to emergency medical care). We were created to live in a garden. Nature is restorative. The older I get, the more I need it.

Have any of you done this successfully? Are you happy with your decision?
 
You might be surprised by just how much healthcare is actually available in certain rural settings. I wish you luck in your search.
 
...bailing out on city/suburb life and getting a house on a piece of land at the edge of a forest. Something with acreage, easy access to deep woods, and preferably no neighbors for at least two miles in any direction.

I'm envious. I hope you make it work!
 
I'm envious. I hope you make it work!

It seems like an enormous undertaking. Especially because we have three kids. We live 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis now though, and the current political climate is *this* close to turning the city into a warzone which will undoubtedly overflow into the suburbs. That's as close as I'm going to get to a political statement here though.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
I'm a born and raised 'desert rat'. My Bride and I have discussed moving to a smaller community away from any metro areas.

It is a very appealing concept, as long as we stay in the high desert.
 
Wife and I live in what has become a large urban centre. 10 years to retirement, and then we are pulling up stakes for small town living.
 
Kind of hard on the kids, I would think. I am not making a political statement. and am not really thinking of the current disruptions, but I would not blame you for getting out of the St. Louis area. I have spent some time there, and the economic decline is pretty bad for a once prosperous and proud city. Again, not blaming anyone, but I would think that would be depressing by itself.

YMMV.
 
I have some friends who live outside of St. Louis and who feel the same way you do. They have put their house up for sale and are planning to move to rural Indiana where the husband comes from. It is ironic that they moved from rural Indiana to St. Louis 10 years ago for better employment opportunities. He retired six months ago but they had planned to live in MO for five more years when the wife was set to retire. She is a beautician so she can work in Indiana after she goes through the regulatory process.

They plan to move to a town that has a population of less than 2,000. However, it is about 30 minutes away from a city that has good medical care and is relatively close to two main highways. When I last spoke with them the essentials they set for where they would move were as follows:
  • No more than one hour from a hospital
  • Grocery shopping within 30 minutes.
  • A population of less than 5,000
  • Low real estate taxes
  • A stable real estate market
What amazed me was how much lower their cost of living will be. They can get a much nicer house with less money and their taxes will be less.
 
Kind of hard on the kids, I would think. I am not making a political statement. and am not really thinking of the current disruptions, but I would not blame you for getting out of the St. Louis area. I have spent some time there, and the economic decline is pretty bad for a once prosperous and proud city. Again, not blaming anyone, but I would think that would be depressing by itself.

YMMV.

It will be hard on the kids. That's undeniable and the only thing that really gives me pause at all. My 15 month old son will be fine, but my daughters are older and they will miss their friends and the convenience of "city life."
 
We're both 10-15 years from retirement, but have talked about it. We've even talked about moving now to someplace closer to the mountains (we enjoy hiking and backpacking). We've also talked about doing the expat thing; is that something you've considered?
 
We're both 10-15 years from retirement, but have talked about it. We've even talked about moving now to someplace closer to the mountains (we enjoy hiking and backpacking). We've also talked about doing the expat thing; is that something you've considered?

I'd also love to be near mountains. The Ozarks have small-ish mountains (or maybe they're really big hills). We haven't really considered expatriation because, even with all of its flaws, we both believe that the USA is the greatest nation on earth. I'm a huge Anglophile, but I don't think I'd want to move to England. That is, unless I did the same thing and lived somewhere remote in the countryside.
 

BigFoot

I wanna be sedated!
Staff member
Here you go David, ready to move in.

 
Here you go David, ready to move in.


61 acres! Hillsboro isn't terribly far from where I am now, too. Nice find!
 

shavefan

I’m not a fan
We're doing the same. I work from home and my wife recently got permission to work remotely, out of state. Our plan is to be out of here by next summer and are looking for property outside of Charlotte. We need to be near a major airport as we have family in Ireland, living on the east coast will make travel to Dublin much easier (vs. Dallas), which is important to us. Also, most of our U.S. based family is on the east coast, so that's another consideration.

Good luck in your search!
 
My wife and I made that move 3 years ago, have not regretted it for a moment. I do have to commute to work occasionally but it's a very small price to pay IMHO..
 
Ideally I would like to maintain a place near the city and have a place out in the middle of nowhere that I can go to when I choose and stay there for as long as I wish. I'm just outside of NYC in NJ. I see my wife splitting up soon. Not what I envisioned for myself at the age of 58 but there are some benefits. Such as, she likes the beach and I like the mountains. I've always dreamed of having a cabin on a lake in the northern Adirondacks. This will allow me to realize that vision in some form or another. And if I can swing having a place near the city as well, I'll be able to stay in touch with friends and see music on a regular basis. Best of both worlds. And when the city and people in general become overbearing, I'm gone to the mountains.
 
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