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I'm trying to do the same thing eventually. However, have you lived in a semi rural area before? It's not necessarily Walden Pond. Half of my childhood was spe

I'm trying to do the same thing eventually. However, have you lived in a semi rural area before? It's not necessarily Walden Pond. Half of my childhood was spent growing up in a semi rural area and most people who live there are into snowmobiles, hockey and going to church. You most likely need a car. The quaint rural villages that you really want to live in can be as expensive as living in a city. "Real" rural america is usually more like a truck stop than it is a french farming village. I'd be interested to hear where you are considering. Personally, I would like to move to Maine or Vermont, but also enjoy the city... it just gets exhausting.

frossie 16y ago
I second starkfist's note of caution. How about finding a job in a semi-rural place (if you don't care which one, there are options - eg. check out astronomical facilities which tend to be in relatively isolated areas) and trying it out for a year? That way you avoid the loose-loose scenario of deciding you don't like it and burning through your savings to find that out. If you do like it, you can always quit later. Grass is always greener at the other side of the fence; I'm in the opposite situation of having worked for years in a semi-rural area and thinking about getting back in a city. Like the OP said, there are upsides and downsides to everywhere. I think if you want to try this, you want to set some milestones for the various scenarios, like at what point to bail out if you don't like it, at what level of savings should you start looking for work again, and so on.
cageface 16y ago
Yeah that's a very good point. I've wondered about this. For example, the Southern Utah desert is my favorite place in the world and there are some very inexpensive towns to live in down there but the culture is very conservative. Main or Vermont are definitely possibilities. The winter sounds horrific but I was in Vermont in the fall a while ago and it was totally stunning. From what I understand Vermont and Maine both lean much more to the left politically so it would probably be less of a culture shock.
- pingswept 16y ago
  Portland, Maine, is pretty amazing. I lived about 45 minutes north of Portland for a couple of years, and it was too isolated for my tastes, but Portland is a nice mix of cosmopolitan and inexpensive.
- mikecane 16y ago
  Let me give you four words of advice here: Stay away from winter. At least do that. Really.
  - dhimes 16y ago
    ...unless you like winter. I moved to New England a few years ago, and we have three excellent seasons here: summer, fall, and winter. There is no spring, at least by any reasonable definition of spring by anybody who has lived anywhere where there is spring. But "sea and ski" is what it's about here, and, it turns out, I'm ok with that.
    - nostrademons 16y ago
      There is usually about 1-2 weeks of nice spring weather in May/June. I like spring in New England more than spring anywhere else, because you know that if you blink, it'll be gone. So it's time to have classes outside and enjoy the nice weather and go for a bikeride or something. Here in California, it's spring all year round, and so we sit at our computers and ignore it most of the time.
      - mantas 16y ago
        Indeed. Same in Northern Europe. South guys won't ever feel that wonderful warm spring touch after cold winter
      - dhimes 16y ago
        because you know that if you blink, it'll be gone Indeed, it goes away if the sun goes behind a cloud. Even better when you have kids, and have to make sure the baseball field is dry and safe for them. You'll be shoveling mud into wheelbarrows, transporting it to a mound of dirt, and coming back with wheelbarrows-full of dry dirt. Heavy work. More rain. So you do it again. You. Well, and the mosquitoes. I agree that there are glorious days in the spring here, but in my view they don't a season make. But all-around it's still a fabulous place to live for the climate.

frossie 16y ago

I second starkfist's note of caution. How about finding a job in a semi-rural place (if you don't care which one, there are options - eg. check out astronomical facilities which tend to be in relatively isolated areas) and trying it out for a year? That way you avoid the loose-loose scenario of deciding you don't like it and burning through your savings to find that out. If you do like it, you can always quit later. Grass is always greener at the other side of the fence; I'm in the opposite situation of having worked for years in a semi-rural area and thinking about getting back in a city. Like the OP said, there are upsides and downsides to everywhere. I think if you want to try this, you want to set some milestones for the various scenarios, like at what point to bail out if you don't like it, at what level of savings should you start looking for work again, and so on.

cageface 16y ago

Yeah that's a very good point. I've wondered about this. For example, the Southern Utah desert is my favorite place in the world and there are some very inexpensive towns to live in down there but the culture is very conservative. Main or Vermont are definitely possibilities. The winter sounds horrific but I was in Vermont in the fall a while ago and it was totally stunning. From what I understand Vermont and Maine both lean much more to the left politically so it would probably be less of a culture shock.

pingswept 16y ago
Portland, Maine, is pretty amazing. I lived about 45 minutes north of Portland for a couple of years, and it was too isolated for my tastes, but Portland is a nice mix of cosmopolitan and inexpensive.
mikecane 16y ago
Let me give you four words of advice here: Stay away from winter. At least do that. Really.
- dhimes 16y ago
  ...unless you like winter. I moved to New England a few years ago, and we have three excellent seasons here: summer, fall, and winter. There is no spring, at least by any reasonable definition of spring by anybody who has lived anywhere where there is spring. But "sea and ski" is what it's about here, and, it turns out, I'm ok with that.
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    There is usually about 1-2 weeks of nice spring weather in May/June. I like spring in New England more than spring anywhere else, because you know that if you blink, it'll be gone. So it's time to have classes outside and enjoy the nice weather and go for a bikeride or something. Here in California, it's spring all year round, and so we sit at our computers and ignore it most of the time.
    - mantas 16y ago
      Indeed. Same in Northern Europe. South guys won't ever feel that wonderful warm spring touch after cold winter
    - dhimes 16y ago
      because you know that if you blink, it'll be gone Indeed, it goes away if the sun goes behind a cloud. Even better when you have kids, and have to make sure the baseball field is dry and safe for them. You'll be shoveling mud into wheelbarrows, transporting it to a mound of dirt, and coming back with wheelbarrows-full of dry dirt. Heavy work. More rain. So you do it again. You. Well, and the mosquitoes. I agree that there are glorious days in the spring here, but in my view they don't a season make. But all-around it's still a fabulous place to live for the climate.