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Maybe they have saved enough from working in tech that they can grow vegetables for themselves in a very low scale way. Its nice to escape from the career you'v
by miah_ 2y ago
Maybe they have saved enough from working in tech that they can grow vegetables for themselves in a very low scale way. Its nice to escape from the career you've had for decades. Sometimes its not even an escape from the career, but the career and the city you've lived in. Moving to the forest and growing some vegetables and raising chickens isn't that difficult. You certainly don't need "millions in equipment". Its exactly what I did.
I found it difficult to get a job in tech at the start of COVID after working in it for ~25 years. I moved to Michigan, and now live in the woods. My Cost of Living is a fraction of what it was. My mortgage is only 80% of what I was paying for rent in the SFBay area. Its peaceful and quiet here. It actually gets dark too. I no longer hear BART screeching on the rails at 2am or the constant flow of traffic. I.. do once again work in tech though at a much 'smaller' scale. My company is small and work demands don't dominate my life. I have balance.
This year I've planted ~200 onions, ~100 potatoes, ~100 garlic, ~60 strawberry. I have blueberry from a few years back starting to flourish. I have wild blackberry, and mushrooms galore. "touching grass" is a daily activity as we manage our small flock of chickens.
- igleria 2y agoI wanna be you! problem is probably 15 years or more until it's feasible to me due to current salary, savings and country.
- FredPret 2y agoNever give up - all three of salary, savings, and country can change dramatically for the better.
- godzillabrennus 2y agoThe woman who ran PR for Chicago Tribune did the same thing with her husband. She now has a small farm in Michigan. She runs a PR agency from the farm. I personally couldn’t do it… I prefer loud noises and bright lights but I lived in Rincon Hill and Times Square at various times…
- jader201 2y ago> I personally couldn’t do it… I prefer loud noises and bright lights How old are you? You don’t have to answer, but I’m guessing you’re probably not past 45. At some point, you start to prefer quiet. I haven’t lived in a really large city, but have been around noise enough that I’m hoping our next move will distance us from neighbors and highway noise. And yes, maybe we’ll have a farm animal or two.
- selectodude 2y agoI grew up all my life in a major city. The quiet and tranquility of a small town freak me out. For somebody who’s never lived in a city, you’re making quite a few assumptions.
- coldtea 2y agoAs somebody who lives in a multi-million city, every second person I talk to wants to move to the country, and it definitely much stronger tendency after around 30-35+. It doesn't matter if the parent's assumptions are "quite a few" or don't match you, what matters is if they match a big segment of the population to be statistically useful. There are always outliers who love to grow old in a big city and have their ashes scaterred in the middle of Manhattan.
- ethbr1 2y agoThe only set we should really be listening to are people who both: - Lived in a big city - Lived in a rural community Otherwise, everyone always thinks the grass is greener, absent experience with the alternative. Or as I heard it quipped -- you don't love something for it's best bits; you love it because you can tolerate its worst bits.
- pastaguy1 2y agoFunny comment about it being dark in Michigan. My feeling here in the summer is like, will the sun ever set (somewhat light out until almost 10pm depending on location)? I know what you mean, of course.
- epolanski 2y agoReversely it's gonna get dark at 4pm in winter. It's the same in Poland, in this period of the year the sunset is at 10 pm and dusk at 11.
- miah_ 2y agoYa, the sun is out quite late right now =) My chickens don't want to go to bed! But then the sun goes down, and you can see _EVERY_ star in the sky. When I walk my trashcan out to the street, its pitch black. I LOVE it.
- sneak 2y agoI grew up in Michigan. I live in Berlin now, and it’s light to 11:30pm and I can read on my balcony in natural light at 4:30am.
- rob74 2y agoWell, seeing that most of Germany is further North than Michigan (southernmost latitute of Germany ~47°, northernmost latitude of Michigan ~48°, that sounds correct. If you think about how most of Europe is at the same latitude as Canada, you really start to appreciate how important the Gulf Stream is for our climate...
- FireBeyond 2y agoNBA... Toronto Raptors had/have a big campaign around "We The North". Except whenever they came to Portland to play the Trailblazers, the arena commentators would mock it with signs like "We The North-er" etc. Portland is just over 2 degrees further north than Toronto.
- mdip 2y ago
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- totemandtoken 2y agoIt's always interesting to hear from people who moved to Michigan because the better part of my adult life has been devoted to getting out of Michigan. It sounds like you have a peaceful life though
- hammyhavoc 2y agoEveryone else's grass is always greener it seems.
- cryptonector 2y agoNot in west Texas I'll tell you that!
- hammyhavoc 2y agoMy cousin desperately wants to move from Canada to West Texas! The other cous lives in Chile, I live in the UK, my aunt and uncle live in France. There's no pleasing some folks! ;- )
- scruple 2y agoI grew up in Ohio, and I did grow up on a farm for the first part of my life, and I worked like hell to get out of there and I'd never go back, but somehow a small farm in Michigan has become an idea in my brain, too.
- miah_ 2y agoI grew up here and left as soon as I turned 18! After living all over the US and trying out different cities and locales returning to Michigan made the most sense. Buying a home in the SFBay area isn't feasible unless you're willing to work multiple jobs or sell your soul to FAANG. Want a house? Get ready to replace: The foundation, the roof, the sewer lateral, oh and the addition wasn't done with a permit so its not to code at all. All for the low low price of $500k! On a lovely 1/4th acre plot, you'll be hearing your neighbor while they fart in the bathroom. What, you only got $500k? Don't worry, this other person here has $550k and they don't have a problem with the house need to be rebuilt! Oh I'm looking at $500k houses? I should be looking at 1.1mil houses to not deal with all those problems? Now I've got 1.1mil mortgage for 30 years. I don't want to work into my 70's for a house. Compared to... come to Michigan, you can get 5 acres for less than $300k and your house is functional, maybe it needs a new roof within 5 years. My mortgage is 15 years and will be paid off before that. I think "competition" is the big thing that drove me back home. I was tired of competing with my neighbors (people who live in the same city) for _everything_. I don't mind people, I loved meeting people in every city I lived. I just felt like I had to fight for every "inch" in most "big cities" (but especially SFBay area). It's very peaceful here. I love it. Maybe I'll go to the big lake (Michigan) later and swim.
- synergy20 2y agoMichigan might be cool in summer, what about winters? I need find a place for summer as I'm getting older and texas is just darn hot for 4 months in summer.
- uxp100 2y agoMichigan is not particularly cool in summer.
- miah_ 2y agoRight, it gets humid, but averages low ~80's. I'd honestly say its low ~70's, but this summer has been hot. I remember times when I was a child where it would still be snowing in May. Spring is also short, winter starts in October. I don't remember ever going out for Halloween without wearing a jacket, or where there wasn't cold rain or snow. Michigan summers are much much milder (and shorter) than Texas summers (I lived in Houston for a few years).
- basscomm 2y ago> Michigan might be cool in summer, what about winters? Michigan is also cool in the winter