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> I'd love to know where is considered 'far from civilization' on the continental US. There are many interpretations and levels of remoteness. In my case, I w

> I'd love to know where is considered 'far from civilization' on the continental US. There are many interpretations and levels of remoteness. In my case, I want to be away from the sights and sounds and crowds of anything that would be considered urban or suburban. My prime criteria is that I don't want to see another person unless I choose to. I don't want to see a road with cars on it, I don't want to see another house or any other man-made structure that isn't mine. Ideally I don't want to hear anyone else either, but I accept that I may hear things in the distance. I don't want to be a complete hermit, and I'm not a survivalist looking to be 100% self-sufficient. I want a small-to-midsized town about 30-60 minutes away. Something with a grocery store, gas station, and a post office or other place to receive deliveries. I don't want to be more than an hour away from doctors' offices or a hospital or urgent care. I don't want to be trapped by snow for weeks at a time. Saying "far from civilization" was a stretch. What I really mean is I don't want to have people all around me. And I don't want to be anywhere near cities and suburban sprawl. I don't want neighbors in any meaningful sense. Places I'm considering are Maine, Montana, northern Wisconsin, Upper Peninsula Michigan. I would absolutely consider parts of Canada, particularly northern BC. I don't have an easy path to Canadian citizenship, though. Before my Canadian girlfriend passed away last year, we had been planning to look for a secluded lakeside cabin or undeveloped land in BC. My requirements are dense forest (desert/plains states are right out) and water (lake or canoeable river) on the property itself. I can live with other people using the water, so long as it's not motorboats and a party scene.

thijson 2y ago
The further north you go, the larger the seasonal variation in sunlight. I've watched some video's of people living off grid in BC, they need a diesel generator for the winter months to get by.
- switchbak 2y ago
  This is also quite dependent on the microclimate: there's a number of places in the south of BC that get radically different levels of solar radiation. Kelowna for instance would be far better than North Vancouver for a solar setup. By and large most of BC wasn't economic enough to justify solar as a replacement for grid power, but I haven't checked those numbers in a while. We do have relatively cheap hydro power, so there's not a hugely strong incentive either. There's other reasons that might justify an install however, especially for off-grid folks.
  - thijson 2y ago
    This was the guy I watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZyZNRYezA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZyZNRYezA
    - switchbak 2y ago
      That's exactly the kind of info I'm interested in, thanks for the link.
lanstin 2y ago
I find this fascinating. It really does take a variety of people to make up a culture. My ideal living situation includes being able to see someone I know every time I walk out side my home, being able to walk to a bagel shop, a grocery store, a post office, a train station, and ideally a library and bike shop and parks. It would be boring if we were all like me and clumped together.
- caymanjim 2y ago
  I've lived like that. I lived in the Mission in San Francisco with four of my closest friends (all from NJ) within walking distance. It was great being able to meet up for lunch or drinks or go out clubbing, it was always a pleasant surprise to run into them randomly on the street or in a park. I lived in midtown Manhattan and I loved being able to go out at 3am in the middle of the winter and find a fresh produce stand on the corner outside my apartment, get falafel wraps and Ethiopian and Thai and sushi and all the other great food during my lunch break, and have museums and concerts and Broadway shows within walking distance. I lived in the Cayman Islands and had a roommate, could walk to the beach and to my favorite bars, my house was the primary hangout spot for all my friends. I was socializing daily there, and it was a small community where I knew just about everyone everywhere I went. I'm old now. I don't drink anymore. I have no interest in parties. Even when I live in or near a city, I don't take advantage of much of anything it has to offer. I'm sick of the noise and filth and crowds, the crime and homelessness, the lack of privacy that comes with urban living. All my friends are older, have kids, live in the suburbs and are scattered all over the country. The eight months of the year that I'm not on the road in my RV, I'm living in a cookie-cutter suburban house and have no local friends at all. I exchange pleasantries with the neighbors. My entire social life is online now, and when I can, I'm traveling. I want maximum peace and quiet. I'll go visit friends and family every couple months if I want to socialize. If/when I do settle down at my far-from-civilization objective, I may very well start feeling lonely and seek out social clubs or social hobbies. But I'll be glad to have my seclusion to return to.
  - hattmall 2y ago
    Why are you looking at such cold places for the off grid living? Lots of remote forested areas in Georgia and Alabama, but I can also understand opposition to the heat. I would give a lot consideration to TN and NC mountains.
gcanyon 2y ago
>don't want to be more than an hour away from urgent care If it's an hour away, does it really qualify as "urgent" care?
- salad-tycoon 2y ago
  Think you can keep a finger or hand on ice for a few hours. Should be “fine.” Aneurysm, MI, stroke? Not so fine but, call of the wild.
  - lanstin 2y ago
    urgent care vs. emergency room.
- spockz 2y ago
  Also, if you need a doctor or ambulance to come to you it first needs to drive the hour up and then another hour to an hospital. But maybe that type of care works differently when distances are so large. Are helicopters used? Large distances for planned care is probably manageable. For urgent care not so much. Living alone also means not having someone else that can signal the emergency services when something is wrong.
  - _DeadFred_ 2y ago
    We have http://lifeflight.org http://lifeflight.org in the Rocky Mountain West. $85 a year. I wish they would expand into ground service in my area so I didn't have to worry about ambulance bills. Maybe pick up a personal anti choking device (https://www.amazon.com/anti-choking-device/s?k=anti+choking+device https://www.amazon.com/anti-choking-device/s?k=anti+choking+...) as well.
    - gcanyon 2y ago
      I was curious since I'd never seen that thing, so I watched the video: that looks useful only if you have someone to apply it to you. Seems like there'd be a market for an automatic one where all you have to do is push a button and then smash it into your face.
mattclarkdotnet 2y ago
Nannup, Western Australia. Or maybe Pemberton. Sorry I know you probably want somewhere in the US, but it really does tick all your boxes
zhynn 2y ago
My town has about 500 people, but the really active community is about 50-100 that will show up at the various things we do. I am 30 minutes from grocery stores, and 3 hours from boston or montreal. I have fiber internet because the residents got sick of the telecoms and we built our own. And the forest is more dense than Montana (where I grew up), and doesn't light on fire every summer. Please come to VT. :) Also, I a bought a ramshackle building at auction that I am turning into a community workshop. It will be fun!

thijson 2y ago

The further north you go, the larger the seasonal variation in sunlight. I've watched some video's of people living off grid in BC, they need a diesel generator for the winter months to get by.

switchbak 2y ago
This is also quite dependent on the microclimate: there's a number of places in the south of BC that get radically different levels of solar radiation. Kelowna for instance would be far better than North Vancouver for a solar setup. By and large most of BC wasn't economic enough to justify solar as a replacement for grid power, but I haven't checked those numbers in a while. We do have relatively cheap hydro power, so there's not a hugely strong incentive either. There's other reasons that might justify an install however, especially for off-grid folks.
- thijson 2y ago
  This was the guy I watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZyZNRYezA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZyZNRYezA
  - switchbak 2y ago
    That's exactly the kind of info I'm interested in, thanks for the link.

lanstin 2y ago

I find this fascinating. It really does take a variety of people to make up a culture. My ideal living situation includes being able to see someone I know every time I walk out side my home, being able to walk to a bagel shop, a grocery store, a post office, a train station, and ideally a library and bike shop and parks. It would be boring if we were all like me and clumped together.

caymanjim 2y ago
I've lived like that. I lived in the Mission in San Francisco with four of my closest friends (all from NJ) within walking distance. It was great being able to meet up for lunch or drinks or go out clubbing, it was always a pleasant surprise to run into them randomly on the street or in a park. I lived in midtown Manhattan and I loved being able to go out at 3am in the middle of the winter and find a fresh produce stand on the corner outside my apartment, get falafel wraps and Ethiopian and Thai and sushi and all the other great food during my lunch break, and have museums and concerts and Broadway shows within walking distance. I lived in the Cayman Islands and had a roommate, could walk to the beach and to my favorite bars, my house was the primary hangout spot for all my friends. I was socializing daily there, and it was a small community where I knew just about everyone everywhere I went. I'm old now. I don't drink anymore. I have no interest in parties. Even when I live in or near a city, I don't take advantage of much of anything it has to offer. I'm sick of the noise and filth and crowds, the crime and homelessness, the lack of privacy that comes with urban living. All my friends are older, have kids, live in the suburbs and are scattered all over the country. The eight months of the year that I'm not on the road in my RV, I'm living in a cookie-cutter suburban house and have no local friends at all. I exchange pleasantries with the neighbors. My entire social life is online now, and when I can, I'm traveling. I want maximum peace and quiet. I'll go visit friends and family every couple months if I want to socialize. If/when I do settle down at my far-from-civilization objective, I may very well start feeling lonely and seek out social clubs or social hobbies. But I'll be glad to have my seclusion to return to.
- hattmall 2y ago
  Why are you looking at such cold places for the off grid living? Lots of remote forested areas in Georgia and Alabama, but I can also understand opposition to the heat. I would give a lot consideration to TN and NC mountains.

gcanyon 2y ago

>don't want to be more than an hour away from urgent care If it's an hour away, does it really qualify as "urgent" care?

salad-tycoon 2y ago
Think you can keep a finger or hand on ice for a few hours. Should be “fine.” Aneurysm, MI, stroke? Not so fine but, call of the wild.
- lanstin 2y ago
  urgent care vs. emergency room.
spockz 2y ago
Also, if you need a doctor or ambulance to come to you it first needs to drive the hour up and then another hour to an hospital. But maybe that type of care works differently when distances are so large. Are helicopters used? Large distances for planned care is probably manageable. For urgent care not so much. Living alone also means not having someone else that can signal the emergency services when something is wrong.
- _DeadFred_ 2y ago
  We have http://lifeflight.org http://lifeflight.org in the Rocky Mountain West. $85 a year. I wish they would expand into ground service in my area so I didn't have to worry about ambulance bills. Maybe pick up a personal anti choking device (https://www.amazon.com/anti-choking-device/s?k=anti+choking+device https://www.amazon.com/anti-choking-device/s?k=anti+choking+...) as well.
  - gcanyon 2y ago
    I was curious since I'd never seen that thing, so I watched the video: that looks useful only if you have someone to apply it to you. Seems like there'd be a market for an automatic one where all you have to do is push a button and then smash it into your face.

mattclarkdotnet 2y ago

Nannup, Western Australia. Or maybe Pemberton. Sorry I know you probably want somewhere in the US, but it really does tick all your boxes

zhynn 2y ago

My town has about 500 people, but the really active community is about 50-100 that will show up at the various things we do. I am 30 minutes from grocery stores, and 3 hours from boston or montreal. I have fiber internet because the residents got sick of the telecoms and we built our own. And the forest is more dense than Montana (where I grew up), and doesn't light on fire every summer. Please come to VT. :) Also, I a bought a ramshackle building at auction that I am turning into a community workshop. It will be fun!