It would be beneficial to sit for an afternoon or two with someone who's done it and is willing to talk about it. Most of the recent technology is pretty weak

It would be beneficial to sit for an afternoon or two with someone who's done it and is willing to talk about it. Most of the recent technology is pretty weak compared to 100 years ago. This is what my cordless drill looks like: imgur.com/ZWCcuyr.jpg. As I mentioned elsewhere here, I did _everything_ wrong when I moved rural. Much of ESR's Art of Unix Programming is a blueprint for self sufficient living if you squint a bit. Begin collecting pre-WWII farm tools ASAP. Sell most everything you currently own before you move - it's worse than useless. Understand something - at some point you will become angry about how you used to live. It's okay. At some point you won't be able to visit a city without feeling a deep pity for the people living there. That's okay too. You may reach the point where you know you can't return to city living, because the people are crazy. They will feel the same way about you by that time. By then, there's no going back. You will have learned the difference between civilization and domestication. Good luck.