Ever felt like packing up all you own and move to the mountains?

[wtpops]

Arkansas.....fast paced, im retiring and moving to Arkansas early next year to enjoy the slow pace you have there......God don't come to California your head will blowup      

[Bill Kissner]

I have actually been doing this for 48 years....but only in the summer and fall. We packed up the kids in 1965 and spent time in CO, and hunted mule deer that August. It became a yearly thing that charged our batteries. Since retiring we usually leave IL in June and return in early October after hunting season. Our place is 15 miles from the highway and at 9200' without any utilities at all and surrounded by national forest. Needless to say. we really hate to leave and come home. It is such a joy to be in a remote location for a few months.

[joe ashton]

I love my life, wife and job but it is a fun fantasy.
Probably would be so fun to actually do it.

[yukon chuck]

Every day.
Maybe someday.
Just can't do it today.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Nope.  I'm way too addicted to things like good dental care.

Jim Hamm made a heck of a point when he said that its the ability to move between the two worlds that make us appreciate both the modern and the primitive.

[randy grider]

Relax, you dont have to sell everything and move. you can dump the cell phone,internet, cable TV, even the TV for that matter, and stay right where you are. A garden can be raised in a very small place, and chances are you can get by with one car, if close to work and stores, no car. Most folks if they wanted could pay off a home mortgage on a modest home quicker than you think if they would just tally up what they blow and put it on the house payment. We have most things just because we want them, not because we need them.

[randy grider]

I love to get away too, but its not allways what its cracked up to be. I still have relatives that lived basically like Daniel Boone,And I have some experiences with it as well. That life is not as enjoyable as you think. working hard all summer to raise a garden, fighting varmints to enable you to store enough to last the winter.Growing,harvesting, and canning/preserving food is a lot of work.Living in a primitive home in the dead of winter is no piece of cake either. Imagine getting up in the morning to 20 degrees in the house,stoking up the fire and than wading through the snow in even colder temps to sit down on an icecold outhouse seat.Cutting and splitting wood takes most of you're time, hunting,trapping,and fishing is a neccessity, not a sport. If you aint catching or killing, you're starving! Trust me, there would be no lazy lounging around, you would work way harder than you do now. My uncle was once asked by a younger person "Wasn't that depression a horrible thing to live through"? His response was "What are you talking about? we lived like we allways did, we didn't know we were in a depression ! We had no money before,during,or after the depression ! "

[Biathlonman]

That's how I'm going to spent my retirement.  Just need to make enough money now to pay for it.

[David Yukon]

Randy got it right!! Don't ask me how I know!

[Stumpkiller]

Not totally living off the mountain but we are only semi-grid.  We can heat the house and water with the wood off the property.  Raise chickens, turkey, and the occasional sheep and goats for meat.  THE ADMIRAL spins the wool off the sheep.

Three gardens keep us well stocked with vegetables - four gallons of sauerkraut pickling in the celler at the moment.

We cooked supper tonight on the wood stove in the living room.  Last night Sandy saw to it the power was off so we lit the oil lamp wall sconces in the living room and read.

Our "big" TV is a 19" deep tube that we use to watch the news.  

Still drive 20 miles into town to work, but keep one foot in the hills.  

My "modern" hunting implements are flintlocks when the bow isn't providing.

[manitou1]

Only when I'm not sleeping!!!  At least 20-30 times daily since I was about 9... 42 years now I've been dreaming about living in the mountains.  My wife is from Wyoming and we vacation there each summer. It is like leaving home when we come back to Missouri. We are heart broken and depressed for weeks!

Dang, where does time go?  If we could just do it over, huh?  

[manitou1]

One of my favorite quotes Canyon.  I have it posted on my desk... have for years.  It was written by John Stuart Mills.  Good stuff.

[cahaba]

I don't live in the mountains but I do live in the woods. I told my wife the other day that it was getting crowded around here. I have a neighbor that is only a mile away. My wife said if I wanted to move to a more remote area she would follow me anywhere. I'm sure remote living isn't for sissies and it would be a tough transition. But I think it would be worth it.

[mark stella]

Just spent 3 days in downtown D.C.
Sure made me appreciate my small town here in Athens WV. We have only one stop light,deer in the town limits, and it is quite nice to drive to our local store in the morning for a cup of Joe and sit on the liars bench for the latest news. Only traffic problem we have is the school zone in the morning and afternoon. Got to love small towns. Its a good place...

[Bivyhunter]

Fujimo

You're right, that is the coolest movie you'll ever see if you're even remotely interested in the dream of living off of the land. Alone in the Wilderness will inspire even the ones that are tethered by their electrical cords. If you haven't seen it, you can pick it up from Bob Swerer Productions (808)737-0239, I highly recommend it. There is also a book that Richard Proenneke (the guy in the movie) wrote that, I believe it is the same title. Some awesome photography in it. An amazing story! Makes me want to relocate! Oh yeah, my wife and I are leaving for Iowa tomorrow and stopping in Colorado for a few days, shopping for a new zip code! Guess anything can happen when you put your mind to it!

[GRINCH]

Every day,it's my escape from the realty that is my Job,one day if money permits,but if it doesn't I'll go home to Oklahoma and live the good life.

[Dave Lay]

Originally posted by wtpops:
Arkansas.....fast paced, im retiring and moving to Arkansas early next year to enjoy the slow pace you have there......God don't come to California your head will blowup                    

agreed !! I'm in a medium sized town in Arkansas at the foothills of the ozarks, I promise its ALOT slower paced than alot of places, but life will consume ya if ya let it,  no matter where ya live, i had a cabin in the mts, adjoining a wilderness area to get away in, but found i wasnt going there that much and sold it, i was pretty content being so close to the mtns and rivers that are close to home. when at the cabin i was kinda anchored to that area and seemed to always be working, now i can go to diffrent areas and not have the work and such to deal with,I work 9 hrs a day and commute 75 miles one way to work
 daily and i can get a "mountian fix" every weekend . i had a friend move to Colorado for the reasons you are describing only to have the cost of living eat him up, it wasnt what they thought it would be and moved back, there are some great areas in Arkansas to get away from it all...the daily stress is part of life, ya just have to control it the best ya can... with that said, would i love to get back to the basics and away from all the BS ? you bet ! but thats difficult any more  so i just take it in pieces as i can....

[tmccall]

I think about it every day!  Especially this time of year...

[GRINCH]

Well said Dave,even in a small town life can overwhelm you,we all take the pieces life gives us.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I thought about it once.   :rolleyes: