Homesteading----Alone

[PD-Riverman]

How many Homestead alone? (This Post Might should have been put in the Singles Forum, but I wanted it here) I have wasted several years hoping to find "The One" that would Share my interest of Living Somewhat off the Land, Solar electric, wood heat and stove, grow "Most" of what we eat. At 52 I am not getting any younger, but I am still in Good Health and Very Active. The Thought of "Making The Move" alone is just not a Happy Thought. I do live(sleep and shower) in a Camper off grid(solar) now and have been for 6 years, but I still cook, wash clothes etc in my On-Grid Shop. I do own a Nice brick home and a few other rentals, but I chose to live the way I do. I have the Material(Lumber, Blocks) to build my Cabin on the back of my property next to a beaver made lake, but I have been putting it off for several years---Just Waiting. I Just Wanted to Do This With Someone Special in my Life. Being I have my Water well already and Good Size Array of Solar Panels---I feel I have enough food stored also with the up coming garden, my chickens, rabbits, fish etc, to eat a long time. I am sure I will have to pick up a few things from the store, but not alot for a year or so. To Make things Clear Here---------I Don't Need a Woman to do things for Me-------I have just always Wanted a Woman to Share life with and have dated several, but none worked out.
The ones of you that do Homestead alone on Property that is some distance from the neighbor-----do you worry about something happening and no one finding you for days? I feel that when using a tractor/farm equipment/sawmill/building a building alone can be dangerous at times-----Accidents Happen----Even though I carry My Cell Phone All the Time I still worry. I have recently decided to build a Good Size Family Cook House for Big Family get togethers, with "Living quarters" Off Grid next to where I want my Cabin, Live in it till "The One" comes along then build the Cabin, but still the thought of doing it alone makes me keep putting it off. Guess I Worry To Much and Need to hear From Some of you "Pro's" that live alone. Thanks For Listening and your replies!

[Bonnie L]

I'm not alone now, but I put off my move to the country because I was afraid I couldn't do it alone. Then after marriage, kids, & major health issues (concerning 3 out of the 4 of us) we ended up putting it off for a few more years - like 13 years!

Now I'm in a position with an older dh that I will most likely end up alone again - but I've learned a lot since then. At my age there are some things I won't do by myself, but there are other things I now have experience in & know I can do them alone.

In other words - follow your heart.

[cathleenc]

well, I don't live alone but my husband is gone about 40% of the time on work and I'm here with 2 little kids and about 50 animals. I recently wrenched my back and could not carry the multiple 5 gallon buckets of water needed each day - and called a neighbor for help. My good neighbor was over in minutes.

If I didn't have the possilibility of help I doubt I'd feel comfortable here in this situation. I do worry about things like slipping on the ice and the kids not knowing how to call 911.

When I was single I chose to stay in the city so I could find my special person. Living in the boonies, while my dream, seemed to isolating when my very strong goal was to marry and have a family.

Best of luck in finding your dream!

[Morning Owl]

I homestead alone. I have a BF (been with him almost 6 yrs) but he is not interested in the homesteading life style. He likes being a suberbanite (sp) which works for him. He does help me get wood in every summer along with my friends. I have alot of friends that love to come up to my cabin and have barbaques and enjoy being in the mountains. If you are worried about getting hurt and no one knowing I would sugest making a deal with a friend. Tell them you will call them every night at XXX time to check in. If they don't hear from you they should call you. If you do not answer that means some thing is wrong. That's the deal my BF and I made when I was looking at land that was really far back in the woods. Yes it would be nice to have a partner that enjoyed homesteading but I also like having my place to myself. I worried about falling and no one finding me for days, but it's more likely that I get in a car reck on my way to work.

[nehimama]

You know, you are NOT getting any younger, PD Riverman, and I don't say that to be mean. (I'm 55, so, okay. You're a LITTLE bit younger than me!) If you want your dream, you'd better hop to it, or you'll be out of time.

I fully understand your longing for a mate to share the dream with, as I am on my own as well. But, if I were to hang back, waiting for a soulmate to share my life with, I'd wake up one morning and find myself still alone, and still nothing done that I'd wanted to do.

Please don't put your life or your dream on hold. The Someone Special may very well be out there, waiting to find you as well. But if you wait for both to be yours simultaneously, you may find yourself bereft of both.

Hang in there, don't stop looking, but don't put things on hold, either.

Just my two cents, for what it's worth.

NeHi

[Wolf mom]

I always found if you're happy with yourself, doing what you want to do, people will admire your lifestyle and want to share your happiness.

I'm a lot older than you, living alone & happy doing so. Yes, there is always the concern of injury or illness, but that comes with anything you do. I like the challenge of trying to stretch myself & learn I can do something I'd never have thought of doing when I was younger.

I can't wait to retire so I can do what I love full time rather than having to spend 40 hours a week working to support my lifestyle.

I believe you have to be true to yourself & do what you want to do. Do you really want to grow old regretting that you never tried?

[whiterock]

Since the ex hit the road, I am here alone, I grew up here and now have a house that is 10 years old built after the fire destroyed the one I grew up in. I have had a couple of heart spells, but I keep the cell handy when I am outside. I have a GF, but she has her own home and we like it that way. I'm still not too trusting of women after what happened to me.

I would say to go ahead and do what you want to do, you never know who will come along or when, if it is right it is right. I would go with the idea of the family room thing myself, since My kids and grandkids show up pretty often, and I like to have a big group out now and again.

Ed

[billooo2]

I find it interesting that you did not post this question to the singles that are doing this....????

I am alone........and the thought of having an accident has occurred to me......and I have no cell phone coverage where I live. I try to avoid doing much outside after dark just for that reason.

Just a thought.......if you meet a woman that is interested in the living the lifestyle that you want to live........Would she be more interested in someone actually doing it??....or someone "waiting" to do it???? (Just my opinion, but I think it would be someone actually doing it.)

Know what your dreams and goals are.....and move toward accomplishing them.........if someone is on a similar path, then that would be terrific. But if you are not on your path, how can your path cross with someone else's??

[PhilJohnson]

Lately I have been thinking about this subject. Right now I own 5 acres and a mobile home, but it is not as remote as I would like. I would like to move into the middle of nowhere and homestead if I could. I live off-grid at the moment, would continue to do so where ever I move to.

I have thought about being alone and accidents. I guess all you can do is cross your fingers and be careful. I have worked alone as both a farm hand and a forestry worker in the middle of nowhere and haven't had any close calls.... yet.

I live alone and I find the worst problem is boredom, especially during the winter. I tend not to do much when the temp gets below 20 degrees. It does get kind of lonely, I find having a pet helps as well as my faith.

I have pretty much given up on trying to find a girlfriend/wife. There are just not many women my age (twenties) that are interested in homesteading or living off the land, even less who would actually want to live that life style. I have pretty much accepted that I'll be single forever, it seems to run in the family.

I agree with nehimama that waiting around for that perfect somebody isn't worth putting your life on hold. Best of luck with your homestead plans.

[Oldcountryboy]

Don't know which would be the worse! Being alone on a homestead, or married on a homestead with someone who doesn't really share your ideal way of living.

It's kind of like, either way your still gonna be alone.

[Quint]

When I was planning on moving back to the homestead I was planning on building the house to suit my future wife and building the basement for her parents should the need arise. It was something we wanted to do together. Unfortunately while in the process of planning the move and our life together something tragic happened and I ended up making the move alone. I went ahead because if I'm gonna be alone, I'm gonna be alone somewhere I'm happy being. Living in town sure wasn't enjoyable.

Do I want to find a wife to share my life with? Of course. I'm not going to put everything else in my life on hold while I try to find her. (a difficult task in this day and age I assure you) I'll continue doing my thing here on the farm and when I find a suitable mate she'll move in here and enjoy it with me and we'll build a life together. No sense of waiting around and being miserable until that happens.

[piglady]

I agree with the others. Just do it! It doesn't mean you won't find someone after you move. In fact, it would be a test right up front to weed them out. If she doesn't like the way you live, she won't be back. But, my guess is there are lots of women who dream of this life but think they will never find anyone else like themselves. I'm married (33 yrs) but find that we have met so many wonderful friends through our lifestyle. If you intend to raise a product and sell it you will meet tons of people that way. Clean up, smile, and show up at the farmer's market and start selling to all those women who come there because that is as close as they can get to the "farmers." We have draft horses and have met our very best friends through plow days and club meetings. Our club has people of all ages and many are single. Host such an event on your place and you will meet so many people who enjoy what you enjoy. The key is to get busy living the kind of life you like and then find ways to bring like minded people together. Nature will take care of the rest. As for safety. There has to be at least one person who can partner with you to call (or receive a call) once a day, if only for a minute, to make sure you are alright. Just pick a time and say if I don't call by 8 then come see what's up. Good luck. I'm excited about your plans.

[Jennifer L.]

You can fill in the blank of "I am waiting for _____" with anything. Guess what, you get older anyway. You can wait and not do what you want to do, and be unfulfilled, or you can do it anyway. If a special someone comes along for you, are you both going to seriously regret that she wasn't there when you built your place? I doubt it. Do what you want to do now. If you wait too long something else in life will have intruded and you won't ever get done what you want to do.

I've found myself waiting for things in life to pass before moving on, and when I turned 50 I said, nope, not doing that one anymore. It's on the downhill side for me, time-wise, and waiting to do things is over. Now it's time for me to do the things I've wanted to do, or it will never happen. They may not be big or significant, but they are things that matter to me. I advise you to do the same.

Jennifer

[tn_junk]

I will be 51 this year and, if the Good Lord is willing, on a homestead by late fall of this year. I have decided that things are better for me alone. I am, by nature, pretty much a loner and truely value my solitude. Alone, nobody to have to negotiate with about stuff. Just do as I please.

alan

[fishhead]

I think your answers are in this thread. I would add this question. Would you be happier living your dream or waiting? Nothing attracts people like a contented person.

Lately I've been thinking about what would happen if I had an accident and what would happen to my animals. My last parent passed away last fall and now if it happened on a weekend it would be days before anyone noticed I was missing. I love to hike (100+ miles so far this winter) and most of it is far off the road so the chances of anyone finding me are pretty slim. It worries me that my dog would be left to fend for herself and my goats would be stuck in a pen with no food or water.

Could this thread be the dreaded midlife crisis I keep hearing about?

[Sand Flat Bob]

I notice that a big concern is that living alone you get hurt and have no way of getting help. Cell phones work, but if you can't get cell phone reception, you might use what my great aunt, great uncle and great great grandmother used when homesteading in South west Colorado around 1900. They had 3 ranches that each one lived on one ranch, it was up and down a mountain. No cell phones back then. But they did have line of sight and every day at a given time, (when the sun shined, which was most of the time,) they flashed each other with mirrors reflecting the sun. You can make up a code like two flashes every thing is ok, or 3 flashes or no flashes mean you need help. Crude but it worked. Other than each other, their nearest neighbor was a days ride on a horse away.
That is being isolated.

Bob

[rileyjo]

I had it all when I was married...the farmstead and the satisfaction of raising most of my food...but my family hated the lifestyle. That all fell apart and it's taken me 3 years to get back onto the land. Now I have it all back again and I feel very good about myself and the choices I made to get here. But, yes, I'm alone.

This is who I am. I won't be happy in my life trying to live any other way. Singletree is great because they are there for me when I have questions about going offgrid or whatever. I am really looking forward to meeting some like-minded people when we have our Singletree Campout in June. It fills a gap in my life, but I'm still free to live how I choose, surrounded by the things that are important to me.

It's a pretty friendly community here on the Island. I came home to a pile of wood in the driveway yesterday. I don't know who dropped it off, but I'll find out and pay them for it. They are big chunks, likely too big for someones stove so they sent it on to me, knowing that this farmhouse has a big, hungry woodfurnace. People look out for each other here, I doubt I'd go missing for very long. I do have to make some choices about safety tho. I invested in a better vehicle to tackle these icy, dark roads and I will probably buy firewood rather than run a chainsaw by myself to tackle a load of logs. Little choices that don't take away much, but protect my freedom and ability to live alone.

[jenofthewoods]

I guess it depends o how alone you are talking about.
If you mean alone as a significant other than yes I am. I do have my son who is 12 with me though so not technically alone.
My divorce was a nasty one (are there good divorces) so I am happy to be alone at least for a little while. I wouldnt want to stay this way obviously. And there are so many things I would love to do but either dont know how or not enough strength to do it so I need a man for. I never want to have to rely on a man for stability and financial means though. Been there done that and was out on my butt with nothing to show for it.

[HilltopDaisy]

I'm another single woman homesteading, just turned 50 in November. I've been here for 5 1/2 years. Sometimes I think it would be nice to meet someone, but being single wasn't enough to keep me from living my dream. I know if I really wanted to meet a man I'd have to go out there and find him, put some effort into it. I'm pretty content with my life the way it is, but I worry about my animals if something bad happened to me. Yes, accidents happen, but I try to be careful, and I try to remember to keep the cell phone with me at all times. I have great neighbors who have come to check on me numerous times over the years, but they aren't here in the winter months, and I get a bit lonely. I wouldn't wait if I were you.

[ridethatpony]

Go...do it right now..........

You may meet her at the lumber yard, while your getting supplies for the project you waited to work on.