Transition to the country

My only suggestion is to remember that everyone else was there before you.

There are more than enough 'city folk' who move into an area, and act like they have the right to run the entire county. Just because you bought 3 acres in the country, it doesn't mean that you have the right to let your dogs run free, play rock music until 3 am every morning, invite everyone in your heavy metal band to "come jam at my place", or drive your newly financed four-wheeler across every open field and half of the woods you see.

I might also caution you to not speak with negative words after you move to your new place. We once had a wealthy woman move to our little town from NYC, and I swear, I never once heard that woman speak a positive word about our community.

Instead of saying, "this town has no culture, and nothing to do" and "that little hick library has nothing in it", she should have organized some free community activities, maybe like a jazz music night, a blues music night, and a 'Foods of the World' festivity, and paid for those events with sponsor money, or pass the hat. The small, grass roots events, if run right, are the best, and grow the fastest.

As for her comments on the library, she should have either volunteered, or become a member of the board.

This community is very accepting of people no matter where they are from, or what kind of accent they carry, but I'll tell ya, any accent, when tied to an ultra negative person, with a severe condescending tone, will grate on most people's nerves.

A little respect goes a long, long way.

When a young child, I lived on a 90 acre farm/ranch in Oregon with my grandparents. I spent a lot of time there growing up, even while living in small towns, then some cities. As a young adult, I lived in major cities, but never could stand the noise. I wanted to move out to the country, but #1 DH wasn't going for that. He was a city guy through and through. Between #1 and #2, I moved to a smaller town, to a quiet neighborhood. Once I married DH#2, we had common goals and finally we want to remain the rest of our lives. It is so quiet here, I just love it! We are in the foothills of the Olympics, but very close to farms and agriculture.

__________________

Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

Both DH and I spent half of our lives in a city and the other half in a small town growing up - albeit under completely different circumstances. We spent about 5 years planning our move to a rural area because DH was still working and I think it well paid off. We found a general area we liked and came here 2-3 times a year for a couple of weeks to look for properties. We got to make friends during that time and we got to know the geography. I would say that if you do not have a lot of time to plan your move, I think you should rent a place first and see how you like it. Not just being away from shops, hospitals, etc. but also to get to figure out where exactly you want to settle down.

I think the best advice so far you got is that it is important to be respectful and accepting of local culture. It does not apply to just moving from city to a rural area but to anywhere with a different culture. I have spent years living in different countries on different continents and you are not going to be accepted well if you try to push your traditions/culture on others who are perfectly happy with what they are doing. If you are accepting, you will be accepted.

My wife and I were lifelong suburb dwellers up until this May. Then we moved to our new place that is 15 minutes from a town of 15K and an hour from 2 cities of 100K+. I'll bullet some of the stuff we've learned in the past few months.

- Church, get involved we have met many friends and started to become part of the community faster than anything else we could have done.

- Folks out here aren't pretentious, none of my neighbors look down on me for my little ten acre spot and are more than willing to help. I've got neighbors that own 400 acres with a half mile of river frontage and they consider me just as much a part of this community as anyone else.

- Internet, get ready to pay out the butt or look into dial-up. We can't get Cable or DSL this far out, and the WISP's signal stops about 2 miles from us. We looked into dial-up but the death of copper phone lines has hit our area hard. A copper line phone would have cost us $40 a month. Luckily we have good Verizon 4G LTE coverage so we bundled our phones with their Homefusion and have had pretty good luck but we have 14GB's for the month.

- Bugs, they never stop. My wife was adamant about no pesticides on the homestead. That lasted about a month. In the next month I think I've put down about 37,000 gallons of perimeter defense around the house. We've accepted the fact that bugs rule the outside. We'll be happy if we can claim the house back from the bugs.

- Their is always something to do. In the suburbs I would set goals for myself to accomplish, out here I just decide how long I'm going to work that day and know when to call it a day. As other posters have said you usually end up doing 5 jobs to get to the one job your trying to do.

- The country is not quiet, it's just a different more pleasant noise. Lots of bugs, animals, sodium lights, tractors, chainsaws, gunshots, cows, donkeys, cicadas. The wind can actually be deafening when it's blowing through the trees.

That's what I can think of at the moment, and I've gotta go. I need to feed the kids, and other animals, get to church, and clean up the house a little. I'll leave you with this it has been a steep learning curve for us and we wish we had done it sooner. This is the lifestyle for our little family.

__________________
"American Soldiers in battle don't fight for what some president says on T.V., they don't fight for mom, apple pie, the American Flag...they fight for one another."
- LTG Hal Moore

Hi 'Catcher' ! I hail from the same area as you, almost! I grew up in the Merrimac Valley, at the crossroads of 495, 93, and 213. I've been in the middle of knowwhere (pun intended) for about forever,(ok 12 years) and it is a great place to live. Real estate is dirt inexpensive, there is plenty of room to spread your elbows, and the people are great. And commute times? I hear locals here complain about a 50 mile commute taking an hour. They have no idea about the drive time on 93 on a low traffic day, never mind during mind rush hour.

I wish you great luck on your new adventure. Please keep us informed on your progress.

And don't be hesitant to ask for advice/help. We are all in this together.

Peace,
Curtis

. . '

. . '

I never said this!

In my experience being fromBoston this is not how southerners are commonly perceived...

If you don't like isolation it'll get to you. I didn't have a problem. I like isolation.

In a small community, some things to keep in mind:

-- Assume everyone knows everyone. Don't speak ill of others without a very good reason, because you don't know how everyone's related, who is best friends with who, etc.

-- LISTEN when people indicate they dislike someone else, and then decide if the reasons are valid. Find out why someone is being badmouthed before you judge them, and get the story from more than one source. Is it because they're a thief and have ripped off half the county, or is it because they're gay or a funny religion or because they had a spat with the wrong -- influential -- neighbor and that neighbor trashed their rep, even though they were in the right?

-- Everything moves slower, as people have indicated. We refer to it as "Payson Time" around here, but it's much the same in any rural community.

-- Don't judge people by their appearance. That scruffy old guy with a long beard, dirty holey jeans, a ratty baseball cap, and boots with holes in the soles might be the town drunk, or he might just have come into town from plowing his multi-million-dollar farm and he has more money and education than you do. He could also be the town drunk AND dad, grandpa, uncle, cousin, brother, son, or friend to half the county, so treat him with respect.

-- Talk to the "old timers" whenever you get a chance. Get them talking about the community and telling old stories, and take mental notes.

-- Don't tick people off unnecessarily. I lived in a community for a long time where the local telephone repairman was notorious for being a jerk, and lazy, and not doing his job well. He had something bad to say about everyone when he did come out -- one time when he was fixing a problem at my house, he spent the entire time badmouthing the "illegal Mexicans" who lived next door to me, completely ignoring the fact that I'd told him they were my friends and they were LEGAL US residents. Anyway, one day, he got his truck stuck in the mud. Not ONE person would help him. Even the local tow truck driver refused to pull him out. He had to get a tow truck from Phoenix, 50 miles away, to get free. A neighbor who had a tractor and could easily have helped him point-blank told him why nobody would help (I was lucky enough to be there when the guy explained this in a slow drawl -- it was hilarious) but most of the time, people will just avoid you or make life difficult for you in turn.

-- Make an effort to build up good will with your neighbors. This means helping them with projects, inviting them over for dinner, taking them extra vegetables from the garden or an extra loaf of bread or pie*, and just generally being a good neighbor. Offering a helping hand with work is a HUGE way to make friends.

-- Don't get too territorial about your property boundaries. There's a difference between strangers walking across your property, and neighbors cutting across to get from point A to point B. A really quick way to tick people off is to move in and slap "no trespassing" signs up every few feet on your border. It makes you look unfriendly. ("No hunting" is different.)

-- Respect other's property. Ask permission before walking across someone else's land. Yes, this is a double standard, but it's just the courteous thing to do and will win you points with the neighbors for asking.

-- Remember that just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's always morally right. You may win a legal fight, but if the locals think you're a jerk, they can make life pretty miserable for you.

(*Do make sure you can actually bake if you take baked goods to your neighbors. We have one neighbor lady who's very sweet, bless her heart, but even the chickens wouldn't eat the last cake she brought us.)

I stand corrected. I was led astray by some of the comments by other posters. Sorry to imply this was your attitude.

__________________
* I'm supposed to respect my elders, but its getting harder and harder for me to find one. .*-

This was all very interesting. I'm starting to think I can't consider myself country anymore. lol We are just 20mins from the capitol of the state and we are just 45mins from Ft Collins, CO. Plenty of everything around here. Here the landowners are the wealthy ones here.

Forget about education and any of that other stuff. First thing you need to learn is how to shoot critters from your back porch in your under pants!


Farm junkie

The biggest mistake I see people make is they move to the country and then try to make it like the city they just left. Most of the time things are like they are in a given area because that is how the people who live there want them. Like has been pointed out make yourself a part of the community and no, you will probably not be accepted right away, but you will never be accepted if you don't try to be a part of the community. Most country people will help you in any way they can as long as you are polite and ask, if you try to "force" them they push about like a chain. Get use to having to wait because someone is moving their farming equipment to the next field, that neighbors stop in the middle of the road to talk, realize that dogs bark, roosters crow and shooting guns is a recreational activity that doesn't require the involvement of law enforcement. I guess in the end, if you want to be accepted, don't do things that go against the cultural grain for the area you are in.

Yes, and see how accessible your local police are and how the county is run. Check voting records to see if your new neighbors are like-minded.

Nicely said....

Also, don't complain that there are no sidewalks, no streetlights, no local police, not enough variety of stores, etc. If you still would like to have those types of amenities, stay in the city.

I actually knew someone who's wife complained that the deer were pooping in her front yard and made hubby go out with a pooper scooper to clean up after the deer. I pointed out to hubby that he might be able to stop pooper scooping after the deer if he got rid of the 55 gallon drum cut lengthwise that was full of cracked corn.

Lots of good advice has been given by others. Follow it and enjoy the country life or don't and it could wind up being something like this....



The choice is yours.

TRellis

I remember that movie!

Lots of good info in this thread