I know, you can't run from reality but sometimes (more often lately) I just want to pack up everything I own, take the family and move to the biggest forrest and mountains that can be found; I live in a small town in Arkansas but get so sick of the day to day business and the so fast pace that we have made for ourselves;
What would it be like to live so simple, to live off the land, not have to pay for cell phones, internet, cable, the "junk" we have alllowed in our life, to pay for over half of what we buy that is made in china or other countries but be able to make/buy things made right here in the USA?
Thanks for letting me vent, I just get tired sometimes and my mind heads for the mountains making me wish that I was there.
:campfire:
I feel like this every day.
Yup
I think that everyday when I read all the emails I get at work telling me there's something else I have to do.
I live in Michigan. Why would I want to go to the mountains? :dunno: :D
I did once... in July 1977. I was 23 and fresh out of college.
Lasted until near the end of September (same year) when I was faced with washing dishes all winter in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Decided to come "home" and put my education to work.
Almost every day!
5 times a day (roughly)
Yep.... And I did it in 92. Best decision of my life. I'm raising my girls as montanans. They have no idea how lucky they are. However, don't fool yourself. Even mountain men these days carry cell phones . :)
Everyday but I live in the mountains
I did think about it since I was 12 years old after my first Boy Scouts camping trip/jamboree in NY Lake Erie. In took me 38 years later and traveled all over North America to achieve my goal!
JL
:archer2:
Every other day of my life!!
The wife keeps telling me NO! Hopefully I'll wear her down in time.
Yep- Every Day!!!!
every single day.
About every morning on the way to work
All the time!!!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by DGW:
Almost every day!
X10
My sister sent me the book "One Mans Wilderness" when I was in Iraq. I must have read that thing 15 times through out there; took it with me to Afghanistan too. I really want to homestead in Maine ('cause I can't talk the Missus into Alaska).
Tom
My wife and I are doing just that, will be Missoula Montana residents August 1 2013 :thumbsup:
We left Texas for Wyoming over 35 years ago. Best thing we ever did.
QuoteOriginally posted by Montanawidower:
Even mountain men these days carry cell phones . :)
Hahaha, now that's funny!
Yep, been there a few times for a week or so trip. It's in my sole and thoughts. But the older I get the less I care for cold. So I will need two places. My dream is to have a place there for spring, summer and fall and a place in a warmer climate for the winter.
I think I am going upstairs and letting the old lady know she needs to get a third job.
I think what you're feeling is part of the reason I picked up trad in the first place.
Kingsnake
It sounds like a great idea as long as you don't think about it too much. Give some thought to "living off the land" in the western mountains during Nov., Dec., Jan., Feb. and March. Living can get pretty skinny pretty quick. I lived in Billings MT. in 1973&74 and back-packed extensively and hunted Bighorn Sheep in the o.t.c. permit areas in the Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness Area northeast of Yellowstone Park. I treasure memories of the incredibly rugged and beautiful wilderness, the solitude and the challenge of the hunt. I will also shamelessly admit that after as long as nine days living out of a backpack, getting to my parked 4 w.d. truck, starting that gasoline engine, driving down that dirt then gravel and lastly that paved road to home was pretty nice. And that first hot meal at home was tied with the hot shower for just plain wonderful.
Yep!!!
Absolutely, and one day, I will. My wife asks me almost daily "is it time yet?".
Only about every waking minute of everyday.
check out the old movie= alone in the wilderness.
i have felt this way ever since i read the book "my side of the mountain"wen i was twelve or thirteen.
didnt have the greatest childhood- and finally ran away from home at about 15- went and lived in the mountains far far from my parents home.
never went back there again. after my time in the mountains- i eventually moved in with my grandparents until i was old enough to go to the army.
i still yearn after the back country. and i often wonder what i would do if, God forbid, i lost everything- probably head out- right now i love my wife and my kids way to much- so i make the compromise.
not to heavy an answer i hope- but yup i think about the mountains everyday!!!
thats why we moved here- it was a good compromise- isolated island life style, 9 month hunting season- awesome fishimg and gunkholing all year round.- its a good compromise!!
Leave me your address so I can come and visit Dendy! :wavey:
I often I wish I could move up to the mountains. More now that I'm in college. Being in an apartment all week drives me crazy. Nothing in town interests me. I'm home where I can hunt, shoot, and be in the timber as often as I can. I guess I'm not your "normal" college kid. Maybe someday.
I guess there are times I feel like what you are describing, however I am very content and happy with life.
The day after I retire I'm doing just that!!
yup for 42 years now.......
Yea, until I have to drag a deer out of the mountains!
:biglaugh:
Everyday
I got to live the in best mountains of the east in Pisgah NF. Moved back to Texas after getting laid off while the wife was pregnant. We want to move back so bad.
It's all relative, I live in a town nestled in the Rocky Mountains, and own a cabin on a nice chunk of remote land that I dream daily about moving to. But I work and I work alot, I often think I should move to the city and make a better living so that I could vacation at the cabin during hunting season and have a better quantity/quality of hunting.
oz
Once a year for about a week in Colorado. Gives me my fix.
I did 25 years ago. A little ways from them now but having just as much fun hunting!
Only on days that end in "Y"!!!
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 :scared: :scared:
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.
I love my life, wife and job but it is a fun fantasy.
Probably would be so fun to actually do it.
Every day.
Maybe someday.
Just can't do it today.
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.
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.
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 ! "
That's how I'm going to spent my retirement. Just need to make enough money now to pay for it.
Randy got it right!! Don't ask me how I know!
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.
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? :)
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.
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.
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...
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!
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.
QuoteOriginally 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 :scared: :scared:
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....
I think about it every day! Especially this time of year...
Well said Dave,even in a small town life can overwhelm you,we all take the pieces life gives us.
I thought about it once. :rolleyes:
I think about it every day when I walk into that loud, dirty damn factory that I work in. There are some days that I just want to turn around, grab my bow, and head for the woods. But even the wilderness around here is getting way too crowded for my taste. Thankfully my family owns some property about an hour away that is much more remote. The only time when that place is overcrowded is during the first week of rifle season when all the family, and surrounding land owners' families are there.
Every other day
Count me in but if we all moved to the mountains then it would be just like this there. If you know what I mean. So I'll just enjoy my moments of escape and keep ploden on.
Me too, looks like something we all have in common.
Been there and done that and unfortunately came back. It is quite an adjusment especially if you are from the city. The reality of moving to the mountains and living off of the land is extremely hard to do. I would love to live there again, but I couldn't just live off the land anymore. But hopefully someday I can at least move out there again... Right now I have to settle with just visiting there once in a while.
That does sound relaxing,and fulfilling. If our government keeps going the way they have been,pretty soon we all my be there together!!
I always think hard on living a back to basic lifestyle when I hear Hank Jr. sing "A country boy can survive" rat'
I did it 7 years ago, I do love the mountains and the animals. I domiss my whitetails, and the midwest people. That said I hunt mule deer, cats, elk, bear and turkeys within 5 minutes of my house. If your going to do it now is the time! Housing is actually doable these days.
Every day snd twice as much when i am stuck in boring meetings.
I'm a City Boy on the outside and a Country Boy on the inside... Got myself a beautiful home in The Catskill Mountains and can't get up there enough... Hurricane Sandy saw to that! Guess I need to keep my city job to pay for a place I can escape to, sometimes. :dunno:
... mike ...
QuoteOriginally posted by 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.
I think Bill Kissner has it figured out! :notworthy:
yep..and to add gas to this fire, try reading "One Mans Wilderness"..Also, I lived out of a back pack in the summer of 1972. Lived in Yosemite for awhile and hitch-hiked across Cananda. One of the best summers of my life but I have to tell ya, when I got home and took a hot shower, man did that beat cold baths in mountain streams...jmho.
Yeah, most of us do from time to time. I am semi- retired now, so the pace has slowed down quite a bit, which has cooled the desire to bug out. I now own a small place that I can hunt on and it is only 9 miles from my house. Going out there sure takes the rough edge off things a bit. You younger guys hang in there. Some day you will be able to move out to the boonies or at least spend more time afield. It is truly a soul refreshing thing to sit in a stand without feeling you are neglecting a host of other responsibilities. Still, I would kinda like to hunt the Rockies...
Yep, alot............
Not to mention the terrible climate change, that must be real because I just saw Letterman and Katie Curric saying the big storm was all man caused. Then again way back in Vietnam they could make it rain anytime they wanted, so maybe it is man caused, just not we the people caused. With the increasing infinity out of thin air money supply, it will be difficult to predict how much money it would require to get off the grid. Something is definitely changing and it is not the climate. Tonight I called in a very handsome blond coyote, and saw a few deer. I left them all in peace, it was my privilege to be off the grid and in their world for a time. I did kill a branch and a dried up cone flower yesterday in pursuit of turkeys so my shooting quota has been satisfied for a day.
I wish I had something original to add, but yes, every day.
Just recently, my youngest son (21, currently in college here in Michigan) decided to transfer out to Colorado, and finish his education as a "wildlands firefighter". My wife is a wreck over it, so I sort of hold my tongue, but I am happy for his decision. I will miss him, but I hope he sticks to it out there, and creates the life most of us dream about.
Right now would be good!
Yep.
Wife has an uncle who did back in the 1980's sold everything and moved to Alaska. Back then you could homestead and that's what he did. 20 miles from his nearest neibor and over a mile from the road. No electricity, phones, nothing. Now he has a place in what he calls a town but he also still has the homestead and spends about half his time there.
I need to take him up on his invite to come and hunt moose. He's a period black powder nut who uses Hawken stlye stuff, so I think he and my recurves would get along real nice.
What that would be like is lots of back breaking labor, a whole new way of doing things and if you have a wife/kids that like their amenities, lots of arguments.
And a whole better way of living, peace and quiet, total satisfaction with looking after yourself and a much healthier body.
Seems like a pretty good idea, on the whole.
Every Day!
When I was younger and in better health. Since I got old and feeble I just ditched the cell phone (no reception here anyway) and moved to the hills.
These 700' ridges are like the Bitterroots to me.
It aint all fun and games. If cell phones,internet, and cable bother you that much, get rid of them now, you dont have to move to the mountains. While yer at it, pitch the TV,microwave, washer/dryer,elec stove refrigerator, automobile. If you can live without all these luxuries, and cut wood every day, while growing and putting up a garden,for just one year, than you have proven you are at least partly ready to move to the mountains and live the primitive life. I love the outdoors, but also am thankfull for how easy my life is. The grass is allways greener.
+2
We are in the process of doing so. Just sold our 5.5 acres of vacant land here and the house is going up in the spring. Its a good market around here. Plans are for North Idaho.
I actually bought property with a cabin on it 25 years ago, but I'm still here in Indiana.
Every day!
I moved to the mountains 17 years ago.Took my 1 year old son.He's almost 18 now.
The mountains of New Hampshire aren't the most remote.To many ski resorts and retail stores. When he moves out I am selling my place and heading to some place remote. Been looking for a place. Soon very soon.
Every day, on the hour.
Me originally from NYs Ramapo mountains hunted and fished there, Live here in the low country.
Cant wait for the day the kids are off to college and I can relocate to the hills..
Really thinking about WV. Have been there a few times to visit and game was everywhere..
Many years ago a friend of mine lost his wife to cancer. I was living in Kansas at the time. He sold the house and everything in it. Loaded his Dodge power wagon with tools, guns, reloading and camping gear and 500 paperback books...and drove off to Alaska.
Havent seen or heard from him since.
wow must be an amazing feeling to live out in the moutains... i shall live by the water as im mainly a fisherman, but still want to hunt with my trad bow. haha would be nice, maybe one day my dream will come true. fish and hunt for food but still have the option to buy food if i desire haha. the end of long island maybe? i think so by montauk. My fishing rods,my trad bow, and a boat is all i need.
Lots of like minded people here.
It doesn't help any when you can see them from where you live either. Although I don't know if I really have it in me to live a totally subsistence life style.
every week I think about how much more I would enjoy life if was able to sell everything without taking it in the shorts...move to a piece of property and get a job where I can do my 40-50 hours and feel good about what I have done without the stress of management.....grow some vegetables, have some egg makers out back......and access to hunting property to roam with my bow, blackpowder, pistol or whatever I choose. not full subsistence but enough to make it as a backup if nothing else.
Every Day!
NO! Been there, done that and have the t-shirt!!
Besides, they don't have Starbucks in the woods. :D