There are pro’s and con’s to living a remote and rural life. One of the features that is both a pro AND a con to me is the long commute from home to civilization.
Which one it is depends on how quickly I need to get there. The first con on my list is the only one that’s critical. The second one is critical if your job doesn’t pay enough to cover the expense of going to work. The others are more inconvenience than serious.
For us, the pro’s of a long commute far outweigh the cons.
The pro’s
When there’s no emergency or appointment to meet, then the drive can be taken at my leisure. I usually go very slow on the dirt road so I can take in all of the sights.
One
Transition time.
I enjoy the transition from home to civilization, and even more I enjoy the transition on the way back home.
I notice the rocks of various types on the road, keep a casual eye peeled for anything that looks like good pigment or possibly an artifact. Wildlife can be watched while going under 10 miles an hour. When I see photogenic things, I stop and take photos. Plants always intrigue me, so I stop for new or favorite plants spotted along the sides – to record and photograph them, make notes to return for seeds, cuttings, or root divisions later.
Aside from being a real estate agent, I’m an artist. So when I’m driving through beautiful scenery I’m getting inspiration for things to paint. A large part of my art depends on the types of rocks that we have here, because I make my paints from them.
The ecosystem and habitats on our piece of land supports one of my small businesses (nursery for American ginseng). I chose this location specifically for that reason (among some other specific reasons related to number Two below).
Two
Isolation. Long-term Survivability.
On our rural land we have two essentials for long-term survival if we need them: food sources (wild game, edible wild plants) and spring water. If this is important to you, I can help find the right property for you to have that security, as well. This is not a common combination, so when they go on the market they often sell quickly when the price is right.
During Covid, we didn’t worry so much about exposures to the vectors of a virus. We don’t encounter many people very often. Whether this particular pandemic was real or not isn’t the consideration. The point is that if it WERE a real situation, our risk was minimized.
We’re also isolated from the impact of disruptions to normal civilization when or if the economy crashes. This is a big part of why we live here. We have the capacity to be completely off-grid with minimal impact on our way of life. Except when we run out of fuel for the tractor, lol. At that point, we’d have a big obstacle but we’d manage fine otherwise.
Three
Peace and quiet. Nature exposure daily. There is nothing that can bring this state of existence except for being away from the hustle and bustle of the urban lifestyle. This is a tremendously important aspect for my peace of mind.
The cons of a long commute
One
Distance from hospitals.
Livestock will have emergencies, too.
You’ll need to learn how to provide basic first aid to animals because it’s not always going to be possible to get a house call quickly enough. Case in point was when my horse choked on beet pulp. In another 5 minutes, he would probably have lost consciousness, so I did the best I could to mimic what amounted to the Heimlich on my horse. It saved his life. I could not have gotten to the house and made the call to a vet in the time it would have taken him to die.
Two
Commuting to a day job. Running errands.
If you have to work away from home, the wear and tear on your vehicle is significant if you live down a dirt road. Most rural and remote properties out here are down dirt roads.
The time it takes from each day to travel more than an hour to and from a job significantly takes away from the time you get to be at home. Factor in additional time to run errands and it takes even more away from home time.
I work from home most of the time, with a weekly in-office day. When I have clients searching for a new home or recreational land, I go out more often. But it’s not the same as going to a standard 9-5 job in town. When we need to go to town for supplies other than the groceries I pick up while on my days away, it is an all-day event. That’s because we try to get everything done that needs to be done in town on those days.
Three
Four
You’ll need to be a DIY-er. There is less help available when you have any issues on the homestead or homesite. Plumbers won’t make house calls to unplug a toilet this far from town. When a pipe bursts from winter freezes, we’re the ones to fix it. Also when the water freezes, or bears chew through the intake line, we’re the ones in charge of our backup plan to deal with a water shortage while we’re getting it fixed.
However, you CAN get tow trucks to come take vehicles to the nearest mechanic 🙂 But it’s going to cost, lol. Usually my husband can manage the auto repairs too, thankfully.
I’ve also found that places like Lowe’s and Home Depot DO deliver appliances even way out here, so at least there’s that.
But, the garbage pick-up services don’t come this far out. So we have to haul our own garbage to the nearest recycle center to dispose of it on our own.
Leave a Reply