My siblings and I grew up on 20 acres in the woods, and I desperately want that kind of upbringing for my children. Every day I spend in the city I feel worse about it. Thankfully we're hoping to move out to our land within the next two years!

Interesting comment re: pesticides used on farms. That's a good heads-up to anyone considering moving to a rural farming area.

Thanks again for your comments! I love the way we can all learn from each other. BTW, we have family all over the great state of Texas and talk of moving there someday. )

Lisa

For a quick background we did just under 2 years renting in 2 different small towns within 45 miles of Austin TX and for the last 1 1/2 years we have lived on our own property 60 miles from Dallas proper.

#1 – In some cases the crime can actually be worse, especially the small crimes due to the higher incidence of drug usage. As eluded to elsewhere though if you have the right neighbors it can add huge dividends.
#2 – People in the country do not usually look at themselves as prep minded but instead just country folks that happen to have a few extras. It is really just semantics but having prep conversations with a survivalist tone will probably give you strange looks however asking about extended power outages will soon have great conversations about how people have a generator and extra gas, gardens, etc. One last thing is hit the ground running being known for someone that helps out their neighbors and others to establish yourself quickly. Do not over commit and exceed what you said you would do, because people are slow to accept people in some cases but if you work hard it can happen quicker. We found out are neighbors were pretty well connected and down to earth so after they helped us out with a few small things we committed to feeding them breakfast every Saturday morning. They come over and we have breakfast and talk for a couple of hours. The amount of good will this has bought us plus learning a lot about our community has been worth every extra penny we spent feeding them. Plus they bring coffee Be sure to stay humble and ask lots of questions.
#3 – As touched on in #2 people in the country pride themselves on being self sufficient.
#4 – This has been a huge culture shock for our family but one they are becoming accustomed to, we have bulked up the animal inventory and had an abysmal first year of gardening but we are learning and failing instead of just planning and reading. Reading a book about gardening does not make you a gardener so if you a city person on a small lot grade a couple of plastic buckets and get started, now….read up what fall crops you can plant in your climate or do a cold frame garden…again NOW!
#5 – This is one of the most important. Being in the country does not have any guarantees for cleaner or healthier environment. Make absolutely sure you do not get smack in the middle of farmers that spray to destroy all living things on their crops. The amount of cancer we are seeing in adults out here is much higher than I ever witnessed in the city. Had a long conversation with an extremely health minded Chiropractor and he said these farmers have no idea how badly their hurting themselves and their families with the crap they are spraying. Go to youtube and watch The World According to Monsanto. We are blessed to be in an area which everyone around us just has natural crops and the few that use hybrid seeds do no extra prep but till and plant.

We would do it again in a heartbeat almost exactly the same keeping in mind #5 especially. The only thing we would change is doing it cheaper and go hog wild on our debt and preps. Do not hesitate to ask if you have questions. I am far from an expert but I will help where I can.

Lisa