Changing my, and my Family's Life Forever....

[Cindiloohoo]

That's not something I would jump into, but I say give it a shot anyway. You never know until you try.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Why not try to implement as much of your plan where you are to see if you enjoy the work? Can you try to grow most of your food where you are? Can you get a greenhouse and try to be self-sufficient? Eggs and vegetables are almost all the way there.

I tell you, I used to want a cow. And I still do, for the milk.

But after I take care of my numerous chickens, deal with the housework, the kids, the grass and weeding, the laundry, etc., I have realized that I don't have it in me to THEN deal with a sick cow or a cow that isn't in the mood to be milked. Oh and washing out the milking equipment with soap twice a day.

Maybe after you try intensive gardening you will have a better idea if this is what you want. You can grow a large plot of wheat (I did once) and try to harvest it by hand (I did hulless oats too). And flax.

Don't get so buried in this that you can't back your way out, is my advice.

 

[redhen]

I dont think that you'd be able to grow enough veggies and animals feed to last you the year...
I'm thinking that Alaska has a pretty short growing season...?
Maybe you could get a big green house or something?

And water... unless you melt snow in the winter...??

 

[BloominOrchid]

TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!
I have always wanted to do this...That movie the village I want that minus the drama with the color red & creepy forest things

 

[thaiturkey]

You might consider rural Thailand.

There are issues for foreigners buying land here but there's plenty of it and it's cheap by Western standards. Regulations are easy to comply with, building is cheap, private schools and hospitals are good and you can grow various types of food all the year round. Everyone has at least chickens so you will get no complaints about your own menagerie. The climate is good, even in the rainy season. If you ever need Western comforts there are plenty of malls and stores in the towns. You won't be wealthy unless you have an external source of income but even the poorest never starve here.

Popular forms of transport are pickups, suv's, small motor cycles (millions of them!), iron buffaloes (pic. near the bottom of this link - http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/s...ang-Mai-Thailand-to-Lhasa-Tibet-on-a-Qingqiar) and farm tuk tuk (http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/2006/04/07/buying_a_thai_truck?blog=28). I recommend the pickup for self sufficient folk but you can buy all kinds of farm machinery, including tractors).

Let me know if you need more information.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I'd move forward to something like that with extreme, extreme caution. Land in Alaska is surprisingly expensive - a great many things are very expensive. If you did some web research it might shock you. Too, the wilderness is not particularly forgiving or friendly. People have died trying to do what you're contemplating doing. Read the book about the kid who died doing that. Don't study up on just the success stories.

First of all there are land developers that are not always ethical. For example a friend of mine bought some 'cheap' land in Alaska. When he had it surveyed, he found out that he had purchased a vertical rock cliff, he could not build even a cabin on it or sell it. Land that is cheap may not be cultivatable. It may be flooded for months in spring or it may be forested, one can't always make that into gardens and hay fields. I'd also look at just how much hay is grown and harvested in Alaska and where. Also, water supply is an issue. Wells can't just be drilled anyplace. BEEEEE careful.

I'd find some blogs about people who have done this or are doing it. Usually the blogs will at least have SOME realistic descriptions.

I would also very, very practically, examine the health of each family member. Any heart, circulatory, bone or muscular problems? Breathing problems? Allergies? Any chronic health problems? The wilderness might not be very forgiving of these.

There's something to be said for dreams.

When life is troubling you it is very, very comforting to sit and imagine how you would live out in the wilderness and get away from it all. I think people should have dreams that they work on and think about that make life's ups and downs easier to bear. There's a story about a Viet Nam war veteran who was in a prison camp, and the whole time he was imprisoned, he went through every single step of building a cabin in the woods. He kept his mind on that and it made the conditions around him bearable.

But let's say you really want to go ahead.

I'd suggest instead of resorting to a big move as your first step, to first see if there are remedies for the problems you experience, remedies that are closer to home. Figure out one thing you can improve that's bothering you right now. For example, bothersome neighbors. A lack of a good perimeter fence might be the source of a lot of friction. Of course having a fencing company come out and build a perimeter fence is expensive, but it would cost a third of that or even less, if you buy the raw materials and do it yourself. Plus...it might be an awfully good way to see how you can manage a building project and would increase your property value for when you sell.

I'd suggest a 'dress rehearsal' for your move, and see how each test goes. Build a fence, build a shed, repair your current home. Learn about construction and practice the techniques, learn about alternative energy sources. Perhaps you can put a little solar panel on your shed and get used to working with that. Perhaps you can get building experience volunteering for 'Habitat for Humanity'. Or on your vacation days from work, work around the home and stay there without driving some place. See if it makes you feel restless to stay at home, or if you enjoy 'feathering your nest'.

You might consider a smaller move first. Perhaps you can get away from a lot of bothersome neighbors just by moving to an area where farms and large house properties mix together. I wouldn't suggest a McMansion area, which would also have high taxes and fussy neighbors (what's the famous quote? 'these fields are dirty', yes that's it, lol). But rather an area outside of town where older smaller homes on 1-5 acre properties and farms mix together. You could easily move into an area where people much like yourself have the same interests as you.

If there is some frustrated political beliefs or religious beliefs behind the desire to move away from it all, perhaps those beliefs just need an outlet - working for a church you prefer or getting involved in getting your favorite candidate elected locally. Try it and see if it helps enough.

You might consider trying something like that in the near future, and see if it cools down the frustrations to bearable levels. Then after a few months, a family meeting and a discussion to decide if you want to keep working solutions where you are or make a big move.

I think it's very important to include the family in the decision and have it not be something people feel pressured to go along with. The husband or wife may be sympathetic to one's misery, but when it comes to actually making a move they may not feel quite the same way about it. It's very, very important that each of them really be 'on board' and not feel pressured to agree with the change.

If you're truly depressed and miserable, and everything seems hopeless in the world and the only solution is running away...you might need the help of a doctor, rather than a move to somewhere else. I just mention it as one friend was always miserable in her job and wanting to get away from it all. Finally one day she started having very dark thoughts, things were clearly getting worse and worse in her point of view, and she began packing. For her, moving was a way of getting away from the misery she felt.

The only problem was, where ever she moved, as they say, 'there you are'. She still felt the same misery. She finally after many years of chronic misery reported the symptoms to her doctor. She had a form of depression that simply did not respond to people shouting, 'Cheer up!' or 'Get a new job!' Today she feels a lot better, and the world looks like a far more hopeful place. Amazing how it changed her outlook on the world.

Other people are miserable for a different reason - because they lack some of the skills they need. Without those skills the world can be a very frustrating place. Sometimes it's just a matter of picking up some skills and putting them to use.

In other words, the most important thing is to know exactly what is making you unhappy.

 

[Stevo]

Theres a reason why it's dirt cheap and no one is living there.

 

[cheri222]

Maybe if you make a list of the things that make you unhappy then come up with ways to change those things that aren't so drastic. We didn't want strangers raising our kids so now I work 3rd and he works 1st. If you work sunup to sundown how much quality time will you have with your kids. Living off the grid doesn't have to mean middle of no where. There are warmer climates with cheap land that would make what you're talking about so much easier. My husband did that in alaska for 4 months in his 20's, came back 30 lbs lighter and if he even hears of "spruce grouse" he gets nauseated.
Good Luck

 

[mom'sfolly]

First step, start your large veggie garden on the acre you have now. Plow it this fall, get it ready to plant in the spring. Get all the early start stuff started in your home this winter, and plant and eat from that garden. Find out if you can live on a diet of what you can grow and over winter by root cellar and canned storage. Turnips, beets, caggabe, onions, potatoes, carrots and like may get very tiresome. Canning the greens from beets and other veggies can give you greens during the winter months. But its Alaska, and getting a nice tomato is a lot of plant sitting and babying. Can you live without bananas, grapes, peaches, plums etc? The only fruits, other than wild ones, that I know grow reliably are apples and sour cherries. Raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, currants and gooseberries also grow well.

The farmer I worked for as a kid, in Southeast, got corn to grow reliably. But he was also the high school science teacher and involved in agriculture for at least 40 years. He grew apples, cherries, currants, berries, veggies, had 150 chickens, a dairy goat herd and horses. He also had a full-time job, a tractor, hay fields planted for at least 25 years, and at least two semis a year loaded with feed delivered each year. At the time, the sawmill provided free bedding in the form of sawdust/chips. The house was small, with one large barn, one small, a dove cote, and a shed for the goat buck.

Make the changes you can now, and find out if this is really what you want, or just a lovely dream.

Join some homesteading forums, especially Alaska ones. Find out what is really involved.

 

[kla37]

My kids would shoot me.

Maybe trying a less dramatic change would be something to think about...