Some time ago, a reader named Lauren mentioned in the comments that she always has so many questions about what it's like to live in "such a rural area."
This made me think that I should clarify the distinction between "rural" and "remote."
A "rural" area is anyplace that isn't urban or suburban. You can live in a rural place--like Blackrock--that's only a twenty-minute drive from a city. Or even closer. Rural is a place you can have chickens and some land around you, but you're not in a city. But rural areas are not generally what I would consider especially incovenient. They may require a bit of driving, but they are a reasonable distance to an urban center.
"Remote," on the other hand, is inconvenient. At least, in our modern understanding. Where I live now would definitely be considered remote by most people's standards. It's 100 miles to even a small city, and that small city might not even have something like a Walmart.
There are people who live more remotely than we do--say, the Alaskan bush--but not many.
Anyway.
I think it's really common for people to have a LOT of questions about what it's like to live remotely, so I'm going to do a series of Tuesday Tips post about that. Starting today with Lauren's questions.
How do you get your groceries home intact? Do you have to take a cooler any time you do a grocery run?
Short answers: In the back of the car with all the animal feed, and yes. Usually two coolers.
Longer answer: Luckily for Lauren, I did a whole post about this once, and here it is! Since I wrote that a couple of years ago, the very small store sadly closed, so now it's just the micro store where we can usually get milk and eggs, and then a lot of open road between us and the nearest bananas.
Are there different/special supplies you keep on-hand is case of (God forbid) a medical emergency?
No. I'm pretty careful about keeping any over-the-counter stuff we may need in stock--children's Tylenol, bandages, etc.--since I can't just run out to a store to get some. But I don't keep, like, a tourniquet or something on hand. We have volunteer fire departments in both villages that are ten miles away from us, plus there's an ambulance company about 25 miles away that responds to emergencies. And, in more serious emergencies, our county has a contract with a medical helicopter company for transport to a hospital. So if anything really bad were to happen, I would call 911 and one of those agencies would respond.
You can still get Amazon deliveries . . . right?
Right. The UPS driver is a local celebrity because he is our provider of All Things Ordered Online. Anything you can get online, I can, too. Maybe not with the two-day shipping guaranteed, but it will get here eventually. This is, honestly, probably the biggest game-changer for remote living ever. Well, that and the Internet access itself. I order a lot of things online that I have in the past purchased at stores--clothing, canned tuna, paper and ink for A.'s office printer--and I feel very lucky that I can.
There! Those were Lauren's questions. If there are any more specific questions you have, go ahead and leave them in the comments and I'll answer them next week. Otherwise, I'll do a more generalized overview of the things I think are helpful for living where I live.
9 comments:
Enjoyed the post, today. Look forward to the next T.T.
Linda
If you have to be away while the kids are in school, do you coordinate with someone ahead of time to take them if you get held up? Or would you just call someone from the road to make arrangements? Which kind of gets to a "how remote are you?" question: What's cell coverage like out there?
Oh my gosh!!! How thrilled am I to see this post! Thank you! I laughed at rural/remote - I think I was trying to be polite.
I found your (wonderful) blog from the piece you did for The Frugal Girl about your massive grocery trips, which I found riveting.
My grandparents lived about 25 minutes from the nearest store, but that's about the farthest from a town I've ever been and it certainly was not remote. I can only imagine that your situation is an interesting blend of adventure and inconvenience. I admire very much your ability to make-do and be so flexible with your meal planning. Thanks so much for sharing your life with us - you're inspiring!
Do you ever get super frustrated being in such a remote area? Have there ever been times where you've wanted to just hop in the car and drive to town to do anything but stay at home? Do you think you will remain in your remote home for the foreseeable future? How about the kids is there a high school in your area, what about college?? How do you purchase cell phones, technology (new laptops), etc? I mean I have never lived more than 10 minutes from a target in each direction from my house, literally. I even used to live walking distance from Target (can you tell I live in the town with Target headquarters?). Haha
So interesting ! One thing I am very curious about is how you make it work with kids & school, how far is it, how do they get there on the days you don't work etc etc. And same question as Lindsay, would they have to be in boarding once in high school/college.
Also, I've probably not been reading long enough & not remotely related to the topic (ha), but who is Miss Amelia ??
We are definitely rural, not remote. It's far enough away to keep me frugal on food other people cook, ha.
Could I do remote? Oh, I think yes, but one never knows really until one tries. Since we live 3 miles from where my husband grew up and only 1.5 miles from where his folks live now, in a house formerly occupied by his great-grandparents, I'm not sure I'll get the chance to try.
What are some specific things you enjoy/appreciate/love about living remote? What urban characteristics are you happy to have left behind?
And yet more thoughts...
I think you mentioned that there were 3(?) other families in your town. As far as neighbor interactions go, does the isolation make you closer to them, or is the interaction minimal?
Do you keep extra gasoline nearby? I imagine getting low on gas is a much bigger deal where you are.
I know you're very much do-it-yourself people, but will contractors and repair men even venture out to your neck of the woods?
Oh, UPS.
We don't get UPS.
MOM! CRAIG'S HERE!
He has never met a dog he didn't love. We even know that he plans to retire to zookeeping. True story.
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