Post: #101

I've often thought about doing a semi/full off the grid setup and possibly a community of sorts.

Just seems so many that have been done have their downfalls
Movie but IIRC religion as an example...been sometimes since I saw it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_(2004_film)
Hippy trash
https://www.vice.com/sv/article/xdw9mk/s...radise-876
Over the top with the guns
http://documentaryvine.com/video/louis-t...vivalists/


This video always give me hope that there are hotties out there that want to get away from all the bullshit & some including (((echoes)))

Post: #102

A couple years ago I met a semi retired Brit living in a small town a couple hours from Medellin Colombia. He had a nice setup on a couple acres. He seemed to have a great relationship with his neighbors and a nice lifestyle. I grew up in a small town in the NE of the US but I've lived in larger cities my whole adult life due to my job. In the next few years I want to explore having the best of both worlds (city and rural).

It would be great to hear about rural/semi-rural life in S America if there's anyone here with that experience. I'm thinking about Peru, Ecuador and Colombia primarily. Prior to meeting my friend in Colombia I would have been more apprehensive about safety and local acceptance. That's still a concern, but it seems like it might be more attainable than I originally thought.

Post: #103

^ It seems like that could be easily done even on a limited budget if you are fine with living like a local in rural Latin America. I think that if you bought some land in the coffee region of Colombia you could live a decent lifestyle, assuming you were older and didn't want to go partying all the time and just wanted a relaxed lifestyle.

The idea of owning a winery/vineyard in places like Argentina seems always be romanticized, it would be a lot of work.

Post: #104

Several acres can be managed with a basic ride-on mower and hand tools in your spare time but beyond that you're going to be looking at tractors with multiple attachments required and a fair chunk of your time taken up fighting back mother nature, particularly in an equatorial region.

Even if you just want plain old grass you still have to spray for weeds and keep that stuff cut, and it grows quicker than you'd think.

If you just want to sit on a porch and feel like landed gentry then you might be able to strike a deal with one of the local farmers to work your land if you can't be bothered yourself. Depending on the arrangement you come to you might still have access to the acreage but like all contracts you need to make sure it covers essential issues like a termination period and other obligations. If the farmer's bull gets out and kills someone, is it your fault for failing to maintain the fences? Can you reasonably terminate your relationship when his crop is only half grown? Stuff to think about, but worth it if you don't want to fork out tons of cash for farm machinery and possibly end up mangled because you have little to no experience using it.

Post: #105

great thread. Setting up a rural home is really something most guys posting from the USA should think about. I've seen some ridiculously low prices for a couple of acres of land and a house with solid electricity and water supply (unlike say Aus, where cheap land usually lacks basic facilities).

Not sure about South America but rural land can be pretty expensive in developing countries. For instance, my grandads both held pretty big agricultural holdings in India which have subsequently been subject to land theft by locals. The going rates are something like $50 000 USD per acre - which is ridiculous.

Post: #106

(09-13-2018 10:09 AM)MANic Wrote:  great thread. Setting up a rural home is really something most guys posting from the USA should think about. I've seen some ridiculously low prices for a couple of acres of land and a house with solid electricity and water supply (unlike say Aus, where cheap land usually lacks basic facilities).

Not sure about South America but rural land can be pretty expensive in developing countries. For instance, my grandads both held pretty big agricultural holdings in India which have subsequently been subject to land theft by locals. The going rates are something like $50 000 USD per acre - which is ridiculous.

Before you even think of it in the U.S., be sure you know the building codes. The noose is tightening, and you are less and less free to do what you want on your own land, and even in places where thing are allowed, one complaint from a troublemaking neighbor can scuttle all your plans.

Seek out places with few or no building codes, and once you get there, protect yourself with obscurity as well.

Post: #107

This is very true. The smaller the governing bodies you're dealing with the better off you'll be.

Out where I live a house can be renovated and sold several times before anyone bothers to ask if the council ever signed off on the work. When they finally notice they ask you to get a building inspection which involves paying a hundred bucks for a certified builder to come around tap on the walls for ten minutes and guess whether the framework behind the panels is up to code. Short of something outright dangerous they just tick the boxes and everyone gets on with their lives.

The rule of thumb is that if you're going to have work done by professionals then you might as well fill out the right paperwork but if you're doing it yourself it's better just to build it first and ask permission later, if it ever comes to that.

Unless the house you're buying looks like it was straight out of the box (virtually never the case in the sticks) then ask the seller or the agent "is all the work done on the property up to date and signed off by the council?"

If the agent/seller turns pale then it might give you an idea of what the local building regs are like. If in doubt make sure everything is on the up and up with the council (or Yank equivalent) lest you buy a house and get an order a week later to demolish half of it. A great deal of the rural properties out my way started off as single room houses, and I don't mean one bedroom, I mean one room. Everything else has been added over time, often by different owners with different budgets and skill levels.

With that in mind it pays to take a closer look at the plumbing and wiring if possible.

Post: #108

There are still a handful of counties in the United States where you can build without codes or with very limited codes.

One such place is Cochise County in Arizona. They have an "owner builder" amendment that allows you to build however you want. You just submit a basic drawing showing the size and location of the structure on your lot and pay the fee. You can even opt-out of getting an inspection. I believe you also need to get a septic system installed. The only other big requirement is that the parcel be 4 acres or more.

I saw a video about 2 weeks ago (but unfortunately forgot to save it or remember the county) of a guy that did roughly the same in Texas. He lives in a rural county of only a few thousand people and the county has no building code. He has 40 acres and builds whatever the hell he wants on his land.

Post: #109

(09-14-2018 02:47 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  This is very true. The smaller the governing bodies you're dealing with the better off you'll be.

Out where I live a house can be renovated and sold several times before anyone bothers to ask if the council ever signed off on the work. When they finally notice they ask you to get a building inspection which involves paying a hundred bucks for a certified builder to come around tap on the walls for ten minutes and guess whether the framework behind the panels is up to code. Short of something outright dangerous they just tick the boxes and everyone gets on with their lives.

The rule of thumb is that if you're going to have work done by professionals then you might as well fill out the right paperwork but if you're doing it yourself it's better just to build it first and ask permission later, if it ever comes to that.

Unless the house you're buying looks like it was straight out of the box (virtually never the case in the sticks) then ask the seller or the agent "is all the work done on the property up to date and signed off by the council?"

If the agent/seller turns pale then it might give you an idea of what the local building regs are like. If in doubt make sure everything is on the up and up with the council (or Yank equivalent) lest you buy a house and get an order a week later to demolish half of it. A great deal of the rural properties out my way started off as single room houses, and I don't mean one bedroom, I mean one room. Everything else has been added over time, often by different owners with different budgets and skill levels.

With that in mind it pays to take a closer look at the plumbing and wiring if possible.

Here in Spain I've heard this tale:

Contractor goes to a building supply lot and fills his truck/trailer with bricks, etc before driving to his site. Unbeknownst to him a cop follows him to the site.

When they arrive the cops demand the permits for the work, which they don't have. Cops shut down the building site. House is still sitting there years later, half-built.

There's houses like that all around here. For some reason they separate the land into "buildable on" and not. The stuff where you can't build on it is super cheap.

Post: #110

Zoning is another issue altogether.

If there's already a functional house on the land then you can be reasonably certain its zoned as residential but I would need some kind of iron clad indication from the council about how the land was zoned and what I could do with it if I were building from scratch.

Post: #111

Code enforcement in the United States is usually a product of municipal need for money and the code office's manpower to actually go collect it.

Where I am, lower-income people and their old properties are usually ignored. In theory, you need professional lead paint remediation, asbestos removal, a permit for electrical/plumbing that involves opening the wall. In practice, ain't nobody paying for all that and the poor would be homeless. This does result in a disproportionate number of fatal housefires.

If I, on the other hand, try to hire a contractor without pulling a permit, I'll go out to get the mail in the morning and find one of the city's only two code inspectors taking pictures of his truck. They're going to figure out what he's up to and get every applicable fee out of me, one way or another.

Stupid me and my not being on the dole.

Post: #112

(09-14-2018 09:39 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  Zoning is another issue altogether.

If there's already a functional house on the land then you can be reasonably certain its zoned as residential but I would need some kind of iron clad indication from the council about how the land was zoned and what I could do with it if I were building from scratch.

Leonard - Just repped you for your epic red pill wisdom exhibited in this Rural Living thread. In New England especially Vermont New Hampshire and Maine there are a lot of communities that serve as Urban Refuges to those looking to escape cities typically New York City and Boston and live scumbag free either near Tourist locales by the sea or with hunting/fishing/hiking etc., eco-tourism - though the drugs epidemic especially cheap heroin and meth have had an outsized impact as the Country Scumbags network with the City Scumbags to sell drugs to both the trailer trash and duchess types - heroin/fentanyl overdose deaths culling many middle and upper-middle-class scions who get hooked by friendly scumbag drug dealers that orbit universities filled with wealthy middle and upper middle-class kids many from rural wealthy Agricultural and suburban communities.

Curious the best location independent living income streams and community industries you have experience with and suggest as a bedrock foundation to a good "working" community?

Hunting/Fishing, Pure Agri, or more Artist Colony seashore or rural tourism - kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, hunting/fishing, RV rentals and maintenance etc.?

My history has been one of commuting into Boston proper for high paying IT/Cybersecurity work and recovering in a more economical third tier city over the southern New Hampshire border and escaping for fishing trips into the seacoast and lakes and rivers regions.

Curious what combination works best for you for both income streams and lifestyle options as Tasmania being surrounded by the sea with a more temperate climate seems to be not too dissimilar to Maine and New Hampshire a few small cities and plenty of rural seacoast and inland communities. Is Tasmania overrun with all of the same lethal reptiles and insects scorpions etc., as in the outback regions?

What I know of Tasmania is what I have seen on Wildlife shows (Tasmanian Devils) and Shark week for Great Whites off of southern Australia and Tasmania.

And visiting a few wine festivals in Boston with vintners from across the Australian wine growing regions.

If Australians are known as Ozzies are Tasmanians referred to as Tazzies?

What is your preferred nomenclature?

New Hampshirites are known as Granite Staters and Maine folks as Downeasters or Maineiacs if they drive like Maineiacs as they have to drive fast to get to their next destination or will be shot for being one minute late - not quite as bad as Massholes but close since we all root for Boston Sports teams we have to be friendly with and tolerate the Massholes some actually do become friends as many of us earn livings in the Peoples Socialist Republic of Massholechusetts.

We also have large tracts and estates across New England preserved in private and public trusts as well as Government owned and protected forests and marshes, a bit of legacy from the old English common law and nobility system based upon the control of large tracts by Dukes and Earls etc.

Post: #113

I'm born and raised in a 650 people village in Western Germany and am now living there again after having lived a couple of years in the big city. What I'm now going to say probably also counts for other densely populated developed countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands or Japan.

First of all, I agree with what OP says about Anonymity, making friends, Tribal feeling etc. However, I think he illustrates living in rural areas like it's backwards, with what I strongly disagree. My German village is essentially the same like Frankfurt, but in small.

Think about it, it is 2018, we have LTE 4G network everywhere, it's fucking Germany. Out of the 650 people in my village exactly 3 have "rural" jobs. One forest ranger and two farmers. All other people have normal jobs that you would also encounter in a big city Bankers, software engineers, police man, entrepreneurs, teachers, supermarket clerks and so on. Many people work at so called "hidden champions". These are medium sized, almost unknown firms, which are best in class in a certain product category. In general, I believe people are better off in the village as they earn the same wage as in the cities, but obviously have lower living costs (especially rent).

In rural areas your last name is very important. It's like a trademark. Maybe you don't know all people, but everyone will at least know somebody of your family with the same last name. If you come from a well respected family, people assume that you also have your shit together. Having a good last name is as valuable as having a PHD. Therefore, be careful not to marry into a fucked up last name.

Society is divided into two groups. The elites and normal people. Of course, in rural areas everybody knows each one, but friendships are usually only made within those groups. This is because of the German school system, in which school children get assigned to different schools based on their capabilities. The elites go to the "Gymnasium", while the rest goes to the "Realschule" or "Hauptschule". Therefore, you only make close friends with the people you go to school to. I went to the Gymnasium and my friends parents are doctors, judges, chief of the police, business owners or military officers. My neighbour's (guy of roughly same age like me, who went to "Hauptschule") parents are postal deliverer and supermarket clerk. I respect the neighbour and we have a good relationship, but he's no way my friend.

A key difference between the big city and rural Germany is demographics. Most young people, especially the smart ones who went to "Gymnasium" move to the big city to study. Almost none move back. Therefore, the age structure is really fucked up. The official average age in my village is 52. People are also more homogenous than in the big city. There are no blacks, asians or other minorities.

Girls wise, I have to inform you that you don't have to come to rural Germany to find a hidden gem. You would be disappointed. Again, think about it, it's 2018, it's Germany, we have fast 4G LTE everywhere and Instagram is also common here. Girls are exactly the same as in the big city with some minor differences. First, they don't sleep around. Second, they dress poorly. In the rural ares you don't date. Instead you have group meetings with your friends, get drunk and then "it happens". Also, in a way, you are always dating as your daily actions aren't private. With your daily actions you build up a reputation (good or bad) and in this way certain girls will be interested in you or not.

A highly positive thing is the freedom you enjoy in the countryside. It's a joy to move around with your car on half empty streets and not being surrounded by other people 24/7. There is also no police at every corner that looks you over the shoulder. Also people have more hobbies here and have generally a more interesting than the average guy in the big city. Wanna play some soccer, beach volleyball or tennis? Everything is free and only 5-10 minutes away from your house. In the big city however, people spent most of their "free time" with commuting to work and being stressed. Then, something like an hour on a tennis court will cost you 40€.

I strongly advise against coming here, if you aren't fluent in German. Although most residents speak English, they don't want to speak it all the time to you. Especially groups will not give any shit and will talk in their native language, which is German. People here aren't racist, but expect that you have your shit together. Somebody who looks like the most fucked up Syrian refugee will not get the warmest welcome. This might be confused as racism, but it's not. If the Syrian guy would move here suited-up with some understandable German, we would all welcome him.

Post: #114

(06-05-2017 06:53 PM)Rigsby Wrote:  .
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I could probably analyse the situation more, but there probably isn't much more to it than small-minded little englanders. They hate the muslims, they hate anything different to them. But they won't ever say it. Cowards come in all shapes and sizes and I feel as if I am among the best of them here.
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This would probably the exact same in rural Germany. The key point is that your skin color doesn't matter, but you have to act like a German. There is a black family in my village and they act as if they are Germans. Nobody would ever have the idea to call them foreigners. They are German.

The village next to mine has a lot of Russian immigrants. Their children went to German schools, speak German and have a German Passport. Still they are and will be foreigners forever as they act like Russians (or Russian-like) and always stay together. It's the fault of their parents not to have put more energy into integrating into the broader community.

Post: #115

I don't think you have to worry about any of us relocating to Germany.

Post: #116

(09-14-2018 02:47 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  A great deal of the rural properties out my way started off as single room houses, and I don't mean one bedroom, I mean one room. Everything else has been added over time, often by different owners with different budgets and skill levels.

I love those old Australian huts/cottages with extensions 5+ times bigger than the original building. I can't find a picture of one right now but I've seen many over the years. There are plenty in all the small towns, not just on farms, since back then if you were 20, the bank wasn't going to give you a quarter of a mill for a four beddy with a double garage as your first home. Plenty of folks built the garage and lived in that, until they could afford the two-room cottage, that they added a bedroom to when the baby came, and then another for the next one etc...

My house, pretty big and solid by 1940 standards, cost 130 pounds (about 11 grand today) to build DIY with the insurance from the old one that burned down.

Post: #117

(09-15-2018 05:46 AM)Malone Wrote:  I don't think you have to worry about any of us relocating to Germany.

Yeah, I would strongly advise against. The place I'm from can only be enjoyed if you have been raised here. Some of my friends from Frankfurt and Vienna visited me and they all agreed that it would be unimaginable to move to a place such as my village.

There is literally nobody on the street. The whole day.

Post: #118

(09-15-2018 06:46 AM)semibaron Wrote:  

(09-15-2018 05:46 AM)Malone Wrote:  I don't think you have to worry about any of us relocating to Germany.

Yeah, I would strongly advise against. The place I'm from can only be enjoyed if you have been raised here. Some of my friends from Frankfurt and Vienna visited me and they all agreed that it would be unimaginable to move to a place such as my village.

There is literally nobody on the street. The whole day.

I am moving to your village. I refuse to learn German. Please tell all your friends and relatives that if they do not have excellent English, they will no longer be welcome there. Get on this as soon as you can. Please don't be entitled about it. Change is good.

Post: #119

Just saying, that rural areas in Western Europe, Japan and other low birth-rate areas are fucked. As I said, average age in my village is 52. It's essentially some school kids, then a workforce of 40-65 years old people and a lot of retirees. The whole 20-40 bracket is missing, since they left for the big city and will likely not come back.

The point is this, even in a well developed area with plenty of good jobs and infrastructure, demographics fuck up things badly. In my case, my nearest friend is located 1 hour away by car. Now, if even someone raised in the village doesn't have many friends left around, imagine how difficult it would be to come here as an outsider.