Making the move to country life

[nbarker]

Hi...
My husband, 4 month old daughter and I will be heading 30 miles from the city to a rural part of the county. Our home is on 17 wooded acres, set back about 600 feet from the road. We have 4 stocked ponds, a stream, tennis court, party cabana. It really seems more like a vacation destination, than a home. I absolutely love the property, but am a little apprehensive about some of the changes. We will be on well water, septic, propane, dial-up internet...This is all new to me (I've been in the city/burbs for 30 years!). We may raise some chickens someday when my daughter is older, but we the move is mostly to give us some privacy and to give my husband a place to play! He already purchased a John Deer tractor and can't wait to use it.

Just wanted to introduce myself....
I am interested in hearing from anyone who moved from the suburbs to the country.
Nicole

[egon]

Welcome! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Enjoy your new property.

Water wells and septic systems are not usually maintenance free. It would be wise to Google both and become familiar with the different systems and how they work. Then start asking specific questions.

Be sure you get all the information available on your systems and do have a water analysis done. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[JazzDad]

Welcome to CBN, Nicole. We moved from the suburbs of a HUGE city about 3 1/2 years ago. I complain that the work never stops on our place. Our dial up internet connects no faster than 26.4K, but 20 years ago we had no internet! When it's time for bed with the windows open, the sounds of crickets and frogs, the cool breeze blowing through... well, back in Houston if you had your windows open someone would come in and take everything you owned, kill you, or both. Of course, you wouldn't want the windows open for the smell of car exhaust and the noise. Would I go back? Maybe in chains.

[jimbrown]

You will either love it or hate it. No in between. We live 30 miles from the closest real town. 15 miles of dirt road to Tombstone. We love it. No noise. No neighbors. Door windows open all most all the time. Animals run free and come and go. You just gotta learn to plan your trips to town or do with out. Next learn who the local good guys for things like well repair, fences, ect.

[nbarker]

Thank you Egon...
We will definitely be looking up information about these systems before we move. My husband is very smart on how to fix things, so I am sure he will be able to learn these new systems. We found out that a town water line runs through the property, so I am going to look into connecting to it. That one be one less thing for us to maintain.
The sellers are supposed to have the sypetic and well tested by the county before closing. Do you know how often you are supposed to have them retested?

[nbarker]

Thanks JazzDad....
I agree, it will definitely be safer and more peaceful at our new place. Our house will not have neighbors on either side of it. We will have a neighbor across the street, but our house is back 600 feet and tons of trees in the front to block the view from the road. I guess there are always trade-offs. The internet is one area that makes me kind of disappointed, as I pretty much grew up with a computer and internet. It seems like a step back in time using dial-up after having high speed cable for the last 8-9 years. I guess I'll be busier on our land though, so I'll be less likely to tinker on-line.

[homeinwestIL]

Welcome to the country. My move was less dramatic--from a small town to the country, but still I would not want to go back. I love the privacy and quiet, and find I am much more aware of nature and the change of seasons. There are alternatives to dial-up. We have a satellite system--Wild Blue through Dishnet (Dish TV) that is considerably faster than our old dial-up was. It goes down in a heavy cloud cover but that is rare. There are other satellite companies. I also have a notebook computer provided by my employer that is set up to connect to a Verizon wireless system. I'm not sure exactly how that works but it does connect at my home in the middle of nowhere and seems at least as fast as the satellite. So, you should check around for alternatives in your area. A well can be pretty problem free, though when we moved to the country we had a very weak well that kept going dry--we hauled a lot of water for a couple of years until a water district pipeline was built in the area and we connected to that. That is one bill that I love to pay every month. You just need to learn your systems and how to maintain them.

[nbarker]

Thank you. . .
The more I think about it, I realize that some of my anxiety about moving is due to the unknown. I love wildlife and the outdoors, so I am sure it won't take me long to realize how much I love our new home.
I have looked into the satellite internet. The start up costs seem kind of pricey, but the monthly service rates aren't too much more than cable or DSL in my area. I have looked into both Wild Blue and Hughes Net. I'm not sure which one I'll get though. I've read mixed reviews about both companies.

[Pat]

Is it fifty cents of a half dollar? Wild Blue and Hughes are as similar as DishTV and DirecTV, there is not enough difference to matter. Go with which has the best LOCAL representation.

Install isn't cheap, but... they both do a good job now with good grounding practices (think lightning damage) and such. The install guy will photo document the install to prove he did it right.

With the gas prices high and going higher, you will learn to "batch" your trips to town.

We left decades of living on a postage stamp lot in San Diego between the bay and the ocean for a remote location that is 30 miles in any of three directions to get to a Wal*Mart or other real shopping. Closest drive through fast food is a Sonic over 12 miles away and there is a Dollar General store there too as if that made much difference..

I haven't been on my tractor since before lunch and haven't actually seen another living soul besides my wife all day.

If you want me to live in the city you better bring a large armed contingent to support the move as it could get really ugly.


So, hello, welcome, and good luck.

Pat

[Bird]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Wild Blue and Hughes are as similar as DishTV and DirecTV, there is not enough difference to matter.

[/ QUOTE ]

I sure hope you're wrong about DishTV and DirecTV, since I got fed up with Dish after about two and a half years and replaced it with DirecTV today.

I don't even know anyone who is using Wild Blue, but I have one brother using Hughes and he sure is not impressed with it. For reasons unknown (not because of his mailbox being full) e-mails sent to him frequently don't go.