Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just wonder is it an adjustment period, will I eventually get used too it. I dont want to pack up and move too quickly but the lack of people/convenience is a bit hard.
Since moving, what have you done to engage with and see people? Meetups, clubs, walks on a popular trail, classes?
If you are just sitting at home and only going out when you need groceries, don't expect an exciting life.
How long ago did you move, and WHY did you choose a rural home?
Maybe your move was simply an impulsive kneejerk reaction to COVID restrictions or seeing wealthy people from cities snap up rural properties like bargain-priced baubles. We saw plenty of this going on all over the US, or at least the “pretty” parts of the US.
If so, it might be buyer’s remorse, not just an adjustment period.
Maybe you did not understand what a big adjustment it would be and now want to step back. Years ago, we moved from a kinda-sorta rural home about an hour from a major city, to an in-town home. Boy, did we realize that despite the many plusses of such a move, there existed a constant (24/7), year-round underlying lack of peace, thanks to too dam many people and their obnoxious cohorts nearby.
You, OTOH, miss that ever-present mass of people. It might be time for you do do what we did, albeit in the opposite direction: We moved BACK to a rural area—more rural than where we had come from earlier. The dark sky, quiet nights (most days, too), space between houses, wildlife that acts like real wildlife, and plenty of room to roam more than make up for city amenities.
The Post about visiting the city, once in a while getting involved in the community is excellent !
Moved from a suburb near the San Francisco-Bay Area to a small town on the Olympic. Peninsula, WA. Busy with life, teens still in school. Now, maybe once a year, go to the big town of Silverdale, cannot wait to come home !
Maybe I'm crazy, but we moved away from a busy city (close suburb) to a rural area and live on a lake. I didnt see this coming but I miss being around people, its just too quiet. Wondering if I just need to slow down or if country life just isnt for me. Anyone else experience this ?
I grew up in a large city in Europe, and always idolized Manhattan, from movies, books, and Simon & Garfunkel. In the US, I had lived (or spent extended time, due to working in various locations) in places of all sizes, although I have been domiciled in a large city for the last 30 years.
I still have a fear of missing out if I should move to a small city or town, but I have actually enjoyed spending a few months here and there (for work) in smaller places too - I don't know whether that would change if I moved fully to a small place, without knowing in the back of my mind that it is just temporary.
I lived in a small, fairly prosperous town (a small town with a big medical institution) for 5 years, in late 1980s/early 90s, due to being in a training program at the said institution. I really suffered there, but it was because I thought people were extremely parochial, small-minded, and boring. But if I could live like a hermit with my thousands of books, media discs and good internet connection, without having to interact with the locals, I think I could actually enjoy the boondocks. Still I would move there only if I could no longer afford a mega-city, which does not seem too likely to happen.
Maybe I'm crazy, but we moved away from a busy city (close suburb) to a rural area and live on a lake. I didnt see this coming but I miss being around people, its just too quiet. Wondering if I just need to slow down or if country life just isnt for me. Anyone else experience this ?
from where and to where? I noted you said in your profile NYC and Media PA?
Sorry guys thanks for all the replies. Even though I lived in NYC it was Philly that really felt like the perfect fit but the crime there is so terrible.
We moved to northern Michigan. Is so beautiful here and the folks are great. I'm just having a lot of adjustment issues with it being almost too peaceful..Maybe I need to give it more time.
It depends so much on the rural area. Some have very little to do, and others have cultural opportunities like community theater, good libraries, rec centers etc. Some things look a great fit but aren't in reality.
It's so hard to know without experiencing an area over time. Things that seemed great at first can turn out to be annoying and annoying things lose their power as you adjust to them.
OP: How much time have you spent taking on the predominant entertainment of the area? Do you fish regularly and enjoy fishing? Snowmobile season should be starting soon, or cross-country skiing, are you interested in these? I'm guessing there is waterfowl hunting, as well as big and small game hunting in the area. Is this for you?
Take a look at what the locals do for fun. If you give those activities a try, then maybe you'll find your group of people to be around and activities to partake with others. If the local fun isn't for you, then you likely won't make those connections that you are missing from the city. If you are generally staying at home streaming TV and surfing the web, then you definitely won't make any local connections. The local folks don't need you to join their group, so they aren't looking for you... you need to reach out and see if you can join in. Time to be a friendly extrovert. Get out of your home and take a look at where people your age are hanging out in the town/village/small city near your new home. For some reason McDonalds seems to be a popular seniors hangout in towns near me, or that I drive through. No McD, then I'm guessing there is a diner in town where folks gather for coffee and talk several morning a week. Not my thing, but there are usually church groups and events too.
... Only you can decide. Life's too short to be miserable living somewhere you don't want to be.
Not quite. Our decisions are very much contingent on external factors, such as employment opportunities. Even if retired, to alter one's domicile from where it was during employment-years, and thereafter, is a substantial undertaking.
We end up living where circumstances place us. Let's not overestimate the control that we actually wield over our material lives... let alone our social lives!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TamaraSavannah
On the same note, they say that if you are the kind who needs the night life, to go out to places, then you are not only going to hate rural life but in 6 months, you will want to move.
To properly enjoy "the night life", one has to belong to a cohort of social people, or somehow join such a cohort. To be sitting alone during an orchestral performance in the big city, is fun and exciting on occasion. To do so with any regularity, soon becomes humdrum and boring. To be sitting along at a brewery sampling the new brews, is entertaining, while the brews are new. But after a few weeks, when all of the appealing ones have been sampled, the realization that one is sitting alone, becomes nettlesome. What then?
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnrgby
I lived in a small, fairly prosperous town (a small town with a big medical institution) for 5 years, in late 1980s/early 90s, due to being in a training program at the said institution. I really suffered there, but it was because I thought people were extremely parochial, small-minded, and boring.
While there's much truth to this, if one finds oneself generally alone, then whether the neighbors are grand paragons of high-culture and sophistication, or utterly the opposite, is irrelevant. It takes charisma and creativity to reach people, to cultivate friendships and the broadening of one's circle. If lacking this skill, or the chance to wield it, then the isolation will be obtrusive, whether one is in the middle of tribal lands stuck in the Middle Ages, or a thriving college town, or one of the world's great and bustling capitals.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
