This is a move that comes at an inflection point in a years-long battle with burnout and recovery. I’ve done a lot of introspection, work, and healing. Even though I’m much better now, I want to opt for a slower-paced life. After strategizing and preparing for a very long time (i.e. years), I bought a tiny home and I moved from the city to a remote spot in the desert.
A part of me has always wanted to live far away from it all. I think, in the back of my mind, I always knew I’d move to the country at some point. I’ve had a picture in my mind of living the quiet life, although I wrestled for a long time trying to decide if that was an avoidant’s escape fantasy, or a real need. But to fast forward through a lot of indecision, I decided to take the plunge.
Here’s a little roundup of the benefits I’m experiencing while living a rural lifestyle:
Tiny home = tiny budget
Not surprisingly, a big point is affordability. This is one of the main differences in that I do not face the same financial pressures as I did either renting or owning a regular home, especially in the expensive city that I moved from.
My tiny home cost me a fraction of what a traditional home cost. I’d saved up for a few years and was able to pay most of the house cost itself out of pocket. Although I used debt to fund the move, the amount is less than 10% of what I’d owe even with a modest mortgage. Initially, when I moved, I was paying a competitive $450 per month for lot rent in a very nice community center (it didn’t hurt that I was the first and only tiny home there and had the place pretty much to myself, too).
The deal got even better later on, when I met some locals who moved my home onto their large property, where I now live in exchange for working as a caretaker of their animals while the family travels.
This more affordable lifestyle for the trade-off of square footage leaves me mental room to be flexible with work and continue a freelancer lifestyle rather than needing to push for high paying jobs that involve long hours and a lot of pressure.
Tiny home = tiny to-do list
A low-maintenance home. This one is another biggie. A to-do list of chores and icky tasks is like kryptonite to my overwhelmed brain. In my tiny home, there’s only a small structure with few utilities and a few appliances. I don’t have an overwhelming to-do list of home improvement tasks compared to maintaining a larger home, or a city lawn with grass and gardens that needed watering and mowing.
Also, having this limited amount of square footage forces me to stay purged of too many belongings and to keep my space (relatively) organized. Not that I turned into a neat freak, but there’s only so much of a mess I can actually make and that has become a positive constraint in my life.
Rural living = solitude on demand
Privacy is very important to me. There are so few social encounters here that I actually enjoy talking to the few people I do run into. I have many more animal than human neighbors. That suits me juuuuuuuust fine. I can step outside without running into anyone.
Desert life = wide open spaces
An unobstructed view is priceless. It’s an energetically costly piece of task switching for me to either feel like I’m in too much of an enclosed space, or to have a very cluttered and chaotic view outside of my window.
Looking out on to an expanse of desert and mountains from the windows of my tiny home is inexpressibly soothing. Plus, the views here are so beautiful that it’s uplifting just to look outside.
Country living = peace and quiet
It’s quiet. The fewer distractions, the better. This took some adjustment at first, but my mind did calm down and adjust to the quiet.
I’m now less dependent on constant stimulation, and it helps keep me much more calm. It can be so intensely quiet here at night that the silence itself is a very pleasant kind of novel stimulation. The sounds I do hear are the sounds of nature. I hear birds and coyotes, wind and rain. The quality of that has such a different effect than city noise, even though I like some of those city sounds. Traffic and construction and voices have a different effect than the sounds of nature.
Rural living = open roads
No traffic. I now go for long drives just to run errands. It is an hour to the nearest big box store, for example. That amount of time behind the wheel, just to run errands, would have made me crazy in my previous life. But it doesn’t bother me now.
Here, the only traffic I ever see is when I have to stop for wildlife crossing the road. There is no rush hour and no getting stuck, no difficulty finding parking, no stop and go. Come to think of it, there aren’t even any stop lights.
Finding the right area = time in nature
Quick access to hiking and nature trails. Hiking is my go-to exercise and mental health activity. I live about 10 minutes from a beautiful natural area with hiking trails. And the area that I live in is so remote that there are never any crowds on the trails or filled parking areas. Although the place I lived before had a lot of scenic beauty, it was also crowded wherever I went, even after driving out of town into the mountains.
I now live in an area that is a genuine hidden gem. I have absolutely priceless easy access to enchanting scenery and wildlife. There are so few visitors that I have the trails all to myself. I don’t have to plan a whole day trip just to go hiking. I just get up and go.
Rural/small town life = simple, enjoyable gatherings
Limited choices of amenities and things to do. Not surprisingly, this is a double-edged sword. However, I get out and do more in this tiny town than I did in the city. There isn’t an overwhelming number of choices, but there are still fun things to do. Better yet, because I’m not overwhelmed, I actually do them. And aside from social plans, there’s always the option simply to go hiking.
Low expectations socially. Everyone here is casual and they’re doing practical things in jeans and t-shirts, or even overalls. Almost everyone who lives here has moved here for similar reasons that I did. Most of us like solitude and to be left alone without being self-conscious about it. I want to do what I want to do in privacy. People get that. It’s not weird here to be a little weird.
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Who knows if I’ll remain in such a remote area forever. When I get to the age where getting around becomes difficult for me, I may want to be in an area with more amenities for healthcare and easier access to shopping and things to do. But for now, I can honestly say I haven’t had a single moment of regret for moving to this area. I’ve always felt happy and at ease in the high desert.
Now that I live here, I know there’s more to that happy, easy feeling than just the vacation mindset that I’ve had while traveling in these regions. I live here where I feel like my soul has roots. My life now looks more like my vacations, and I have found peace in my tiny home in the desert.