What life style do you wish to live?

EJD

New Member
Mar 31, 2021
3
1
25
Staffordshire
I live in a small village just outside of a medium sized town. I would love to live further out in the countryside, however, the new housing in the small villages around me seem to be swallowing up the countryside. I dont think living off grid is realistic for me especially in the uk. In the past I wanted a large countryside manor and fast cars etc.. etc... but now in a covid world I'd be more than happy to live on a nice canalboat and own some woodland.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,893
2,145
Mercia
After a lot of hard work we live a great lifestyle and are happy to produce much of our own food, breed livestock, harvest fuel & make our own booze, cleaning products etc.

If we had a lot more resources we would love to take this further and build as self sufficient community as possible - generating electricity, planting new coppiced woods, making our own pottery, producing our own wind powered water supply & so much more. It couldn't be a single family endeavour, nor would we want it to be 'living history' but rather a modern, self contained , low impact lifestyle.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,831
3,783
66
Exmoor
I'd be up for that BR!
I'll never be able to buy a house again, and buying any land round here is impossible unless you have shed loads of money, which I don't.
In my area,

Example.1
Someone I know bought a small bit of land, the size of an allotment for £750, 15 years ago.
Sold it last year for £9,000.

Example 2
Small field just about 3/4 acre sold last summer for £25,000(has to stay as field no building allowed)
About 5 yrs ago this sort of land was £3,000 an acre

Example 3
Standard ex council garage sold for £15,000. 5 yrs ago

Average house price for ex council House £350, 000.
Nothing much else under £500,000.

Its only getting worse with townie people scrabbling over their country idil, and putting prices up.
(Sorry, my pet beef here)
I have some savings, but its never enough, and I can't keep up with deposit prices let alone anything else! Getting a mortgage at my age isn't an option anymore without ridiculous repayments, so my dream will evermore stay a dream.
A share in a small community with similar aims and lifestyle would be ideal. Go for it BR! I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be up for it.
I did consider tinkers bubble for a while, as a possible community to join, but it was a tad too primitive for me to cope with in the winter, but they definitely have the right ideas and have made a great success of things.
 
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henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
612
424
Derby
I'd be up for that BR!
I'll never be able to buy a house again, and buying any land round here is impossible unless you have shed loads of money, which I don't.
In my area,

Example.1
Someone I know bought a small bit of land, the size of an allotment for £750, 15 years ago.
Sold it last year for £9,000.

Example 2
Small field just about 3/4 acre sold last summer for £25,000(has to stay as field no building allowed)
About 5 yrs ago this sort of land was £3,000 an acre

Example 3
Standard ex council garage sold for £15,000. 5 yrs ago

Average house price for ex council House £350, 000.
Nothing much else under £500,000.

Its only getting worse with townie people scrabbling over their country idil, and putting prices up.
(Sorry, my pet beef here)
I have some savings, but its never enough, and I can't keep up with deposit prices let alone anything else! Getting a mortgage at my age isn't an option anymore without ridiculous repayments, so my dream will evermore stay a dream.
A share in a small community with similar aims and lifestyle would be ideal. Go for it BR! I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be up for it.
I did consider tinkers bubble for a while, as a possible community to join, but it was a tad too primitive for me to cope with in the winter, but they definitely have the right ideas and have made a great success of things.
Tinkers bubble, now there’s a place of different mindset & thinking..I was asked if I’d like to join many years ago,It’s not for me.
So I went to Monkton Wylde in Dorset instead.
 

demographic

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Apr 15, 2005
4,762
786
-------------
To be fair, I'm ticking over quite nicely.
Would be nice to have a bit of land somewhere quiet and put something on it but other than that things are ok.

One of the lads who attends work sometimes seems to think he wants to be living about a thousand years ago.
He can't even manage a full day at work and misses a day or two every week so I couldn't see him surviving the eleventh century.
Not much decent medicine, high infant mortality and properly hard daily grind type work.

I'm sure I'm a lot harder worker than that stupid boy (everyone else there is as well) and I don't want to live back then.
 

Redhand Jack

Tenderfoot
Jan 25, 2021
62
57
Devon
My wish would be to live as a Medieval Forrester - a life in the woods, working by the seasons, enough 'tecnology' to get the job done and the autonomy the position provided sound like an ideal lifestyle to me (if we forget about the plagues, famines and lack of healthcare etc..)
It's probably doable in practice but just putting the tiny scrap of woodland I have permission for back into some sort of balance is (I'm starting to realize) looking like a lifetimes work so I'll settle for being a weekend woodsman.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,413
1,702
Cumbria
I would like to change my first answer. I am no longer bothered by the life before covid. I am more than happy with my life now in the new house with a garden and a nice village near a nice river estuary. There's woodland, little hills, coastal walks and beautiful scenery. Add in many other benefits and I can truly consider myself lucky with my lifestyle.

One of the big, unexpected, positive outcomes from covid I have taken is that I have learnt to find balance and happiness in just staying at home. Before I would have been needing to go out to do things or buy things just to have an excuse to go out. There's a silver lining to even the worst events if you're lucky. I feel lucky for certain.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,893
2,145
Mercia
One of the big, unexpected, positive outcomes from covid I have taken is that I have learnt to find balance and happiness in just staying at home. Before I would have been needing to go out to do things or buy things just to have an excuse to go out. There's a silver lining to even the worst events if you're lucky. I feel lucky for certain.
I think what you have summed up is the importance of contentment in life. We were very lucky in that lockdown minimally changed our lives. Growing things, raising livestock, making what's needed, cutting firewood have not really been affected. I'm so glad that you've got to enjoy that quiet peace. If someone offered me a vast amount of money tomorrow to return permanently to office life, I would be happy to let someone else have the opportunity. What is a "good life" will vary for everyone, but I would say to anyone who hates Monday's, longs to get away from their home & is desperate for a holiday after 6 months at home, do think about what makes you content & try to get it - even if its a scary leap!
 
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Scottieoutdoors

Settler
Oct 22, 2020
889
635
Devon
My wife and I are in mixed minds at the moment (on the same mixed page luckily!)

We have lots of ideas of what the perfect life would be, but unfortunately they're all so varied. We love the idea of a cosy cottage with a fireplace, in countryside - some land to play silly bggrs on etc.. but close enough to a decent food source...

..but we also love the beach and the sea and the coast paths for kayaking and walking, body boarding etc...

..but we are also keen on skiing, so maybe somewhere with snowy mountains too....

..and of course we want to do some travelling about, maybe a camper van would be decent for that - do we get a LGV licence, sell everything and get a truck?.. or just van it?... But what about the Doggo?..

..but then, as someone who has a massive history with the ocean and boats, I'm also keen to buy a sailing boat and live/travel around on that (wife is too)...

Of course I do love the idea of the forests of Canada/North America...but not keen on being munched by a bear - so a bit of a drawback...

Naturally all the above is work/money dependent too!!!

One thing many of you have highlighted is the future, when we're all end up with ailments... I actually lost a bit of respect for a friend based on that sort of thing.. He came from rather a fortunate background with parents that hadn't done too badly, but he entered into that van hippy world style - which was fine, except for his plan which was to 'live life HIS way, doing what he wanted, then when he has kids he can live with them' when he's older.... There's me thinking "uhhhh and if they want to follow your steps?? Or they want a life of their own?"
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
@Wayland

Here you can be honest and admit that you would like to shrink and live in your miniature world. We all know it anyway!
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
@Wayland

Here you can be honest and admit that you would like to shrink and live in your miniature world. We all know it anyway!


Waylands-Miniatures1.jpg



Haha, Maybe in the Vardo perhaps but I'm not sure I'd like to live in the Lighthouse.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,774
Berlin
I currently live in a construction trailer since a year and really can recommend it.

If you buy and store the food before you shrink, the usual amount for a year should last until the end of your life.
You would save also here a lot of money, and you just need a few square metres to live of your own land after shrinking.

I think shrinking might be the best option.

The only problem that I see are the cats. But with a miniaturised cannon you also should become able to deal with them.
 
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Kadushu

If Carlsberg made grumpy people...
Jul 29, 2014
944
1,024
Kent
I currently live in a construction trailer since a year and really can recommend it.

If you buy and store the food before you shrink, the usual amount for a year should last until the end of your life.
You would save also here a lot of money, and you just need a few square metres to live of your own land after shrinking.

I think shrinking might be the best option.

The only problem that I see are the cats. But with a miniaturised cannon you also should become able to deal with them.
Have you seen the movie about exactly this?
 
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