Categories: Due Diligence, Guides

Brad T.

July 7, 2023

What it’s Like Living the Rural Life: Interviewing Ana

Have you ever wondered what it’s like living the rural lifestyle? Ever wanted to ask questions, but just didn’t know where (or who) to start with? Below, we share a very special interview with someone who’s thriving somewhere in the rugged edges of Eastern Tennessee. Not only is she experienced living the rural life, but her and her husband are also well-versed in the self-sustainment lifestyle, to include: hunting, gardening, foraging and even tanning and hiding.

Below, we have the pleasure of meeting Ana, who has sat down with us to share her thoughts on the rural lifestyle. We feel she would be a great person to gain some knowledge from, considering her family heritage of having resided on the same 500 acres of rural land going back since the 1800’s. What makes her perspective valuable is she is also familiar with urban living, so she has a full appreciation of some of the many differences in comparing rural vs. city life.

 

Ana, thank you for taking your valuable time to answer a few questions with us. Our goal is to shed some light on a few thoughts that may ultimately educate and/or inspire others to consider the rural life – or even help determine it’s just not suitable for them, if it’s not in their family’s best interest. After noticing that most of this rural property has been in your family for over 120 years, we figure you would be the perfect person to reach out to and just ask a few questions regarding the rural lifestyle.

 

Q. What do you find most rewarding about living the rural lifestyle?

A: Without a doubt, the freedom we have. We may get 3 cars a day and one is the mail carrier. We aren’t in a flight path, our nearest neighbor is a little under 2 miles away, and our road is definitely not a main road to anywhere. We can hunt, fish, raise animals and have a huge garden and live freely.

Q. That ability to raise your own animals and harvest your own food is definitely a major positive both financial, and in a spiritual sense. What are some things you believe would be most challenging for someone looking to move to a rural area for the first time?

 

A: “I would have to say the isolation. We prefer it after so many years of living a suburban life, but it was hard in the beginning to get used to nothing but the sounds of nature. I’ve always craved it, but it took getting used to. Our nearest large grocer is about 40 minutes away, you learn how to shop and store items. That part took learning and time.”

Interesting. We agree that the low traffic and fewer passerbys could present challenges for some people who aren’t used to it. Grocery situations, shopping centers and even basic emergency services can sometimes be a distance away, and we encourage everyone out there to think about all these things prior to making any decisions. Ana, hearing you key-in on some of these things are the exact reason why we wanted to capture your perspective.

Q. How about natural resources – do you chop, and use your own firewood? How about utilizing the creek water in any way? These are perfect examples of harvesting God’s natural resources, and we were wondering if you have any thoughts on this.

 

A: Our only heat source is the fireplace, so we start the wood collection and chopping in early summer. Our creek is absolutely invaluable. For one, we are hide tanners who teach the old way so we own zero machinery and can’t work without our creek. Secondly, we are fortunate enough to have multiple fresh springs that bubble into the creek and I’ve relied on them a lot, especially in the winter. Both firewood and our springs/creek are absolute necessities, we could not survive without them in our situation.

 

Q. Do you farm or garden? If so, can you expand on some of the different ways this has benefited your family?

A: We love our garden! We eat mostly hunted meat and fish we catch, our home grown vegetables are invaluable as well to mix up our diet. I also operate an apothecary so I grow all my herbs as well for medicine mostly as my husband is native and was raised on a reservation with his mother who was also an herbalist! We heavily rely on our garden and root cellar to get us through winter. We’ve been stuck a few times due to weather and it sure is nice to just run out back knowing I’ve plenty in the larder from the last season.

Q. What’s your experience in regards to local trade – both goods and/or services? From your perspective of living in a more rural area, are there farmers markets and flea markets in the area that help invigorate fair commerce and free trade?

A: There are farmers markets, yes. I utilize them when/if I need something I don’t grow/raise. We try to be as self sufficient as possible, but should we need anything, our community is ripe with farmers willing to help. I do not own an oven, I’ve mastered baking in the fire and will trade on occasion fresh breads, baked goods, etc. I also make all of our breads, ice creams, butter and a lot of our cheeses. I wish we could get back to bartering. In my work world (Renaissance Festivals) the general idea is barter. It works well in that community. I sure would love to see more of it.

 

We’re also a huge proponent of bartering and local trading for both goods and skills, as it’s an age-old practice that has been around since civilization began. In our opinion, trading and bartering in a free market is a skill (and a basic freedom) that everyone should try to learn, because not only does it increase the overall the community benefit, but it also helps build self-confidence and social skills.

Q. Lastly, we want to hear about the fearless knight in shining armor posted up in the cabin. Is there a history behind this? This image illustrates a warrior mentality and heavily signifies two of the most admirable characteristics known to man – bravery and courage.

A: My fearless knight… James is a professional jouster. We travel renaissance festivals for work where he can joust, and I can run my fur booth. He has been jousting for 25 years, and also is the owner of The American Jousting League. We are both very strong individuals who love our freedom, our work, our family and our little “Eden” we call home. Living the way we do isn’t always easy. There’s always work to be done. But at the end of the day, we are at our peak happiness in life at almost 50 and wouldn’t trade a moment.

Ana, thank you for taking valuable time out of your day to share some valuable knowledge and inspiration. As previously mentioned, our goal is to help educate others so that they can learn about some of the benefits and joys of what it means to live in rural areas. Do you have any closing thoughts you’d like to share?

Also, how can anyone learn more about what you do?

“We’ve learned a lot, lost some, had hard times but mostly good times, but I would absolutely recommend this lifestyle. It’s not for everyone, but it sure is for us. Read all you can and listen to folks who live this way, ask questions, LOTS of questions! Educate yourself on every aspect, and when you leap finally, you’ll find a freedom and love of Mother Earth you had no idea existed.”

Ana, once again, we’d like to thank you for taking time out of your day to answer some of these basic questions. Our goal in doing this is to help inspire and educate others, so we feel your answers above could be of high-value for anyone looking to make a rural move.

To learn more about Ana and her hiding, tanning and apothecary products, you can find her on Facebook HERE, and Instagram HERE.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of living in rural areas, read all about it HERE.

Or, If youd like to check out our Guide to Buying Rural property, you can check that out HERE. After all – the key is to educate yourself as much as possible!

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