Content Team
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.
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. 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?
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.
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?
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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