(Holly Deyo) No man is an island … This remains true whether you grow 10 hands, have a billion bucks or the luck of the Irish. Sooner or later people realize that no man – or woman – can do everything by himself. One of the best resources you’ll ever have is the friends and neighbors around you.
CASE #1
While living in northern Colorado, close friends bought mountain property to get even further away to a peaceful rural area. He really wanted to be out in the ‘back of beyond’. They found the perfect property: mountain location, 375 acres of prime meadowland with 12 streams originating on the property that run year round.
Tons of wild game; deer, mountain lions, geese and turkey roam freely, and enough pine trees to keep them in firewood till the end of days. Their mountain view from The Flatirons is unstoppable – clear down to the Twin Sisters in Longmont, CO.
For two years, this friend’s husband badgered, cajoled, begged the previous owners to sell and frankly, he beat them into the ground with persistence. The owners in their 70’s worried that medical help was an hour and a half away – on a good day. In winter, traversing those unpaved sludgy roads would have been impossible.
It soon became apparent that just the two of them living so far from ‘civilization’ with no neighbors close by, was literally life-threatening. So they sold. With this peaceful, exquisite land in their possession, our friends were on the way to realizing their dream.
It took a couple of years for them to complete their 10,000 sq. ft. home (above – residence from the outside and on the left is their kitchen). Every amenity was incorporated into this architectural feat, which won log cabin home of the year in 2007. You’d think they had the world by its tail. Less than 5 years later, their home went on the market for $10M. They too, realized that no one can go it alone, no matter how much $$ you have.
CASE #2
Another friend acquired remote property in Montana. He is a hard-core prepper and found land he deemed to be the perfect retreat. Designs were drawn and construction commenced on the bugout, but he soon realized just how difficult this plan was to implement. Because he wanted to keep the location ‘invisible and quiet’ (AS IF there is such a thing), without roads, everything had to be choppered in. Since Montana is so far north, construction windows are short compared to Colorado where it churns year round. For him, everything was hurry, hurry hurry.
During winter, the only access to this property was by snowmobile. In summer, it required ATVs. A couple years into the project and still only part way to this retreat’s completion, he gave up. His wife rightly complained it was too remote, too difficult and not near choice restaurants and the high end shopping she was accustomed to.
These are not one-off stories.
CASE # – MANY!
We’ve watched people totter off to Australia, New Zealand, Honduras, Mexico, Canada and other distant destinations, but they are still confronted by problems. Most have returned to America, disillusioned and poorer, but experience-richer for the first-hand lesson.
They looked elsewhere for an answer when it’s right beneath their noses. Folks may not all experience the same challenges, but they can be just as head-scratching. So while there is no perfectly safe place, there are certainly smarter alternatives. Regardless of where you live there is a great resource right in front of you – your neighbors, your friends, your community.
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