When it comes to tree-changing (moving from a city to rural area) we’ve ‘been there and done that’; and have learned many lessons which we are happy to share. Here’s a flavour of topics that come to mind:
- Staying true to who you are and how you want to live your life
- Help is always at hand but you need to know where to look
- Actually making the move
- Sourcing goods and services
- Maintaining existing city networks
- You are, actually, still on planet Earth; and the ‘outback’ is actually further west
- Integrating within a rural community
- Benefits far outweigh the pitfalls
- For some, a personality transplant might be necessary
- Tall poppy syndrome
- Myths of rural living
- ‘Buyer beware’ aspects of purchasing rural land and how to reduce the risks
- Setting up and living with a substantial off-grid power supply system
- Working with herding animals
- Setting up farm water supplies
- Land planning
- “Everybody knows everybody and everybody tells everybody everything” –well, not quite the case, but you get our drift!
Packing up – leaving the ‘Big Smoke’!