Category: Retreat Locales

Exiting Babylon – Part 1, by The Watchman

I’ll begin this essay with two quotations from the book of Revelation: “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.” …


A Retreat for Aging Preppers, by Barbara H.

Addressing the problems facing aging preppers. Start early! Our initial problem was two-fold: Finding sustainable land while still trapped until I was retirement-eligible. Two years before retirement, we began our search for viable land approximately 100 miles from any major city. Our initial search was for about 20 acres, a nearby small town, and off of well-traveled roads. The land had to have a water source with a full-year-running creek. Remember moving to an unknown rural community places you at a disadvantage of finding appropriate skilled help and unscrupulous persons who will overcharge you based on your lack of knowledge. …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.) Financial Concerns, Taking a Vow of Poverty In my case, retiring early and cashing out most of my 401k took a leap of faith to say the least. It helped that I was debt-free and willing to put up with almost any inconvenience and suffer financially if necessary if it meant finally getting to live my dream life in the country. That was my primary goal above all else. How to get by if the funds ran dry was only a secondary concern that I’d deal with later if necessary. That’s how …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued From Part 1.) Design Features and Customizations Every place I’ve ever lived had a large living room and a smaller kitchen. I made the kitchen the largest room in the house since we spend a lot of time cooking, baking, and playing board games. There’s a loft on both sides of the kitchen leaving an 18’ ceiling with a large skylights above, giving the room a much larger feeling as well as making it bright and cheery, even on cloudy days. There’s a large 4’ x 6’ picture window to enjoy the view. The cat wanted 8” wide window …


Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 1, by St. Funogas

With winter ebbing and spring headed our way, some folks are probably thinking a little more frequently about getting out of the city once and for all. Having “been there done that,” it saddens me to read comments on SurvivalBlog from people wanting to start living a simpler more self-reliant lifestyle in the country but they just can’t seem to make it happen. For some of those, I’m confident they could turn their hopes into reality if they could learn to think out of the box, rethink normalcy, toss some of their fears aside, and make some sacrifices to make …


The “American Redoubt”, the Dream of a Conservative Fortress, by Adrien Jaulmes

Editor’s Introductory Note: The following is a translation of a March 24, 2023 article in France’s oldest newspaper, Le Figaro. One of the newspaper’s American staffers interviewed me by telephone, in February, during his fact-finding tour of the region. Here is a link to that original piece, in French: Aux États-Unis, la «Redoute américaine», un rêve de forteresse conservatrice. (In the United States, the “American Redoubt”, a dream of a conservative fortress.) Most of the article was “réservé aux abonné”  — reserved for subscribers.The Le Figaro reporter, Adrien Jaulmes, kindly sent me the English version of the article. The reporter …


Finding, Buying, and Improving My Bugout Location – Part 3, by Greg X.

(Continued from Part 2.  This concludes the article.) I purchased the property in the winter out of a bankruptcy for a good price. This left me with some money to invest, but I plan to do as much of the repair work as I can. This may take longer than contractors (who are hard to find too) but I also don’t want to appear too wealthy to the neighbors. This is the Grey Man approach. I’ll use the neighbors to source inexpensive local materials and contractors for work beyond my skill set, safety, or time to invest. For example, I …


Finding, Buying, and Improving My Bugout Location – Part 2, by Greg X.

(Continued from Part 1.) My Detailed Search I spent the first couple of years looking at real estate online. I’m trying to find a property that is at least 3 hours away so in-person viewing wasn’t efficient for my initial search. I wanted to get a feel for what was for sale, what were prices like, how much money did I need, and what kind of amenities were in certain areas. I would map driving distances and roads looking at drive times, rush hour constraints, fastest routes and number of alternate routes. Zillow.com and Realtor.com were my favorite search sites. …


Finding, Buying, and Improving My Bugout Location – Part 1, by Greg X.

Introduction In this article, I will describe my search for a bugout location (BOL). I would consider it typical for someone living in the eastern United States. I closed escrow on that property last May and have been working on the place every weekend since then. — If you search the Internet and you will find multiple articles about the perfect bugout location. Most articles will contain a standard list of recommendations that require tradeoffs and sacrifices most of us don’t want to or can’t make while staying within our value systems and life constraints. I would argue that “the” …


Grounds for a National Divorce

The mainstream media has finally caught on to something that has been brewing in America for decades: The deepening divide between two cultures. On one side is the “Blue State” coastal/leftist/authoritarian/atheist/urban culture. And on the other side is the “Red State” inland/conservative/liberty-loving/Christian/rural culture. Back in 2021, we read this headline, from Forbes: America’s Mass Migration Intensifies As ‘Leftugees’ Flee Blue States And Counties For Red. That article included this: “America is on the move like never before. Some would say at a tectonic level and for many the driver is as much political as it is economic. The top five …


Some Stark Realities of the 2020s are Pushing Us Off-Grid

There are a number of societal changes that have accelerated our plans to fully go off the grid. The day may soon come when we decide to lock our gate at the county road, and hunker down. Our only regular contact would then be with our contiguous neighbors. For many years, I thought that the only circumstance that might necessitate such a move would be a societal collapse. But now, I have many other concerns. The most prominent motivators for taking on the mode of self-isolation include: Currency inflation The surveillance state Increasing regulation Forced vaccination schemes Supply chain disruption …


Economics & Investing For Preppers:

Today, in lieu of my usual economics and investing news and commentary, I’d like to briefly expound a bit on my view of the collapsing real estate market in the United States. I’ll begin by mentioning something published in Investment Watchblog that I found linked over at the Whatfinger.com news aggregation site: US Median Home Price Drops 12% in Six Months – Largest Drop Since 2009. Please take the time to read that article. Now take a look at an ominous figure that was neatly buried down in the ninth paragraph of an article with a cheery headline over at the …


Navigating the Real Estate Price Dilemma, by Jonathan Rawles

One of the largest obstacles to relocation is the high prices of land and homes in desirable retreat areas. With mortgage rates rising, but prices still high, affordability is taking another hit. As a brief example, a recent search on Zillow for homes in Boundary County, Idaho with the criteria of 2,000 square feet and 20 acres returned only four results, starting with a rustic off-grid cabin at $850,000. There are many factors playing into this, including a limited supply, high demand, and a skewed market. Rural areas hold only 20% of current housing supply and 10% of new builds. …


IT Careers and Rural Living, by M.J.

I’m writing this as an expansion of JWR’s article posted on December 8, 2022. As he noted, many office jobs can now be done from home. This article is about how I got started in my career in Infomation Technology (IT). While bumpy at times, IT has really paid off for me financially. I hope that my article will inspire some readers to follow a similar path, which may allow them to escape the dysfunctional cities. For those who are already living in rural America, read on to find out about another way to earn income. I got started in …


Update: A Home-Based Business — Your Ticket to The Boonies

JWR’s Introductory Note: This article is an update and substantial expansion to a piece that I wrote back in December of 2005. — The majority of SurvivalBlog readers that I talk and correspond with tell me that they live in cities or suburbs, but they would like to live full-time at a retreat in a rural area. Their complaint is almost always the same: “…but I’m not self-employed. I can’t afford to live in the country because I can’t find work there, and the nature of my work doesn’t allow telecommuting.” They feel stuck. The recent Wu Flu pandemic proved …