My husband and I are at a point in our lives that we want to retire and find another adventure to pursue. We want to be debt free as much as possible; no mortgage, no car payments and definitely no credit card bills (which we hadn't since 2007).
Our paradise would be about five acres of land, growing our own produce, raising a couple of goats, half a dozen chickens and caring for bees. Being free to live off our retirements and VA and answering to no one.
We are NOT preppers! We are in it for self sustainability, freedom from the 9-5 rat race and to find a better way of living.
I approached my husband one day and I asked him what he thought about homesteading. We had no plans other than enjoy the island we are on before heading back to the states, buy another house and have nothing real to show for all the hours he and I have worked in our lives. He needed more context.
So I told him what would he think about buying a few acres of land and building most if not all of our home and NOT have a mortgage. We could grow our own food, raise our own animals for meat, eggs and milk. We could explore establishing our own small business. I'm thinking farmer's market, providing organics for restaurants and various crafts.
If we bought our land outright and build most of our home and other structures we could live off of our monthly earnings from our time in the military. He thought about this long and hard and being the ever skeptic, he decided to do some research on his own before he got back to me about it.
He came home one day and said, "Let's do this!"
We figured our time on Okinawa is set at 4 years from this date before we move back to the states. That gives us time to save money. I also wanted to go back to work once we return to help with the savings. I told my husband we need at least three year's worth of savings from the time we got back to the U.S. to the time we pop chocks to live on our land. Why three years (actually seven from now)? Figure in soil amendments, money to buy materials to get the home up and livable, gardening equipment, land clearing, plus cushion of capital for the "OH NOES".
We been doing research on tiny homes, home kits, and yurts. A conventional home isn't in the cards for us. The cheaper the better. Trailers, mobile homes and the ilk are not an option. Its just not the type of home we want. We want something that will appeal to us in some way.
The big main question we been wrestling with is WHERE to plant roots. We are looking in North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and most of the Northwest. There are going to be a few factors that come into play when choosing a place. Deed restrictions, zoning and overall accessibility to a community that is culturally diverse if at all possible.
The number one area we wanted is near Asheville, NC. That town is amazing from all the videos and pictures we seen. We even had people tell us that place is beautiful.
OK gonna keep this first page short but I will be posting about my gardening progress and the type of business and crafts I created.
This will be a long journey but a good one.
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