Choices – Remote Living

Reader Contribution by Bruce Mcelmurray

Let’s face it remote living is clearly not for everyone.  For those who  choose to live like we do maybe our experience will help you.  For those who don’t live in a remote area or may just be considering doing so, maybe it will help you decide if you want to attempt it or not. Having such conveniences as getting a newspaper, mail or packages delivered to your door and other amenities are not part of remote living.  

When we first moved to our current location we were fully aware that we were going to have a substantial drive from those provisions we were used to having  easy access to.  Like veterinary care,  medical care, pharmacy services and all the shopping amenities.  When I need a tractor part the co-op is 75 miles one way.  Medical care is 45 miles assuming weather will permit travel off the mountain.  For a small city we are fortunate to have quality medical facilities and providers.  Dental care, 42 miles one way.  Groceries, we purchase many of our groceries from Ft. Garland which is only 18 miles one way.  We also make occasional trips to Pueblo where we can buy in bulk.  Hardware is only 18 miles to a very well stocked store.      

Living as we do can be daunting when you consider the distances we have to drive for certain basic needs.  Our alternative is that we shop on line and only have to drive 8 miles to the entrance of our community where a drop box is located to retrieve our packages.  Those ads that used to be on TV showing UPS and Fed Ex delivering to remote locations is not true in our case.  They once did that but in the winter driving a two wheel drive panel truck up and down the side of a mountain can be an exciting trip for their drivers.  Their screams were pitiful and most amusement parks don’t have fun rides like that so we pick packages up 8 miles away.  

There are some amenities that you will clearly not have access to when you live remote.  If you expect to have them close at hand living remote is probably not for you.  Paving winding roads, building malls, and having those things you would normally find in a city are not realistically in the budget of a landowners association.  So if you plan to bring your city amenities with you it is probably good to rethink why you are moving remote in the first place and you may want to stay where you are and avoid disappointment.  

 That makes it important to follow the Boy Scout motto of always being prepared.  That means  you have to think ahead and anticipate emergency situations and needs.  We maintain a well stocked emergency kit for ourselves and our dogs.  We have emergency responders  that are only a few miles away, thanks to the forward thinking of some in our community.  We are not without basic survival means, but when you live remote if you have health problems and need quick access to medical facilities you might want to rethink that lifestyle.  Trees can fall across roads, snow drifts across the roads, spring mud can make two wheel drive very difficult therefore access can sometimes be limited.  

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