I’ve been thinking a bit taking a trip across the country next summer. Or at least somewhere farther then West Virginia or Pennsylvania. But where and how? Do I want to drive? Take a bus? A train? An aeroplane?
One thing I was noticing is that I could make it from Chautaqua County, NY through Ohio into Michigan and up to Huron National Forest in roughly 7 hours if Google Maps is to be believed. That means no rest or fuel stops, and a long day driving, but it could be done easily by automobile.
I don’t know exactly what is in Huron National Forest but there is a good chance I could find dispersed camping there, and if not, there is always the option of a Forest Service Campground, as much as I hate campground camping.
Then I could drive up across the Mighty Mac Bridge to Northern Michigan and maybe explore Northern Wisconsin. Both of those states are on my short list for considering eventually owning my own land and building and Off-Grid homestead upon retirement. Michigan, an urban and blue state seems a bit dicey in my mind, but there is a lot good I’ve heard about Northern Michigan.
Wisconsin is maybe a bit more conservative, but Northern Wisconsin has a lot good in it – and even the southern, more agricultural parts of the state have some good wild places. But I think the north with it’s vast national forests are much more of an interest to me. If I’m exploring Northern Michigan, it certainly makes sense to spend a few days in Northern Wisconsin.
I’m also interested in the Ozarks and Missouri and Arkansas, but they seem like they might be a bit too far for this trip, especially if I only take off a week, which is probably the only realistic option with work next year. South Dakota is also of interest, especially the Bad Lands part of the state. An airplane would be faster, but I probably still couldn’t see all of that in a week. Plus an airplane is such a hassle, you are much more limited on the amount of gear you can bring. Trains are a bit more flexible, but your stuck in the city, unless you turn around and rent a car.
The thing I don’t want from travel is to visit National Parks or tourist destinations. I’m not saying if I’m right next to a famous National Park and it’s $20 to visit for a day, I would necessarily skip it, but my view of National Parks and touristy places is they are mostly a way to suck away your money, and leave you feeling empty and not really knowing the area you came to visit. I like dirt roads, small towns, dispersed camping in the wilderness, away from the crowds. I want to see gritty ol’ farms cut into the side of mountains, real rural people, places where real backwoods boys hang out, not places for those who were Berkenstocks and eat organic food at fancy restaurants driven there in their Volvo, only to return to their fancy hotels at night. Seeing a lot of run down shacks with a goat tied up front and a burn barrel out back in small towns that smell like silage and cow shit would put a big smile on my face.
In principal this summer I could do the trip out west but I need more time to plan – and I’m not comfortable with taking Big Red such a distance it’s advanced age and creaking nature. Kind of want to have a smaller, fuel efficent truck for that kind of adventure. Something easy to get on and off little mountain roads. Something comfortable to drive, with modern safety features like adaptive cruise control and more comfortable seats and a suspension that doesn’t feel like it’s always about to fall apart. Having a lifted truck has been fun but it’s not easy to maneuver in traffic.
Even if I’m not going to Michigan this year, I’m not saying I’ll stay home this summer – the Finger Lakes are always a nice escape for nine days – and I’m thinking this autumn of doing a trip out to Allegheny National Forest for a week riding the great mountain bike park they’ve built at Jakes Rock. And maybe see some of the Southern Tier Western NY. But not Michigan, Wisconsin or the Ozarks this year. But I should plan a bigger adventure for the next year.
It just seems like all my friends are buying home and homesteads, getting land, moving out to country and raising stock and families. Then I follow all these off-grid and homesteading groups on Facebook, and my feed is constantly filled with pictures of cattle and hogs, vast open spaces out west, Alaska, the true west and mid-west.
At one level, I feel like I am getting older and not making much progress. It seems like I’m still in my miserable little apartment, which is so cold and dirty, worn out and broken, but I like the location. I like the library and park, and choosing to go without wired internet. I am dropped the hotspot plan when I went back to working downtown.
But at the same time, I totaled up this evening the money I’m investing and saving on a weekly basis, and while it looks relatively small on any one account, it does add up when you add up the various accounts, especially over time. But it’s not where I need to be today, although I probably could put down a pretty good down payment or even buy a modest house, but that would require me to sell of many of my investments and deplete a lot of my savings.
I just don’t want to live the suburbanite life, with the big screen televisions, the status symbols of the SUV or hybrid car, the chemically-fertilized lawn, the neighbors right next store. And the plastic! I’d rather die then live in a house with vinyl siding and two car garage. My heart is not in suburbia, it’s in the open country, some of the wild places I’ve explored and even more so the places I’ve read about and seen on the Youtube. The small towns that smell like silage and cow shit, the farm country, the ranches and vast mountains out west. Or even the small-towns like you might find in many parts of New York in a more subdued fashion. Upstate New York is fine, but it’s expensive and it’s a land of red tape and waste.
Some of my friends and colleagues took the small leap, buying land out in country, and still commuting back to Albany-area for work. It’s a lot of driving, and much of the rural land around here, while rural is far more urbanized and regulated then what you might find in the wilds of West Virginia, Missouri or Idaho. Land prices are pretty high, especially for acreage, and there are still a lot of codes to be followed. Yes, I’ve been to places like the Southern Tier and the Black River Valley, or far reaches of North Country, but even the most remote and wild small town in New York isn’t like so much of world I’ve been learning and reading about.
I really hate to sign my new lease and the commitment it brings at the higher price for the next year, but I can’t make the numbers work to move. I’d love to own land, but it’s expensive locally, and I don’t really have enough money to buy what I want or would need outright. I sure like having the bus I can take to work downtown, the library, park, and wildlife observation grounds a short walk from home. And honestly, I don’t really want to spend my whole life in Upstate New York, when I’ve seen there are other places in the world and other places. But I feel like re-upping my lease is just kicking the can down the road — sure I have fun traveling now — but I also feel like I’m making little progress compared to what my friends and colleagues are.
A lot of people think cows when they think of the Green Mountain State. Vermont often celebrates it's rural heritage and agricultural is a big part of land use along Lake Champlain but the same can't be said about the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. While there are certainly farms up that way, there is a lot less crop growing then some of the real agricultural areas of New York.
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