Day: March 25, 2025

One of my former supervisors is tossing his hat in the ring and filing for retirement at age 55. I hope to follow his lead in less than 13 years even though I know I’ll take a big hair cut on what I could ultimately get in retirement if it delayed.

But I have a vision, a dream that I want to make reality. I want to build that off grid homestead and live there full time and only work as needed for extra money and getting away. But I don’t want to be tied to a big city but instead live in a deep rural area, away from the crime, the pollution and crass commercialism.

It would be a great adventure to buy land – put a big chunk of money into land first and foremost – then move out there, camp on it in a tent and tarps at first then build a cabin by myself that is at least survivable come winter. It need not be fancy, indeed I would want to get away from all this consumerism and mock fancyiness, and all the high tech crap. Doesn’t have to beautiful, I would be fine sleeping on a cot and using an old folding table as a kitchen table and cooking on a camp stove. While improvements like an oven and more solar would be nice doesn’t have to be fancy. I actually prefer things like an outhouse or composting toilet rather than a septic system where all of the solids end up going to the landfill. Truth is that I don’t need that much money to live that kind of life, though my investment are growing and will grow even more in the coming decade.

There are some nicer properties in New York State I’ve seen browsing Zillow but they are all New York with the stupid gun laws and burn ban. I’ve thought about buying land or even a house if necessary but they all come with a long commute and often too little acerage and way too much house. Indeed I’ve started to watch YouTube videos on framing and building small cabins, and I’ve been doing some reading and trying to learn what I can. Maybe I should look and see what classes in the trades I could take at a community college. I just don’t like the options for all the enormous grid tied homes, but I’m also not into those super fancy full featured tiny homes. I don’t mind the look of basic things.

It’s not something I can do this year and I concede it’s likely I’ll end up with my parents house when they pass but I want more land and less house then they have. I’d much rather have a tiny house and big barn rather than a big house and only five acres. But property can be sold and I need not stick around in New York State past age 55 even if that costs me financially to build my dream homestead.