.I always dreamed about living on a farm with a big red barn, I enjoyed working outdoors and growing things. What I miss from my house in Illinois are the gardens. I planted a lot of native prairie plants
and also had a beautiful rose garden
in the back yard. Sometimes, when life wasn't too hectic, I would have a vegetable garden, too.
Many weekends I would drag my husband and daughter to look at an abandoned farm or small cottage, I wanted to move to the country. We lived in Chicago and would travel to rural areas of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. In later years, our road trips took us farther away from home.
2008 Boone Forest, Kentucky
Last fall, I noticed an ad for the Mother Earth News Fair in Topeka, Kansas, the dates were October 22nd-23rd (2016). I would be finished working on October 17th and decided to take a detour to Kansas on my way to Denver.
Attending this event fueled my desire, again, for a small farm. One of the goals of full-timing is to find a "home base". I still have not figured out where that will be, but I plan on searching for a place while traveling this summer.
My work schedule is January 15th-April 15th and again from August 15th-October 15th. This allows me a lot of time for visiting with family and exploring. Instead of working a summer job that requires a commitment of 6+ months in one location, I will work this split schedule and free up the summer months for exploring.
My property requirements are pretty simple:
No restrictions on parking an RV on the property
Utilities already in place
One to two miles from a thriving town center
I currently walk/bike for most errands and want to continue this
The town must have a grocery store, library and community center
A house is not necessary, I do not want to worry about leaving it vacant while traveling.
I will continue to travel in the RV, there are many places to visit, I am not ready to sit in one place yet. It will take time to establish perennial plants and small fruit trees on the property, it will be a work in progress, a place to hang out and make plans.
To be continued...
*Traveling to Topeka and "at the fair"
*More Texas State Parks
The Mother Earth News Fair will be in several states again in 2017.
Link provided on this blog post.
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