Lisa,

Don’t give up on the dream. Or even get a kink in your fantasy.

I don’t know the folks at Reclaimed Home and I am sure they are really nice people (they also have a nice blog that is well written) but I read the piece and it seems they decided that the country life wasn’t for them. Doesn’t mean it won’t be perfect for you or someone else. My sense is that people make a decision–city or country–and then they bend reality to support that decision. Again, nothing negative at all toward the Reclaimed Home folks but if you read that piece it sounds like they missed the city and rationalized why they wanted to move back. There are plenty of people who did the move they did and would never come back to the city. Again, don’t give up on the dream.

As for us, we currently do Brooklyn and the Catskills. I would do the Catskills full time but the wife would do Brooklyn full time so we compromise. But we are not just weekenders. We’ve spend several months at a time up in the Catkills and that is the best way to figure out of the move is for you.

As for nosy neighbors, it honestly seems that a good, old-fashioned conversation over a cup of coffee could set that straight.

I do get concerned when I hear things like “I tried to get involved with the locals.” I’ve had a number of friends move the Catskills or become weekenders and I can tell you the ones who have a much better time don’t refer to their neighbors as “the locals.” Not a criticism of the Reclaimed Home folks but some people mesh and others don’t. As for me, I enjoy spending time with my neighbors in the Catskills and the contractor who helped on our house has taken my wife and I to fish in his favorite fishing holes (and he knows some seriously great fishing holes). But he’s not a local, he’s just Rob, someone I really like.

I’d take the risk of the black bear over the cars and crime any day. By the way, black bear almost never bother people. It is the coyotes you have to watch out for. And the mosquitoes? Really? I am thoroughly convinced no place has worse mosquitoes than Brooklyn. I mean, seriously. I use my deck in the winter because it seems the only time I can avoid those flesh eating monsters.

As for driving, not every town upstate requires a car for small errands. A bicycle will do just fine for most short trips to the store.

Keep the faith…stay strong on the fantasy…and keep searching for that perfect country house…I am sure it is just around the corner.

Oh, and one other thing. I am totally amazed that my little DSL line in the Catskills is far more reliable than my very expensive TWC modem. It’s true, I swear.

Sorry, didn’t mean to mislead you but I actually don’t think there is a good grocery story in Andes. I was just using it as an example of a town that you could live on the edge of, have a nice country setting and still be near a town that you could bike to to pick up a quart of milk at the convenience store. I think most folks in Andes do their shopping in Margaretville (although I haven’t been there since the hurricane and they used to have an excellent grocery store).

As an aside, a few sleeper towns worth checking out (all West): Downsville (near the Pepacton), Walton (somewhat bigger), Hamden (go to Lucky Dog and you will know why), Delhi and Franklin (you have to check out Franklin it is an interesting surprise). Oh and Unadilla has a drive in. Just saying.

I had a good amount of fear before moving here full time. We spoke with many people who were barely cutting it financially. They spoke of the multiple jobs they hold, the fixer upper they bought and haven’t been able to afford to renovate, the frequent trips to the city for work, and how they have zero savings and no healthcare. It was enough to make us feel we couldn’t do it. But if you don’t take risks you can’t be rewarded, and so far so good for us- (I personally have been full time now for 7 months) and I am doing okay still. I do miss all of my friends, even though I am meeting new people- they can’t make up for your close friends you spent “growing up” in the city with. We have one car, it works for us because we work from home- but in the future we may want another car. I too love driving and getting lost here enjoying the scenery. We moved here because I had grown frustrated with the city, the commute (I was on the UWS going to a job in Midtown East with a 45 minute commute on 3 trains), the angriness, and the bubbles that people seemed to exist in. I moved to the city to fulfill a dream, and when I realized that dream required things of me I wasn’t willing to do- there didn’t seem to be a reason to put up with alot of the things I didn’t like about living there. I do understand the part about not being able to integrate into your new community seamlessly. We have experienced some resistance from the business community for instance. However, the majority of the people I meet are the warmest, most open people you can get. You can’t really have it both ways…(no nosy neighbors, but then wanting to be accepted into the community) I mean people want to know who you are, and expect you to be open with them. If you aren’t- they aren’t going to be open with you. People trust more here that you are a good person, and that restored a feeling in humanity to me that I seemed to have lost in the city. NOW…ask me how I feel a year from now, two years from now and I may be opining over my romanticized memories of the NYC, how I gave up on my dreams to early, or how I wished I hadn’t made such a huge leap from a good paying job with health care to an uncertain future in the mountains. OH! It took me 15 minutes in and out with 0 wait time to obtain my new drivers license here. So there is that too…