21–30 of 188 posts
> the comforts it offers and seemingly pull away from me both financially and
> socially
If you don't find total value greater than your total losses in the situation, the solution is evident. Make a list, do the math. Revisit it periodically.
And why would you call homesteading a bandwagon? It’s a major life decision, not a new kind of yoga pants.
It’s very simple, really. Are you happy? Are likely to be happy? No? Then come home Bill Bailey.
Anyway, just keeping what land is not rented out and the buildings from degrading is nigh on a full-time job in itself; trenches need to be dug and maintained, forest kept at bay, houses painted, roofs mended &c.
I've much respect for anyone who decides to give it a go, but I believe your assessment is correct: It is an awful lot of work for little gain but subsistence, not leaving much time or money for other pastimes.
A couple of hundred years ago, the alternative to this back-breaking work might have been starving or succumbing to the elements.
Today, the alternative is just about any paid job, outsourcing all the backbreaking work to other, larger, more efficient units.
For most people, the choice is simple; for other, more adventurous people, trying out the lifestyle is tempting enough to actually go ahead and do it.
You've gone ahead and done it, found it not to be all it was cranked up to be.
Unless you find (or think you will eventually find) comfort and fulfillment in the work in its own right, I'd say cut your losses, find employment somewhere and try to use the lessons learned while homesteading to your advantage in phase II of your career in the big city.
The other possibility is that you are re-romanticizing city life. Grass is always greener. Perhaps an extended vacation of a month or two back in the city will give you fresh perspective or the certainty you need.
My granparents were farmers, never had a tractor. When they were 50 they looked like 70. They had no other option.
You have other options.
It seems you're not enjoying it, cut your losses and end it.
There might even been a decent exit plan... I'm sure there's many people out there ready to jump onto the homesteading wagon and pick up where this person left off. That is of course if they haven't already done so much that there's nothing interesting left to do.