Look who just moved to rural little town!

Cool article, thanks for sharing. Nice credit list and COOL sculptures. I wonder what sort of freelance projects go on if it's still drawn animation.

How much is land out there with hundreds of acres up for grabs?

Welcome to the boonies!

My wife and I made our home in rural Interior BC, in the very south Cariboo--in a place known as Bonaparte Plateau. 70 Mile House by any other name.
Its a rustic ranching/forestry area, essentially on top of a flat mountain.

We've been here for over 4 years now, but I've only actually lived here about a year--the rest of the time I was reside down in Vancouver to re-establish myself there after a brief escapade in Saskatchewan.

There's pluses and minuses to rural life. Amenties can be basic, and few--we have most modern conveniences, electricity, running water from a aquifer-a general store and post office about a mile away with courier access. Phone and internet have a couple options: cellular, or land-line, with dial-up ( which I use) or high-speed wireless or sattellite links( THOUGH THEY ARE BEAUCOUP EXPENSIVE). TV reception is via sattellite.
Heat, in our home is via oil furnace or wood stove, but we've not filled the tank this year so I'm stuck hauling in chopped wood.
Home tend to be what's called "Cariboo chic"--in other words, cabins/shacks and pre-fab homes usually with non-building code approved additions and tweaks. There's very few actual ramshackle places up here, but curb appeal is not high on the list, if ya know what I mean.
Lots vary in size from an acre or two to dozen or hundreds of acres.
We have our eye on a 15 acre plot for about $150K--yea $10K an acre is normal.

Up here, there's two seasons: Winter and July. Right now its mild for this area, about -3C, but it can warm up to around +8 C on a sunny day.
In the heart of winter we can have stretches of -40C for about a week.
Those are interesting days.
Spring/Summers are usually announced by a day sometime in late April where it'll be freezing the night before, then hit about +25C in the day.
All the snow will melt and turn properties into swamps.
What fun.

When July hits--temps in the high 30C's are common, and this be mosquito country. You wear a short sleeve shirt and you become lunch.
And since we have horses on our property, we also have horse flies.
We also get hummingbirds, woodpeckers,coyotes, bears, moose, deer, badgers, squirrels, and all manner of beastie.
Nastiest of all of them is this llama that somebody owns............I swear that bugger went to the USMC, as he's MEAN, and is a gawddamn sniper.
get within about 20 feet, and he's lining you up for a shot ( they spit. This guy is just good at it )

If you've got open space this is THE ABSOLUTE BEST place I've ever seen to fly a kite. 'Cept no-one here really does that....
Since last March I've lived here full-time and noted the numbers of sunny days--been A LOT of them.
Since we are high up, weather comes in quickly, and leaves just as fast.
Might start out cloudy and gloomy and 30 minutes later is clear and sunny.
Even on stifling days there's a breeze that'll bless you with a carress.
The sky is a good deeper blue, air is clean-- and at night......if you can handle the skeeters, the sky is BLACK and perfect for star-gazing. Very little light pollution.

I like it here and.........I'm lukewarm about it here. I was borne and raised a city-kid--spent all my life in urban sprawl. I'm used to amenties, like being able to take a bus to Toys R Us, or walk to the Safeway or a sushi-bar.
Up here, everything is a drive away. The general store is good for very light shopping, and its a hike. The commute to Vancouver is 6 hours, or about 8-9 if I take the Greyhound--not terribly good for a shopping trip is it?

I DO like the solitude, the clean air. I like the idea that, in these modern times, I'm far less of of a target for people that hate others--and should anyone dislike me that much up here..........well, I gots protection. :rolleyes:
With solar panels on a home, and a aquifer for water, and a stand of trees for wood, pretty much anyone can be self-sufficient.
If the big bad nasty comes, it will not affect us like it will the big urban centres. Crime up here consist of neighbourhood spats that come to a head, or bored teens/young adults breaking into homes looking for pawn items.
If you've seen Trailer Park Boys--then you've seen my neighbours.
Mention to someone that you have big dogs and some kind of firepower and they tend to leave you alone. Most troublemakers tend to be idiots anyway, and if someone is really in your face, you beat the snot out of them AND THEN sue their asses. The RCMP told me that---I still laugh over it.

Being away from the city brings on a serenity that's much closer to me now than it ever was before. I figured this would be the kind of place to heal, and thus far, it has been.
With modern communication hook-ups, and a good computer and peripherals one can work way out of the city and meet the same deadlines and demands.
I just have no desire anymore to live in a big city, unless there's no other choice.

Welcome to the boonies!

My wife and I made our home in rural Interior BC, in the very south Cariboo--in a place known as Bonaparte Plateau. 70 Mile House by any other name.
Its a rustic ranching/forestry area, essentially on top of a flat mountain.

We've been here for over 4 years now, but I've only actually lived here about a year--the rest of the time I was reside down in Vancouver to re-establish myself there after a brief escapade in Saskatchewan.

There's pluses and minuses to rural life. Amenties can be basic, and few--we have most modern conveniences, electricity, running water from a aquifer-a general store and post office about a mile away with courier access. Phone and internet have a couple options: cellular, or land-line, with dial-up ( which I use) or high-speed wireless or sattellite links( THOUGH THEY ARE BEAUCOUP EXPENSIVE). TV reception is via sattellite.
Heat, in our home is via oil furnace or wood stove, but we've not filled the tank this year so I'm stuck hauling in chopped wood.
Home tend to be what's called "Cariboo chic"--in other words, cabins/shacks and pre-fab homes usually with non-building code approved additions and tweaks. There's very few actual ramshackle places up here, but curb appeal is not high on the list, if ya know what I mean.
Lots vary in size from an acre or two to dozen or hundreds of acres.
We have our eye on a 15 acre plot for about $150K--yea $10K an acre is normal.

Up here, there's two seasons: Winter and July. Right now its mild for this area, about -3C, but it can warm up to around +8 C on a sunny day.
In the heart of winter we can have stretches of -40C for about a week.
Those are interesting days.
Spring/Summers are usually announced by a day sometime in late April where it'll be freezing the night before, then hit about +25C in the day.
All the snow will melt and turn properties into swamps.
What fun.

When July hits--temps in the high 30C's are common, and this be mosquito country. You wear a short sleeve shirt and you become lunch.
And since we have horses on our property, we also have horse flies.
We also get hummingbirds, woodpeckers,coyotes, bears, moose, deer, badgers, squirrels, and all manner of beastie.
Nastiest of all of them is this llama that somebody owns............I swear that bugger went to the USMC, as he's MEAN, and is a gawddamn sniper.
get within about 20 feet, and he's lining you up for a shot ( they spit. This guy is just good at it )

If you've got open space this is THE ABSOLUTE BEST place I've ever seen to fly a kite. 'Cept no-one here really does that....
Since last March I've lived here full-time and noted the numbers of sunny days--been A LOT of them.
Since we are high up, weather comes in quickly, and leaves just as fast.
Might start out cloudy and gloomy and 30 minutes later is clear and sunny.
Even on stifling days there's a breeze that'll bless you with a carress.
The sky is a good deeper blue, air is clean-- and at night......if you can handle the skeeters, the sky is BLACK and perfect for star-gazing. Very little light pollution.

I like it here and.........I'm lukewarm about it here. I was borne and raised a city-kid--spent all my life in urban sprawl. I'm used to amenties, like being able to take a bus to Toys R Us, or walk to the Safeway or a sushi-bar.
Up here, everything is a drive away. The general store is good for very light shopping, and its a hike. The commute to Vancouver is 6 hours, or about 8-9 if I take the Greyhound--not terribly good for a shopping trip is it?

I DO like the solitude, the clean air. I like the idea that, in these modern times, I'm far less of of a target for people that hate others--and should anyone dislike me that much up here..........well, I gots protection. :rolleyes:
With solar panels on a home, and a aquifer for water, and a stand of trees for wood, pretty much anyone can be self-sufficient.
If the big bad nasty comes, it will not affect us like it will the big urban centres. Crime up here consist of neighbourhood spats that come to a head, or bored teens/young adults breaking into homes looking for pawn items.
If you've seen Trailer Park Boys--then you've seen my neighbours.
Mention to someone that you have big dogs and some kind of firepower and they tend to leave you alone. Most troublemakers tend to be idiots anyway, and if someone is really in your face, you beat the snot out of them AND THEN sue their asses. The RCMP told me that---I still laugh over it.

Being away from the city brings on a serenity that's much closer to me now than it ever was before. I figured this would be the kind of place to heal, and thus far, it has been.
With modern communication hook-ups, and a good computer and peripherals one can work way out of the city and meet the same deadlines and demands.
I just have no desire anymore to live in a big city, unless there's no other choice.

HI Ken,

Thanks for sharing that with us! I enjoyed reading that more than anything else I have read here for a long time.

Compare to where you are, San Francisco or LA seem to be on a different planet. It's good to know that you made it work.

-Paul

HI Ken,

Thanks for sharing that with us! I enjoyed reading that more than anything else I have read here for a long time.

Compare to where you are, San Francisco or LA seem to be on a different planet. It's good to know that you made it work.

-Paul

Paul--

I didn't tell you about the poop, did I?

Up here in the Cariboo we gots EVERY kind of poop.
We gots horse poop, cow poop, dog poop, cat poop, rat poop, squirrel poop, hummingbird poop, goat poop, chicken poop, duck poop, moose poop, bear poop, deer poop, elk poop, buffalo poop, badger poop, coyote poop, fox poop, llama poop, goose poop, woodpecker poop, beetle poop, welsh pony poop.
There's even a very rare breed of nincompoop thats unique to the area too.
If it poops, it poops here.

That's the straight poop too.

Well, I gotta go snap muh suspenders and put some wood on the fire......

And here all this time I figured they were keeping it in Lake Erie.*

* The preceding attempt at humor is from a loving former Michigander.

Paul--

I didn't tell you about the poop, did I?

Up here in the Cariboo we gots EVERY kind of poop.
We gots horse poop, cow poop, dog poop, cat poop, rat poop, squirrel poop, hummingbird poop, goat poop, chicken poop, duck poop, moose poop, bear poop, deer poop, elk poop, buffalo poop, badger poop, coyote poop, fox poop, llama poop, goose poop, woodpecker poop, beetle poop, welsh pony poop.
There's even a very rare breed of nincompoop thats unique to the area too.
If it poops, it poops here.

That's the straight poop too.

Well, I gotta go snap muh suspenders and put some wood on the fire......

The best we can come up with here are skunks. I was told that there were mountain lions and coyotes nearby but I couldn't even find their poop!

I thought I saw a bobcat once but it turned out to be my neighbour's fat cat with the tail chopped off.

-Paul

It really is just an aclimation process--getting used to it.

The temperature extremes are just a discipline thing--make sure the house stays warm and the pipes will not freeze, and plug the car/truck in so it can start when needed--no matter how cold it gets.
But I tell ya, an 8 month winter is tres Canadian--something I never really experienced living all my life in Vancouver.

The Boneparte Plateau is apparently up fairly high--I'm told about 3000 feet about sea level--but I wonder if that's one of the locals joshing me a bit.
Its likely at least 1000 feet up, beecause the trip here does involve a long drive up the Fraser River Canyon.
So that means the first 6 months one is here takes a bit of getting used to because the air is thinner. But thinner here also means cleaner.

I do sleep better here than I ever did in the city, and all the myriad chores, like stacking firewood, and throwing a 1/2 bale of hay over the fence for the horses tend to keep me active.
The distance to anything is what really takes getting used to, but after a while its not so bad.
The denser the urban population, the slower traffic systems get anyways, so a half hour drive to get to a large grocery store is really about the same as a shopping trip in Vancouver.
UPS even delivers to my door here!

There's trade-offs as with anything.......we give up increased risk of burgulary for a potential forest fire danger, for example. Graphitti gives way to mosquitos, random violence/muggings given up for emergency services that are further away-it tends to balance out.
I definitely feel more "sane" living here.

As I said before, if one can get solid, reliable and fast communication links to the workplace, there's no need to live in a city anymore.
I think if more freelancers attempt this kind of transition, it can create a working climate that makes being out of town more acceptable.
If it makes for happier people in our industry, then I think its something worth pushing.

Now, all this said, I may end up moving back to the city at some point in the future as my wife and I are anticipating some kind of household change in the next year or so. As in the city, a new homestead really falls to a availability issue, and though there's tons of space for new homes up here, there's not always a lot of homes on all that space. We might have a better chance of finding a place in a nearby city (Kamloops) than in our area--though we have some options.
My preference though ( if you cannot tell by now) is to stay rural.
I kinda like the idea of remaining a hick, by heck....