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Original poster

Want to live in the middle of nowhere and as far away from the 'modern world' as possible ideally in the uk

125 replies

fourlittleangels · 29/05/2013 22:41

Where do i start? Any suggestions?

I want to escape modern technology and for my children to grow up living the simple life...

OP posts:
MortaIWombat · 29/05/2013 22:45

Thing is, people who live there probably won't want to tell you! I know it's not UK, but somewhere in Ireland would suit you well, I think.

KatyMac · 29/05/2013 22:48

Islands off Scotland?

Do you want electricity?
Mains drainage?
Indoor plumbing?
Flushing toilet?
School within walking distance?
Shop within walking distance?

How rustic do you mean

MoreBeta · 29/05/2013 22:55

An island off Scotland will likely have no secondary school so your children will have to go 'off island' all week to the mainland after age 11 to go to school.

Do you want to home educate until 18 or send them to boarding school?

I lived in North Yorkshire on a farm 3 miles from a village and went to boarding school after age 11. I lived a life something like what you describe and I loved going away to school. I hated the loneliness and isolation of home life when I was a teenager.

Your children may hate it.

KatyMac · 29/05/2013 22:57

That's it MoreBeta

I fancied simpler life & got it; but for me the deal breaker was mains drainage!

Now I'm in the country with a DD that 'needs' the city (& it is needs not wants) & no way to move back [sd]

KatherineLacey · 29/05/2013 23:01

Devon. I can never get a mobile signal there.

senua · 29/05/2013 23:01

Oh the irony!
OP wants "to escape modern technology" so she searches for ideas on ... the interweb. Arf.

KatyMac · 29/05/2013 23:04

I have:
A wood burner that takes loads of physical work to run
A school I can walk to (dd doesn't go there)
A shop a mile away I can't afford to shop at (supermarket 10 miles)
Fields I can see from the house (causing hayfever as they are planted with Rape)
10 miles from the sea (hardly ever go)
No mobile signal at home

SingingSands · 29/05/2013 23:06

I don't think your kids will thank you. Why not stay put but ditch your tech instead? I grew up on a Scottish island - teenage sex, drink and drugs were our pasttimes in the days before mobiles or internet.

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 29/05/2013 23:08

Start with what you mean by "Simple life"?

What do you actually need?

Original poster
fourlittleangels · 29/05/2013 23:12

senua i thought the same thing, but i don't know where to start before i can ditch it. But i do know i want to get my children away from materialism and social media/networking etc before it becomes the norm!

We live in a small village now and up until recently i was fairly happy with it but now want to be more rural.

I don't think i could quite stretch myself to the home ed, as much as i would love to i would like to bring the children up away from the 'modern world' of stuff and technology but also would like their education to be of a standard where they have the choice to decide what they want for their own adult lives. I am not sure if i can achieve the life we crave without home ed though...

Boarding school wouldn't be an option for me atm, nor could we afford it.

I never have mobile signal now :) either katherine

My children may well hate it but i feel so strongly that i feel i need to at least give it a go and not always be thinking, what if?

OP posts:
Original poster
fourlittleangels · 29/05/2013 23:18

Its quite hard to ditch the tech though with children in local schools isn't it?

They have to do computer based work etc and it would seem hard for them to live close to modern society without the stuff that goes with it.

I want to escape them judging their life by social networking and what they wear/own.

Put it this way i often say in my next life i hope to be born into a tribe. Where what is important is your family and eating!

Did anyone see the programme recently about a family growing up in a shack in the middle of nowhere in N.Z.

Atm i am a few minutes walk from a small primary, 7miles drive from nearest town/super market.

Village shop, sells naff all and only open two morning a week and a pub we never use!!

OP posts:
MaryMotherOfCheeses · 29/05/2013 23:37

Is social networking really a bad thing? I mean, right now you're posting on a forum to get advice about something. Do you really want to cut yourself off from that? the internet can be a really positive thing.

I do realise it can be a very negative force as well for a lot of young people, but all you can do as a parent is try to bring them up aware, and able to talk to you about any issues that might arise.

Original poster
fourlittleangels · 29/05/2013 23:54

Yes, true but i do feel there are many more negatives.

I feel they are growing up in an 'i want/need' society, where success is measured by what you have/own.

Also I have grown up in a generation with a balance, social networking has been a fairly new thing, I've experiences both ways whereas the future generation seem to be losing ways aside for technological communication.

And sometimes i feel like the interent on hand can give too much information and life would be much more simple/happy without it alot of the time.

OP posts:
Original poster
fourlittleangels · 30/05/2013 00:00

Something linked to a tribe which put it perfectly i think...

No bombs, no stress, no homeless, no crimes or prisons, no junk food, no external debt, no pollution, no poverty, and some people call them primitive!!

The above is what i dream of escaping - for the 'simple life'

OP posts:
GoSuckEggs · 30/05/2013 00:38

perhaps you should look into life afloat?

narrow boat offer a much simpler life. it is effort to get playstation ( or what ever it is now) working, TV is too much bother faffing with an ariel.

electricity has to be considered. running or engines/ generators can not be done willy nilly.

Water is not an endless supply. if you run out you have to go on a boat trip and get some more!

most canals are near/back on to woodland. where better to spend your childhood?

firewood collection.

It is quite social if you want it to be, but it is definalty NOT modern.

some people i know do not have running water or electricty. it is a beautiful, simplistic and wonderful life.

KatyMac · 30/05/2013 07:30

But your children having the I want/I need is about your attitude to life over many years

My dad was recounting yesterday that DD arrived at his after a non-school uniform day; dressed beautifully. He asked her how the day had gone and she told him about all the 'designer' clothes everyone had worn & how many compliments she had about her outfit. He asked where it was from (expecting a list of designer/name/brands) & she said "Well the trousers are from the charity shop, the T-shirt from Sainsburys, my leather jacket was on sale at Asda and Nana gave me my shoes because they rubbed her"

For us it was a lovely compliment of how 'not needy' she is & it's not about money; my parents took her in to Superdry over half-term & she pointed out they weren't very good value and had they thought of something more practical Hmm

Simply removing 'temptation' will only make it more attractive (imo) you just need to educate them differently (iyswim)

Ilikethebreeze · 30/05/2013 07:37

Geographically, google earth will at least show you the green bits.
Probably more, but I am not very technically minded.

CalicoRose · 30/05/2013 07:38

You can't send them to school and remove them from the modern world.

I think you're totally overreacting. They don't have to have phones, computers etc where you live just because you have electricity.

If you really do t want them using Facebook get rid of everything in the house that can acess it. And maybe get rid if their library card as well.

Why do you need to move to achieve this?

Ilikethebreeze · 30/05/2013 07:39

I cant work out what you want to do food wise.
Because currently you seem to live rural and therefore by definition you have a village shop, but then you complain about it.
If you want no junk food available, you are going to have to grow it arent you?

balancingfigure · 30/05/2013 07:41

Katymac - your DD sounds great, I hope mine will be like that!

And OP I think what you are looking for is a dream. Even if you found it I would be worried you are not preparing your kids for grown up life. How would they cope when they left home?

Ilikethebreeze · 30/05/2013 07:41

Simple life with lots of little children sort of means the good life, self sufficiency and all that.

aladdinsane · 30/05/2013 07:45

do you want to live in a more communal but isolated way?
Have a look on the 'diggers and dreamers' web site - some of them look like a fab way to live

MoreBeta · 30/05/2013 07:58

fourlittle angels - how about you try this for the whole summer holiday when children are off school. Give you a taste of how it feels.

Stop using your car completely. Only walk, bus, train or taxi everywhere. I don't and can't drive and neither can DW so it is possible.

Stop yourself and the family using the internet for the whole 6 weeks of the summer. No email, no MN, no interweb searches, nothing.

Empty your cupboards completley and then only shop in your corner shop. No supermarket allowed.

MoreBeta · 30/05/2013 08:03

My children are not allowed on Facebook - not difficult. They are allowed to contact friends by other messaging services.

EachAndEveryHighway · 30/05/2013 08:14

There is a remote dale near us which is breathtakingly beautiful and a good 20 minutes drive from the nearest small town. No mobile phone reception (but good broadband). These days it's a mix of farmers, long-standing residents and incomers. People sometimes move there having spent a holiday there, loving it, and basically being attracted to it for the reasons you describe as well as its beauty. Few stay. What's ideal for recharging batteries for a week or two becomes very lonely over a long cold winter. That said, there are those who do fit in, and say they'd never go back.