So if you won the lottery tomorrow (EDIT--ok, sorry, that was dumb...no lottery and ya ain't rich...but...ya made a good decent living of about 65,000 a year, and had a job you could do basically anywhere) and had no family ties other than the one's ya'd take with ya, where would ya think is the absolute best retreat locale and why? What are your main concerns.....overly-intrusive policy-control makers; 2012; yellowstone; true long term off grid situation (due to economic collapse, EMP, peak oil, etc, etc.) just curious what y'all have thought of that I ain't.....seems we put a lot of time and money into our preps....me and the wifey were talkin the other day and she asked me if I thought that it would be better to have only half the supplies, but in a great location....vs twice the supplies in a location only half as ideal......it just got me wonderin' what ya guys thought was the ideal place to be and why... thanks for your time
Man, that is a real tough question...at best! Deep In the woods, near a lake or decent river, 400 miles from anyone else.... That's all I got!
Yes that is tough. Get as big of a tract of land you want, a couple hundred to a few thousand acres. Make sure the land has a fresh water source (lake, spring, river, etc.). I would put a main home near one edge of the land, then a "retreat" home towards the center. Just a pipe dream of mine.
lol...yeah, I was quite perplexed to come up with an answer too from the center of America to the Atlantic there are a whole helluva lot of people when ya head West from mid-America ya start having low to very low population with very little rainfall and (from what I can tell) land that would be really hard to grow food on without major irrigation N Idaho? not sure bout growin food in those mountains...? Alaska? go somewhere with low rainfall (12 inches a year) but where there are virtually no people and therefore no looters or moochers or even people to divide the natural resources up between? unfortunately, I have one of those minds that won't rest when it gets it's teeth into something juicy like this question.....
Montana maybe.....? Too cold in the far pacific northwest....for me! Idaho, lots of snow, Montana, lots of wind... Washington and Oregon, too much rain and snow for this guy! Dang! This is harder than I thought!
Pennsylvania is perfect for me, which is why I came back here. I scouted the entire country, and the closest I could find within my desires was East: PA, NH, VT. Nothing midwest, nothing far west except S Idaho and north-eastern Nevada. Close alternates would be Washington state (if not for the volcanoes and huge militarized cities), parts of Texas (if not for the immigration explosion), and the Dakotas (if not for the weather and poor economics). I use population, city centers, highways, nuclear fallout data, weather, water procurement, mountain resources, economics, and distance from residence zones as primary considerations to decide. The north-central US is beautiful, it has many resources, but it falls within the worst weather zones and fallout areas, not to mention economic instability.
Depends on the area. Most of the PNW gets profiled as having Seattle's weather. Not true as both areas in WA and OR I have lived in didn't see a drop of rain from April 1st to mid September. Humidity levels are around 10-12% in the summer in the Eastern parts of the state. We did see a freak snowstorm in Walla Walla, WA last year that dumped aroun 50" in a month but I've only seen snow 3 times this winter and that melted off within days. It was 54 degrees when I left work on Friday. I once made a 135 mile drive through Oregon and saw an example of almost every geographic feature in the entire US. From Mt Hood at almost 4 miles tall with year round skiing to Hells Canyon which is over a mile deep in areas. From Red rocks to Rhodedendren. Parts of OR, (Willamette Valley) have topsoil 250' deep. The area around Hood where I live now has some of the oldest grape vines in the country still producing grapes. Fruit agriculture is prevelent from here on up into Washington and the orchards are old and well established. The Columbia river brings wild salmon and the Elk and deer population are doing well also. If it wasn't for the Siren's call to an island somewhere, I'd stay in the NW the rest of my life and I've only been here for 2 years. I've lived in MI, KY, TN, FL, IL, WA, and OR and have found the NW to be the most survivalable place I've seen yet.
Oddly enough, or not, the ideal place to hole up will vary with personal choices and expectations. I've lived on an island (to use melbo's example) and I found it highly constraining, even tho' it wasn't what might be called small (25X45 km.) To hang out alone or a small group in a really void area makes you stand out that much more if someone really wants to find you. For me, small towns out of the way filled with like minded individuals makes better sense. YMMV, uv cuss, you have to pick your poison, work out what you need and want, and make appropriate moves. But melbo is right. East of the Cascades is DRY. I lived in Richland for three or so years. That is right at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia. If you didn't irrigate, it didn't grow except for dry land wheat. Not much in the way of critters, either, but the fishing was pretty decent. Cherries and apples aren't bad in that area, either, and there is beef a plenty. Not much else that I remember.
On a sailing vessel. You have access to more places on the earth. Well other than in one o' them thar flyin' contraptions. I'm fairly sure an airplane is the worst 'retreat location' available due to some obvious reasons, however! My dream is to explore the island areas from Seattle to Anchorage. A lottery win tomorrow would see me doin' just that before payday! Byte
If I won the lottery I'd build a castle in the ozarks, literally, yes with the big stone walls and the moat. And I'd get a tank, lol Other wise I'd build whatever I could afford in the ozarks.
I'm a NW fan. Not too much rain. Plenty of food sources. Fruit trees - apple, pear, cherry Berries - black, rasp, goose, huckle, marion, etc... the vines are everywhere and you can't kill the doggone things! Because of the greenery; livestock is easy to maintain. Pastures a plenty! Mushrooms Grapes, hops, grains... Water. Fish and wildlife are plentiful. Tho' I will say that hunting/hiking the dense woods on the west side of the state makes one long for the openness of the central or eastern part of the state.
If I had all the money to do what I wanted? I would build one one helluva fence around our ranch, drill a few more wells, then buy a part of my uncles 7,000 acres on the Nueces River. Southwest Texas may get warm in the summer, but the river always runs and the mild winters make it easy to grow crops year around (it's called the Wintergarden area) and it's good weather for cows, goats and sheep. Although I hate sheep. axis and whitetail deer are more prevelent than in any part of the state and more rio grande turkeys than we can count. I love visiting other places but SWTX is home. I would buy another fifty head of cows, about a hundred head of Spanish and Boer goats, work on fence and work my livestock. Come to think of it, I would want to be my grandad. I think the location is more important that the amount if supplies. If you are set up right you can grow your own crops and livestock and kill your own game.
Well, after the call I got yesterday evening...maybe I did something right ( doesn't happen that often!) What a shock to the system! 2 people showed up and bought the 2 parcels next to me, about 80 feet east of me. Their land plots runs east to west from a 'common corner' I share with them, mine land plots runs north south. Forms an "L" shape with them up there..... They are moving in just as soon as the ground dries up enough to start hauling in their modular home! They are already talking about putting in a well also, that would provide them with a steady income from locals, ( me included) that have a lot of miles to drive to get their water... They asked my caretaker about the land, the seasons, the wildlife, and so on... When the real estate agent finally showed up, they told him they'd take it and, ( ready?) paid CASH on the spot! That had to be in the $8k range at least! So, the man is ex-military, appears to have an artificial leg/limb, and is a prepper/survivalist. Sounds like I may have to see where this goes after all! Out of the 14 other people known to us in the area, ( some 20 sq miles), we were the ONLY ones, not to get flooded out by the last big 3 storms that passed thru! They asked if my man/caretaker could provide security over their place also, until they get up there full time as residents...... Looks like we are going to need more alarm units! ( oh crap! more IR cameras too!) It could work.... ( he says tongue in cheek!)
E.L....I used to live in the Odessa region and spent a winter in Presidio, I loved W TX...what parts of SW TX are good for growing food (without lots of irrigation) and living a self sustaining off grid lifestyle? Thanks in advance for your time
If you lived in Odessa you can live anywhere. That is the most desolate, ugly part of Texas there is. If I was looking for what you described, then I would look hard at the Utopia, Leakey (pronounced Laykey), and Camp Wood areas. Anywhere south of Kerrville and say at least fifty miles west of San Antonio. I think that the Leakey and Utopia parts are some of the most beautiful.