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Someone Asks People Who Live In A Rural Area “What Will ‘City Folk’ Never Understand?” And Here Are 30 Of The Best Responses
According to Statista, there were approximately 57.23 million people living in rural areas in the US, compared to about 272.91 million people who opted for the urban lifestyle in 2020. But even though a majority, 56.2% of the global population, now lives in cities, more and more people are tempted to leave the chaotic urban jungle behind and restart their lives in a calm and peaceful environment.
And for those who’re wondering what it is like to wake up to birds chirping instead of neighbors arguing on the other side of the wall, this Reddit thread may be particularly useful. A Redditor u/MotorArea posted a question “People who live in a rural area/out in the country, what will 'city folk' never understand?” some time back, and received 4.2k comments.
From nature smells to burn piles, these are some of the most quintessential features of country life we don’t ever come across in an asphalt jungle.
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#1
In the city, you ignore the sirens and listen for the gunshots. Out in the country you ignore the gunshots and listen for the sirens.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
Where I live you don't really need to worry about either. Don't have sirens to warn of natural disasters and we have good gun control.
Teucer T 4 years ago
In my country we have rabid wolves. Not something you can deal with using a kitchen knife.
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Rachel Tucker 4 years ago
This is true. I live in the countryside in the uk and any gunshots means they are out shooting pheasants for example and you don't react to it. If you hear a siren you wonder if someone you know is in trouble.
kurisutofu 4 years ago
I'm 39 and I've never heard a gun shot ... Oh I forgot, I'm not American.
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
In places other than the USA and those experiencing war... I don't think this is a thing in either the country regions or cities.
Leah Helbig 4 years ago
Yeah well thats a pipe dream you really think your going get ever person in the entire world to agree to destroy firearms I would gladly get rid of firearms but everyone has to militaries included but that will never happen
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Alan Davis 3 years ago
Before pagers, sirens like this were used to alert the local volunteer fire fighters to emergencies…. Hear the siren, drive tracto to pickup, drive pickup to fire department, find out what the merge charge is, drive emergency vehicles to emergency, deal with emergency, go back to work.
RELATED:
#2
The scream you hear in the middle of the night isn't a woman being murdered. It's just foxes shagging.
Daria B 4 years ago
Oh my, you reminded of something I've witnessed. I was coming home from work late that night, and at the apartment complex, near about my building, I heard some beasty noises. I was both curious and scared, but I thought, at least, if it notices me, I can run and hide into the building closing the door immediately. I carefully approached my building, looking into the direction of the noise.... it was.... it was a horny ass cat coming my way with an aggressively annoyed look on its face, ready to destroy any obstacles. As planned, I ran into the building and straight up the stairs. Laughed when I closed the door in the comfort of my home.
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Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
It's bad enough hearing cats mate at night coz people leave their cats out. Horrible noise.
qwerty 4 years ago
Or when its right outside your window. In the daytime.
Load More Replies... GeneralZod 4 years ago
we have a similar sound in the city, except it is stray cats shagging. A cat's penis is barbed so it's like screwing a cactus. I imagine that ribbed is NOT for her pleasure in this case
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
Sometimes it's a fisher cat; they really sound like someone being murdered.
ZenChickChristine 4 years ago
Not always. The “scream” is also a territorial call meant to drive off rival foxes. I grew up hearing this sound a lot in the summer, but at that time of year it’s related to territory and not mating.
RayAnna Wilson 4 years ago
One time I heard what sounded like a person laughing outside my window in the middle of the night (country) I know it could have been a coyote but now I know it might have been horny foxes.
Lucy Griffiths 3 years ago
We used to have a wild cat in our woods at the back of our farm. One evening it was yowling loudly back there. My late mother was right when she said a wild cat's yowl sounded like a woman's screams as she was being murdered.
LongCoolWomanInABlackDress 3 years ago
that's great to know if you ever want to cover up a murder... oh that? Nah, that was just a couple of foxes, don't worry..
To find out more about the joys of country life, Bored Panda has reached out to a former city girl from London, Amy Powell, who moved to live in rural Wiltshire with her dog. Amy runs a lighthearted blog “City Girl, Country Life” where she shares the snaps of her daily life. She was happy to share how her life has changed after she moved to the country.
“For me, the contrast of country life to living in the city was very stark—not just from the way of life, but even the pace of it. When I moved out here, I was constantly being asked 'why do you walk so fast?'" Amy guesses that she was used to storming her way through hundreds of people at a tube station or while walking down busy streets to work.
#3
The dark. In a city at night you can read a book outside. In the country on a cloudy or no moon night. You can't see anything. Not like it's kinda hard to see, but it's so dark you might as well be blind; the stars and gravity are the only way to know which direction is up. Also a clear night sky in places that get truly dark like that is something my vocabulary can't describe.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
I absolutely love it when we go bush camping and get to see soooo many stars. It is magical.
Just a girl in a crazy world 4 years ago
I live In The middle of nowhere, and as long as it’s clear, you can see SO many stars, it’s magical and I get to see them almost every night
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Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
Yup. You can’t tell the difference between eyes open and eyes shut. Better still: seeing the Milky Way.
Kendra Miller 4 years ago
I use to be a chicken farmer of 100. I know the trail home and can use a tree here and a hay bale there to help orient myself in the dark. There was one night though, that was so dark, I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. Needless to say I had to take the long way home since I kept getting off track and walking into bushes and trees.
Lunar Bicycle 4 years ago
I live in Portland, Oregon, which does nothing at all to curtail light pollution. I can see maybe 20 stars. I miss darkness.
Daria B 4 years ago
I've been leading a city life all my life, but I used to bike travel with my husband when we were in our 20s, and I've seen some true darkness, with the noise of frogs and boars somewhere not so far away. Scary. Also, during the day, witnessed absolute silence in "the wild". Also felt a bit uneasy.
Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
City folk venture out into really dark areas & become terrified at seeing the Milky Way. Even worse. When they have a black out in the city & they can see the stars & the Milky Way. Like cavemen seeing an eclipse & throwing rocks at it.
ButFirstCoffee 3 years ago
True! I moved about a year ago from the city to the country side, and I've never seen so many stars so clearly. I don't regret it one bit. And the perk is no more neighbours!
#4
"Watch out for deer" when saying goodbye is another way of telling someone you love them.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
And hitting a deer with your mothers car is the fastest way not to get a second date. My brother-in-law learned that one the hard way.
Gemmila Cadd 4 years ago
Any time my dad and I go out to a dinner party with one of his friends(she lives in the "country") she will say this when we leave.
Alyssa Wakefield 4 years ago (edited)
‘Watch out for the roos!’ - always the last thing that’s said as you wave someone off here. Rural Australia.
ComfyPanda 4 years ago
My mom and dad say that to me ALL the time. They live out in BFE. #Oklahoma
Load More Replies...Another stark difference between city and country lives was availability of things. “City life meant that if you wanted to go out for dinner after work, the only question was 'where shall we go?'—the options were endless. In the country, there is one local pub and then you had to decide who was driving or whether you should book a cab.”
But the benefits of leaving the urban jungle behind are endless, assured Amy. “My asthma all but cleared up, my pace of life has drastically slowed down, and I feel such a sense of community in the countryside that just doesn't exist in London.”
Simple things, like people saying good morning to you when you walk past , “just because” is something Amy hasn’t had while living in the city.
#5
A calm night, sitting out on your grandparents porch eating a grilled hotdog off a paper plate while listening to the summer rain hit the tin roof.
Marcellus the Third 4 years ago
No problem in cities except the most crowded/apartmented.
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#6
When you hear a car door slam in the middle of the night, something is wrong.
AlmightyOne 4 years ago
Can someone please explain to me why? Sorry to sound oblivious, but I'm curious as to if it is what I think it is.
Salty Old Woman 4 years ago
There are parts of America where the closest house to yours is several miles away. So no one should be stopping anywheres near close enough for you to hear their car door slam.
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mrreeow 4 years ago
I grew up in a small rural town with my dad (who still lives there) but I moved to the city after I graduated. Anyways, I never thought about this until reading it, but its so true. This isn't about a car, but my dads house is located on a gravel road, so whenever I was in bed at night and I could hear someones foot steps along the gravel road - it always freaked me out because even if you looked out the window you couldn't really see anyone because of how dark it was.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
A car engine suddenly shutting off andy ou could tell it hadn't gone down the hill and you knew they were stopped and ....
Just JoLynn 4 years ago
Trains, especially cargo trains, are loud no matter where you live.
Load More Replies... Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
In the county that car door slamming is a half mile or a kilometer away.
#7
Letting my kids just go outside and play. Ride their bikes down the street, go into the woods out back and explore. But more importantly just feel generally secure about their safety doing these things.
Hans 4 years ago
I am living in a city (admittedly, a ten-thousand something inhabitans only place, suburbing a larger city) and this is perfectly possible here. It is saddening that it is not everywhere.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
It is possible anywhere, @Hans, but the paranoia in some nations about the lurking ChildSnatcher is.... epic. Honestly, having been raised on a farm, rural, I find cities way more dangerous....
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Piper McLean 4 years ago (edited)
I’m 12 and I go to town 20 minutes away with my cousin all the time to go shopping or get ice cream
Kill-Bunny 4 years ago
I've watched too many American crime documentaries and about 90% of them starts exactly like that.
Amber Duhs 4 years ago
Yeah, I live in a pretty small city/ more rural than not area and we do this all the time! I've had friends visit and be boggled that I can just tell my dad I'm going out and him just letting me go (as long as it's in the area)
hydrostatic joints 4 years ago
I live in a pretty rural area and I never go in the woods. There are ticks, snakes, (once we even saw a cottonmouth right near our house) and lots of people go hunting in the woods, and I'm scared of being mistaken for a deer.
Tracy Costa 4 years ago
I live in Brooklyn. We send kids to the park by themselves and they still come home. I know it's not like that everywhere, but cities aren't as bad as the movies make it out.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
That was my life in the 90s. Didn't have to come home til the streetlights turned on. Played at the strawberry farm/paddock, rode our bikes around the neighbourhood, went to the reserve, park, bmx track etc. Didn't have mobile phones then either.
#8
Waving at people when you see them on the road
Just a girl in a crazy world 4 years ago
I live in a small not even a town, it’s a community, and there are no strangers and you always say hi when you see someone
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Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
We see this all the time when we go to rural areas on our way camping. And yes we wave back.
Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
When you are out in the country & you stop for deer or turkeys in the road. You throw the car in park & enjoy nature. People will wave & walk up to your car to tell you more about the critters around there.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
Yes. I lived in a small rural village and had to drive miles every time I needed something. I always waved at the farmers and other drivers as we passed. Didn't know who most of them were, but it was nice anyway.
Verena Abt 3 years ago
My granddad used to do this why passing my random strangers in the street. He beeped his horn and waved and just drove on. People usually automatically smiled and waved back, but you could see the bewilderment on their face afterwards. There will be a couple of people around, still wondering.
NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
Nah mate. Just a quick wave then you move on. Don't need to make eye contact or something. I'm also introverted and it's really not bad at all ^^
Load More Replies... Laura Stenger 4 years ago
Asked Walgreens lady how her mom wa doing yesterday. Moms in an assisted living facility.
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
I drove through a small town today and someone did this to me because I let them in front of me. I called my fiancé to tell him about it lol.
NinjaWolfy94 4 years ago
Really? I thought it was just polite to do that.. Same as when a car stops to let you cross the road as a pedestrian.
Load More Replies... #9
The extent of our pantries and freezers. We can't just "run to the store" to pick up that forgotten ingredient or spur-of-the-moment craving. But if we're well-stocked, we can whip up just about anything!
Botox 4 years ago
Yep. And if you rly want an icecream you are welcome to walk through the forest 5 km. No, noone is going to drive around just for an icecream. Nice fitness though
Suzy the observer 4 years ago (edited)
The opened boxes in this pantry are painful to watch. Rodent invite.
Just a girl in a crazy world 4 years ago (edited)
This is 💯 true, it’s a shopping TRIP not a stop, it’s a half an hour drive to your Nearest Walmart or superstore and there really is no, oh I gotta go grab something I forget, if you forget something , you make do without it till you can go back to town
Jill 4 years ago
..or you can buy even more when you forget what you have while at the grocery store.
Col BatGuano 4 years ago
or you can photo your pantry with your phone before you go to the store.
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Diana 4 years ago (edited)
That is still a big difference between me and most of my fellow students even though i moved to the city 7 years ago. You could come to my place in the middle of the night and I would be able to come up with a decent meal. We only buy meat and produce like bell peppers when needed and have the rest in stock. While studying abroad i had to adjust to having no more than a max of 1 or 2 weeks of food (as in pasta, rice, onions etc) in my shelf as I did not have that much space. It was a nightmare 😅
Matt Hollis 4 years ago
we can walk across two fields and there is a farm that does awesome ice cream, sorted on that front
Lisa Casserly 3 years ago
Oh yes. I call this the "farm girl mentality". You know, from the day when you had to preserve your own food. You had to put up enough in the fall so there would be food until the next summer when the garden produce was ready.
“I can walk nowhere in particular for the sheer enjoyment of it and I have found a love of bird watching from my garden—my colleagues endlessly mock me for this and the amount of money I spend on stocking up my bird feeding station for my little visitors!”
Another obvious country bonus was all the space Amy got. Plus, she got a dog almost as soon as she moved out of the city. “Walking him has proved to be the best tonic on so many occasions... if I'm feeling stressed, sad, worried or just down, a stroll with him in the fresh air never fails to improve my mood and my outlook.”
#10
The amount of animal noises at night.
Just a girl in a crazy world 4 years ago
I love falling asleep to the sounds of birds frogs and crickets
Russell Bowman 4 years ago
Until a Screech owls expresses its opinion....
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
This is one of the reasons I'm ready for Spring. Winter nights in New England are as silent as the grave...except for the coyotes howling. In Spring, Summer, and Autumn, you can hear insects, bats, possums, raccoons, tree frogs, bullfrogs, and more. When they get quiet, you know there's a predator nearby.
Joey Marlin 4 years ago
On holiday in New England I can't say I was overly fond of trying to sleep with all the frog noises.
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LoveThePanda 4 years ago
I'm in the city but it's quiet here at night you can hear everything. Very peaceful
Little Ms. Quirky 4 years ago
at least it's better than random people singing at night and cars
Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
With my previous military experience I will sneak around the woods at night with no light. When I hear unusual sounds while camping I do get scared. I hate it so I go gallivanting off into the woods to find out what is making the sound. Only once did I ever come close to disaster. I got into the middle of the quiet noises & hit the switch on the flashlight for a split second. I was in the midst of about two dozen skunks digging for grubs. I quietly snuck back out.
Lisa Casserly 3 years ago
The coyotes yipping and the foxes screaming. The owls hooting and the frogs and crickets and other animals. Its amazing.
#11
Small Town Texas here
S**tty Internet
Friday Night Lights Ghost Towns
The smell of the rain
Country Road parties
Driving for an hour and not seeing another car
Small Town Festivals
Knowing everyone business and everyone knowing yours
Snakes are your friend
Dead Coyotes hanging from fence posts
The sky at night is inspirational
tmw 4 years ago
do people shoot the coyotes and put them on the fence as a warning to others coyotes?
Carol Emory 4 years ago
Yes, they do. The smell of it deters other coyotes from coming around.
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Seedy Vine 4 years ago
Isn't any species considered invasive if there are too many of them in one area? I guess we humans would fit that description...
Red Hair Blue Soul 4 years ago
Coyotes are a nuisance. They can eat other farm animals and even pets. Many states allow them to be hunted with no limits or season.
Monika Rhodes 4 years ago
Downvote me if you want- we took animal's land from them and now people kill them- some for sport or other excuse. They need to live with us now because of us. Human beings should be the better ones- not kill animals because they to their survival thing and want to live.
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Duston Noble 3 years ago
At different times, depending on the coyote population, rural counties will offer a bounty on coyotes. The carcasses are hung on the fence by the rancher so the game warden can cut him a check. “The more you know” 🌈
Derek Clark 4 years ago
Wow, good thing I don't live there. I'd have a big problem with people who think it's okay to hang dead animals from fences. Or think it's okay to kill them when you're the one infringing on their territory. They might find their fence torn down.
#12
I temporarily moved to a rural village in order to get my foot in the door early by getting the EXACT job I wanted without the necessary 5 year experience. My plan was to get a bit of union time in then leverage that and my bit of experience to get back to the city. I moved 2.5 hours away from the city. It has been 11 years and I love it here.
I don't think urban people can understand how much more simple life is. There is no pressure to keep up on trends or make up, but if it interests you, then do it. It is a small village with not too much around it except the ocean so everything is clustered together. This clustering means 2 minute commutes to work. Empty beaches, no need to jockey for spots on the sand and those beaches are within 10 mins. Oh, you prefer the woods? Then drive 10 mins the other direction. Let me tell you, when you spend 4 mins a day going to and from work, a whole world of hobby time opens up for you and getting 8 hours of sleep is still easy.
Going to the "city" is now an exciting trip. I felt stupid when I realized that but then I realized it makes for cheap thrills to be this easily excited.
Saving money is easy peasy. Nothing to 5 dollar your life away at. At housing prices!! I bought a 3 bedroom, 1 bath (booo), 130 year old home for $100k.
Specific to where I live, I don't know if it is the same elsewhere, but our postal system is fast. I get things delivered here faster than my mom does in the middle of the big city where both our parcels go through. And couriers are hilarious. They will leave you a note letting you know who they left your package with if you aren't home.
Oh and the gossip, better than any soap opera.
marianne eliza 4 years ago
In some rural areas, postal workers supply their own vehicles.
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Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
This. Also, the weird things you get from neighbors as a thanks for lending your snowplow or whatever. Your mail is hanging off the mailbox, b/c the mailbox holds two dozen cupcakes!
Lisa Casserly 3 years ago
Oh my gosh, yes. Our big ole 5 bedroom farmhouse on 4/5 of an acre? $23,000. No, its not missing a zero. Its a fixer upper, which is way more work than you'd think. If your kids are out and doing something naughty? You will know about it before they get home. Someone will call and tell you. They'll let you know if you left your car headlights on, so you don't get a dead battery. They'll come and help if you are sick. Or if your car is broken, or your house. When you have a death in the family, they will bring you food and comfort. Sure, gossip travels faster than light. But its not necessarily a bad thing. In some ways, it keeps you on your toes and honest. (My gosh! What would the neighbors think!?!?) You wave to everyone and they wave to you. Its really great. I'd never ever ever want to live in a city.
Priscilla Grantham 4 years ago
I might not want to share the exact name of this enchanting, magical village if I lived here, for fear it would be ruined. Could you at least give a hint as to general location? I dream of moving to a new location and building the life I want.
François Carré 4 years ago
It's all true, but don't tell too much people, otherwise they will all come to live and enjoy here, bring all the city life sh*t along with them, and eventually ruin it all.
Fact Perils 4 years ago
Wow, I lived in a small town (literally like 3,000 inhabitants) for a while and it was not fun. Unlike OP, mail/packages took twice as long to get here than in a suburban city, the only supermarkets were Walmart and a local store, there was only one coffee place in town, it was generally run down and an hour (often more) from good restaurants. I'm definitely more of a suburbs than a city or town person, though.
#13
Chickens. They're a lot more animal than I think people realize. They eat almost anything organic, so their enclosures are barren. If you free range em - they will eat your garden, even buried stuff like potatoes.
Also they will both produce almost no eggs, then when you get 4-5, they will produce all the eggs. Like so many you'll start giving them away.
And animals love chicken. Hawks, coyotes, foxes, dogs, even damn raccoons get brave for some chicken.
Oh yeah - roosters. They totally sometimes call at 5am. Also they're mean suckers, and have large talons on their feet called spurs which are basically little chicken daggers for defense.
Oh, and eggs come from the same hole they poop from. Eggs almost always have poo on them.
I've loved raising chickens, but damn would I never want someone who isn't use to it to try. They're pretty gross at times, not at all intelligent animals, and tend to fight themselves when they aren't be predated by animals you'd never consider a threat.
They can be kind of affectionate though.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
I had chickens for years. i would never describe them as gross. And my eggs rarely had poo on them ( the Cloaca is also used for sex, which would likely freak OP out even further). And chickens are easy to care for ( food, predator proof shelter and water) and if you move their house a la Chicken Tractor agriculture they don't denude their surroundings.
Andrea Stone 3 years ago
Right? I love these people who think that eggs come out of the a**s. These are the same people who think women urinate from the vaginal canal
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Charlotte Cottrell 4 years ago
I also raise chickens. My eggs rarely ever have poo on them. Chickens recognize up to 100 faces and mine know a few basic commands. They groom me by pecking the dirt off of my pant legs and love to be held. If I sit down in their penned area (on a chair) they will always sit on my lap. No, they do not poop on me. Slip your hands under a chickens wings. You'll be hard pressed to find anything softer.
Laura 4 years ago
Lots of people had chickens in the city I lived in. So this is not a country thing. We learned all this stuff right on our city block. Raccoons, possums, etc were always a threat. Had to get rid of the roosters once we realized a chick was male.
Lee Kerr 3 years ago
My brother in London keeps chickens, I live in a slightly smaller city and I have a couple of neighbours with chickens.
Load More Replies... Jenna Howe 4 years ago
I love keeping chickens. When I let them run in the fall and winter they ate every slug egg - I got blossoms on my lilies the next summer for the first time ever! They gave me tons of the best eggs ever. I kept them in a huge covered run in the summer and tossed in lots of weeds and kitchen scraps. But, yeah, everything likes to eat chicken. Even chickens like to eat chicken.
Haunting Spirit 4 years ago
A rooster calls at 5am? Fine, that's only a minute. If a chicken laid an egg it's making noise for 15 minutes straight.
François Carré 4 years ago
They can prove VERY intelligent and affectionate if you just don't treat them like sh*t.
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
I heard someone say once that "Chickens are a gateway animal." I believe it. I so much as *think* about getting chickens, then I want a goat, then maybe a pig...
Rosemira Took of the Shire 4 years ago
Had a raccoon kill one of my chickens a couple weeks ago, then a hawk carried of the body.😢
#14
Seeing Deer isn't a special occasion, those f*****s are always showing up.
Teucer T 4 years ago
They're all over the place until hunting season. They disappear the day before hunting season starts. The f-ers can read and own calendars.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
And they know the law about "no hunting/gunfire within 100 yards/meters of a residence" b/c they all ended up in the side yard by our clothesline. Ten-point buck gloated, I swear he did.
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
I see all kinds of animals in my yard, mostly because I have a brook running through the entire property. Coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possums, black bear, white-tail deer, bobcats, fisher cats, skunks, ducks, geese, herons, hawks, loads of songbirds, and more. It's magical. We plant for the animals too. Monarchs come back every year because we have milkweed. And you should see the fireflies on a hot summer night!
Rosemira Took of the Shire 4 years ago
We have a deerpath right by our house, we love to watch them.
Jenna Howe 4 years ago
We had to drop a couple of big trees before they could fall onto the house. Lots of noise. The deer were hanging out in the orchard a few feet away. We had a hard time getting them to move when the tree was about to drop a few feet from them. They are so tame.
Joseph OReilly 4 years ago
Used to be a deer near my house that all the nearby farms named Pepper, she got bit by a car when she was little and the nearby vet helped her get better. After that, she was super friendly around humans(like you could walk up and pet her)and would periodically stop by people's houses to hang out. Pepper was chill
Moreover, Amy said that “country pursuits are joy; much to the amusement of my London colleagues, I got a pet pig and I learnt to care for chickens. That's something you'll never be able to experience in the city. The more you throw yourself into country life, the more it gives back to you in spades.”
When asked if she ever misses some city things, Amy said that it would be cocktail bars. “Oh, how I miss perusing a cocktail menu as thick as a bible and happy hour drinks with friends after a long week at work! A pint of cider at a cheese festival on a Sunday just doesn't have quite the same effect…”
#15
Burning trash in a barrel or a "burn pile."
Dirk Daring 4 years ago
You only burn your wood/cardboard/paper-type trash. Plastic, metal, etc you take to the convenience site/recycling bin
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Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
It's also regulated by the state to avoid forest fires and poor air quality, even in the countryside
Andrea Stone 3 years ago
We still have a huge pile of brush, branches, and debris from Hurricane Ian. Was saying the other day wish we could just burn it
#16
Constantly losing power because of wind and rain damaging old wires, transformers, etc.
Coleonema 4 years ago
Hahaha, that's pretty common by me, but its mostly because my countries electricity provider needs to be better at their job.
Coleonema 4 years ago
One neighbor always screams "Dammit Eskom". Terrible at night, but you always know when the powers off
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Teucer T 4 years ago
Unlike cities, there aren't aren't millions of people paying taxes to support local infrastructure, so this is what you get. You should also see some of the bridges... You think the Golden Gate Bridge is an engineering marvel? Wait until you see a bridge cobbled together from scrap wood and old railroad ties that has lasted 50 years with semis and tractors crossing it.
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Gergely Pászti 3 years ago
This needs to be changed all around the world, especially because of what is going on nowadays. Local storages, and off-grid power plants have the be a big part of the future.
François Carré 4 years ago
I can imagine that transformer issue. Optimus Prime looks soooo depressed on that picture.
#17
Sorry mr, Thompson. I have to leave class today. Cows got out.
Your mom has a list of who you can and cant date, and when your cousin gets married the list gets cut in half.
The monthly Costco run
Having literally everything. Seriously I have so much sh*t laying around, but cant get rid of it because who knows when you will need an extra carburetor.
Chatting at Dutch bros with the barista for 2 hours because there's nothing better to do.
Gutting a deer during lunch break.
Driving 45 min to the nearest bowling alley.
Not going anywhere because you forget to fill up gas before the weekend when the stations are closed.
Knowing every single logging road by memory and practically a rally driver in a lifted truck, but freak out when your driving in a city where there are roundabouts.
Idaaoyama 4 years ago
Yu should visit France, we have the most roundabouts in a single country!
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SirPatTheCat 4 years ago
I love how drastic the difference is between this post and the post higher up from person who moved from the city to the country later in their life ahahaha
#18
Our traffic is tractors during harvest / planting.. usually you can just zip around.
There is something so empowering about being able to go outside in your panties and tshirt and have no one around to give you a second look. ( best way to watch the stars at night and drink your first cup of coffee in the morning)
Just a Marine Veteran 4 years ago
Not where I live! Haha. Winter is still pretty warm most days in Florida
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#19
How little politics affect your every day life when you aren't surrounded by people talking about it. If it weren't for social media (which I avoid 99% of the time) we'd have no idea what's going on out there.
Also, how quiet it is. I have city friends that love to come out just to listen to the quiet.
kathoco 4 years ago
This reminds of why I'm glad that I no longer live in a small town. People think that issues like gay rights and racism and whatever don't concern them because they live in a small, peaceful town. These questions are everybody's business because they contribute to improving society for everyone in the country (not just in a small, homogeneous town) and we should all feel like this is important. Rights are human rights and everyone should fight to protect them.
Lily Swag 4 years ago
Exactly what I was going to say. I wouldn't be very proud of being politically illiterate. We all have a responsibility to be informed and engaged. "Meh, not my problem" attitudes is half the reason crap is so messed up half the time.
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Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
Also "politics" affect your everyday lives from how well your kids are educated to farm run off regulations, to power grid maintenance. Politics are not just social media memes and people that can pretend they are are either very ignorant or very privileged.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Every election sign being the same isn't what I'd call an unawareness of politics. Drive out ten minutes from where I live now, and it's worse than the city for political signs and political orthodoxy and political this and that. Even the churches. UGH.
Sarah Bradley 4 years ago
Hi, I am organising from Chelmsford Essex and I moved with my family 15 years ago to Devon, l loved it for 11 years as we were in Torquay but then myself and my Brother had to move to Newton Abbot and by god it was and it is as boring as hell!!! The country Town is what you expect a Dozen charity shops, hardly any young people's clothes shops!!! No social entertainment much for our age!! But we are stuck here as we can't afford to move.
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
What a garbage thing to say. What kind of idiot thinks like this? “Politics don’t affect me buhcuz I don’t hear about them.” Possibly the dumbest thing you could think about politics.
Robin Childers 4 years ago
I did that today, just listened to the quiet. My neighbors' chickens, the wind chimes, a few cars going by. It was nice.
For all the people out there thinking of leaving the city behind and moving to the countryside, Amy suggests looking for a community as soon as you can in order not to feel loneliness. “If you're doing it alone, you'll struggle more than you think you would... the emptiness in the countryside can feel overwhelmingly lonely.”
That community can be found through exercise, a hobby, or an animal. “The rural community has so much to offer, but being so spaced out, it can be hard to find people to connect with at first unless you make a solid effort.”
“Yet, once you have been embraced into that community, you will never find a more supportive bunch of people.” Amy concluded that “The way people look out for others in the country is unparalleled and really restores your faith in humanity.”
#20
When a road sign says Last Gas for however many kilometers
Teucer T 4 years ago
I-10 West Texas "Next Exit 235 Miles"... And it's so flat you can SEE it.
John C 4 years ago
A 6' tall person can only see 3 miles. Curvature of the earth and all. You would have to be on the top of Mt Everest (29,029 feet) to be able to see about 230 miles. Math and such.
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Dirk Daring 4 years ago
I doesn't matter if you have 7/8 of a tank, when you see this sign, you pull over and top off.
David Houde 4 years ago
The first thing you do when leaving home is check the gas gage. If you aren't completely full, you stop at the corner station and fill up since it's the only one around. When you are heading home, you stop at the same station and fill up, unless it's late at night and they are closed.
Aliquid A 4 years ago
I know of a sign in Canada that says "next gas station 410Km"... you can cross three countries in that distance through Europe.
Load More Replies... #21
I live in a very rural, very northern latitude and almost full homestead area. There are lots of thing different.
Seeing stars and the Milky Way when it gets dark as well as full sky of northern lights.
Stocking up firewood in the summer when it’s hot and sunny. With that the dry warm heat from your woodstove in the middle of the winter is something everyone should experience.
Shooting guns off your deck to make sure they are still sighted in.
Having friends drop in just because they were in the area.
Taking a 4 wheeler to the store and spending an hour there because you keep running into people you know.
Fresh chicken eggs and veggies from the garden
Your local store is also your gas station, post office, deli, liquor store, movie rental.
There are so many other things, I don’t see how anybody can even live in the big city’s at all but that’s just how my upbringing is.
Joseph OReilly 4 years ago
I never knew what the milky way looked like until I moved to the country(too much lighter pollution in the city) and it's one of those things that no matter how many times you see it, you have to stop and look at it for a few minutes every time because it's SO DAMN COOL
Lion's Stare 4 years ago
I get the appeal of the country, but I think the best option is to live in a city where the country is nearby. That's the case for where I am at. You have the desert and mountains just an hour away. The coast stretches up and north to areas where there are also few people. I love getting out of town for hiking and camping, but I wouldnt want to live anywhere else.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
No four-wheeler, but pretty much my life till university. Choosing to live ther eis fine, just as choosing to live in a big city is fine, no big deal. The perceived divide between rural and urban is getting exaggerated in terms of human nature. That's pretty consistent.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
Make sure to take a stick and bang on the firewood before selecting from the pile too. Lot's of critters that find woodpiles are nice and cozy homes.
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
This person may be from Vermont. Their country is different from southern country. NOTHING compares to VT. Maybe Canada.
Mark Howell 4 years ago
We l ive in England.We (my wife and daughter) went to a remote part of Angelsey, Wales for a holiday. We took our dog out for a walk late in the evening, and both my wife and daughter were amazed to see so many stars, and the strange fuzzy thing ( the Milky Way). I having worked all over the UK have seen both many times, and it still amazes me.
John C 4 years ago
These things sound lovely, but I feel sorry for those that don't get to experience a wider variety of... everything. Housing. Food. Experiences. People. Cultures. We only get one life on this planet and there's SO MUCH to enjoy and explore. Can't imagine living so shut off from everything. I'd feel trapped.
#22
I moved from a busy suburb to a country house for a few years because my parents dream was to live quietly for the rest of their lives. We all ended up moving away after a few years back to a suburban neighborhood because they figured out it wasn’t for them. There are a few things to get use to:
it is extremely quiet, almost no noise unless coyotes are nearby then all you hear is howling all night at random times during the year
mowing the lawn takes all day
there’s no one to talk to, unless you bike several miles away to hang out with another kid, and you may not like them but tolerate them because you have nothing else to do.
snow turns into huge drifts, and the forts you can make are amazing
people in small towns have nothing better to do than to gossip and talk trash, so when you are new they all judge you for the first year then decide if they’re going to treat you like s**t.
ignorant white kids saying really dumb things about minorities, which is information they got from their parents. They got really upset when I told them they were wrong and told them stories about friends I use to have before moving. They get really offended and hurt when someone uses facts and experience while having a discussion, especially when you disprove something they say.
There’s a bunch of cool stuff about living in the middle of nowhere, but the worst part of it is the people who live there.
Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
This is very true in a lot of ways. The silence, the snow, the ignorant people. Trump didn’t get elected in a vacuum.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
@Grumble, what, no ignorance in cities and suburbs? Really? I know Trumpers who are in every socioeconomic and geographical situation. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Q-Anon/Trump type, has a business in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, a major city, and lives there. (Do not say "oh that's the South". The 2020 ballots/primaries had such in Illinois, Oregon, etc.)
Load More Replies... hydrostatic joints 4 years ago
Yup, in my school there are basically equal amounts of white, black, and Hispanic kids, but you'd be amazed at some of the things certain white kids say and believe about the black and Hispanic kids. Also, the number of times I have heard people say/call people the n-word and then try to pass it off as a joke is astounding.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
I agree on some points, but 1. you can make a smaller lawn and get a bigger garden. 2. suburbanites don't even bother to say hello to a newcomer, b/c why bother and 3. ther'es no more/less gossip than in a suburb or city, just less range of gossip to choose from. I've lived in all three, grew up rural, and prfer it endlessly. Oh, and it depends where you are. Rural where I grew up, it was like, "Hye! Neighbor!" and when I moved to the US Midwest, it was like, "YOU! DEMON! BEGONE!" and all I did was walk down a street.
Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
Ignorance in the country can go in other direction. I posted a comment on an article about racism in America. It was very narrow minded. A young woman insisted I was wrong. I looked up her profile. She lived in a tiny town in ND. Population was like 99.1% white. She had been programmed by the internet. Very liberal. We went over to messenger & her hometown had a single Native American man living there. She had never seen a black person, never met any, & certainly didn't know any. Her perspective was the stories about Jim Crow days in the South & the inner city issues. She had no idea that African-Americans lived any differently. It was like she was from a different planet. By the end of our chat I had convinced her to get out of her small town, explore other areas, & to meet people of all kinds of backgrounds. Having been military myself & doing all kinds of travel, we are all basically the same inside. Isolated people tend to have many prejudices & stereotypes.
Flash Henry 4 years ago
Lived in the boonies my whole life, and very rarely ever dealt with the last two. Maybe I've just been lucky in every town I've lived in? The kids have never been all white, and often they tend to be more mature than the adults I deal with working in suburbia....
#23
Its basically impossible to live if you can't drive, I live a few miles out of the village so I have to get lifts to work, to go see friends and everything. The only bus only leaves the village every 2-3 hours to go into the city and is ridiculously expensive.
But it is gorgeous and can be so peaceful, i often take my dog up the hill behind my house, there's no roads and only a couple of other houses and its so quiet and relaxing, i can lie there for ages on a nice day. I also have a horse and its great to go for a mental out-of-control gallop through the fields and the forests.
Katie Garr 4 years ago
i'm incredibly jealous of the horse. where i live, we don't have any fields or spaces big enough for me to take my horse out and have a full gallop around. it's been something i've wanted to do for years.
Teucer T 4 years ago
The US and Canada aren't like Europe. You can live 100 miles from the nearest town... Do the math.
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#24
The reality is your neighbors are nosy little f*****s, they don't have a life and wanna know what goes on in others.
Coleonema 4 years ago
Not always, when I was younger my dad got along really well with the neighbors, the gate between our properties is almost always open and the dogs spend time in either. They braai together and help each other out. Its amazing and something like this would never happen in a city, they probably would have never talked to each other.
Kelli Saiz 4 years ago
100% True! We moved to a town of 2200 folks and the rumors were crazy. I was corporate and traveled internationally for work my husband was a police officer. I'm back home & go to the only grocery store for 50+ miles, the clerk asks me if "every thing is okay" I say yes ( it was) & he explains that "he heard last night I put chives on my husband's dinner & he is allergic to onions/chives" ( yes H is allergic to the onion family.) I was like "No my plane didn't land till 1:15pm today, so ob I didn't make my husband dinner last night"! The clerk actually said " oh ill need to update everyone ". City wide debate over what we named our dog & how we were " prissy" for buying a pure bred ( my best friend since we were 4 years old her family raised American spitz, that is how we got Alpine) , discussion over my tailored business suits and high heels ... Was I a drug dealer? A prostitute? Nope Hospital Finance! As dull as can be..m
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
Bleeping out the word fûckers makes it look like the OP is just casually calling people “fàggots.” Bleeping makes it worse.
Stack o' Pancakes 4 years ago
moved out into the stick and I'm terrified my neighbors will find out I'm gay and gossip about it
#25
No light pollution, the night sky is amazing. It can also get extremely dark and silent. A large pack of coyotes sounds terrifying, but owls are music to the ears.
Robert Thomas 4 years ago
im not gonna lie i like clear starry nights and beautifull colorful lights
Joseph OReilly 4 years ago
Stargazing is a billion times better in the country and waaay prettier
#26
How hard it is to get high speed internet.
Nikki Gregerson 4 years ago
I can only get t.v. and internet via satellite in rural Illinois. It's slow and cost a damn fortune.
Susan Widomski 3 years ago
Oh, sorry ma'am. You cannot get any faster internet and you aren't in the area where they are putting in optic fibers. AND forget about the Elon Musk satellites. $500 and you have no idea when you will get the one in space for your house.
Fluffy Griffin 4 years ago
My parents have used a cell phone connection for their internet for almost 20 years. Originally there was no DSL line close enough and satellite was super expensive. I'm not sure what the reasoning is now. The speed they got was about halfway between 56k and DSL average speed.
#27
They'll never truly understand the power of nature. The feeling of being surrounded by it and hearing every living creature all around you.
Ralph Watkins 3 years ago
We have a wooded area next to our home. The amount of critter noises we hear is incredible. I have also hiked way off the grid on the west coast years ago. The silence is deafening. Same amount of critters but spread out by miles of wilderness. Hearing a buck scraping it's horns on a tree or a passing bird is about the only animal sounds you hear all day. It does not mean the creatures aren't there. They tend to be quieter.
#28
I don't have a leash for my dog, because where the hell is she gonna go?
Ray Martin 4 years ago
Well, if she attacks livestock she is going to doggie heaven, but you're otherwise right.
RayAnna Wilson 4 years ago
I used to walk around my grandparent property, I 've found at least two dog skeletons (very beat up) by the side of the road. People put too much trust in their animals thinking abilities. There are coyotes at dusk, cars, semi, not to mention what you've just said about dogs Or cats getting into livestock or mean asses who don't have livestock but don't like animals on their property.
Load More Replies... Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
all over hell's half acre is where your dog can go and in the US farmers can and do shoot nuisance dogs and people use leghold traps. Had a couple of run ins with dogs and them in the past. The dogs were found before any permanent damage was done, but still.
Verena Abt 3 years ago (edited)
City girl here. I don't have a leash either. I trained my dogs to come when I call.
Kyle 4 years ago
We had a “neighborhood dog” named Buddy who everyone took care of after his owner died. He would visit when it was doggy dinner time, hang out on the porch, then move on. On particularly cold nights I or someone else would let him sleep inside near a wood stove. He was attacked by a couple nasty big dogs once and came to my house. I took him to the vet and let him stay a week in the house. When I woke up one morning and found his head on my pillow just inches from me I knew he was recovered enough to go. He was a super happy dope and we all looked out for him. In the country it was just the natural thing to do.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago (edited)
Dipshits in the country sometimes shoot innocent people's dogs. If you're a member of said group of dipshits, it’s SSS (shoot, shovel, and shut up) for you. Shoot a dog because they weren't on a leash, yet not causing major damage? I'll remove your bloodline, no questions asked, 0% APR. Call 5555-555-555 today to get a slug in your frontal lobe. That's 5555-555-555. Call today. Shootcountrydipshitsinthehead.comisnotresponsibleforanydamagecausedbytheirservices,sideeffectsmayincludedeathandgreiving,pleasereadtandcsbeforecalling.
Load More Replies... #29
How small it really is.
When I graduated in 2014, my class was 14 people. And we were one of the largest grades at the school, the grade below only had 6 people, the grade above me only had 4. I originally grew up in a hamlet, population 20 people and then moved to a village where I went to school, roughly 300 people.
We have one bar, one grocery store that closes at 6pm, a carwash, a bank(in the neighboring villager 15 minutes away) post office and school in town. Everyone else is either oilfield workers or farmers.
And it’s f***ing boring, for fun in the summers we used to bike down the highway for hours to no where and then turn around and bike home.
Kelli Saiz 4 years ago
My 1st boyfriend had a graduating class of 3! Not uncommon around these parts. Big local news when city markers on the highway stated their population was 97. ( yes under 100 humans)
ComfyPanda 4 years ago
HA!!!! I got you beat!!! Graduated in 03....with 1 in the entire senior class. ME!!!!!!
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
They have a grocery store and a carwash? That's better than we had! Of coures, we didn't have a town. We had a... er.... "area"? Yeah. And biking in summers wasn't boring. Friends talking and hanging out and all that for hours was *fantastic*.
#30
Your neighbors are important, you gotta check on them, they gotta check on you.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Well, mine were blood relatives, LOL, so yeah... But also everyone else on a mile of road that was a lot of farm and trees and not much on people. If we rural folk waited for outside help, well, we'd be dead.
#31
Small towns aren't one size fits all. There's a lot of difference. The town I'm from has 300ish people and hits every single negative stereotype imaginable. But an hour away there's a town of 1500 that is basically the poster child for good country living. I've also found they don't understand the physical toll working in certain trades can take. Also, driving an hour isn't considered a long trip where I'm from
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Driving 30 minutes to the nearest McDonald's sucks when it's only 1/2 mile away!
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
"F*** it, I'll walk" is a common saying in the built-up inner suburbs
Load More Replies... #32
I can play music as loud as I want.
#33
lifting your hand up slightly when driving as someone drives past even if you don't know them
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
Maybe it's a UK thing because our country is so much smaller, but passing other vehicles on narrow country lanes with tall hedges because an inbuilt skill. Cars, buses, lorries, tractors and trailers. One thing I learnt was that if I was the one that had the nearest passing place not to try and reverse into it but to reverse past it and then drive forward into it. Much easier.
#34
Cornfields and woods are not scary!
Your way more likely to get stabbed or shot in a city.
It’s also possible to have guns and never shoot a living thing. I only shot at old TVs computers and targets.
Teucer T 4 years ago
Grew up in rural Alabama... Had a girlfriend from California visit... We turned onto the dirt road leading to my house, she took one look at the oaks covered in Spanish Moss and the ground fog and freaked the f* out... It took me a bit to figure out the problem.
Just a Marine Veteran 4 years ago
There is an online review about our local state park (Florida) that you can tell is written by people from the city and out of state because they talk about how it is in the middle of nowhere and it looks like a horror movie because it is on a dirt road and there is a lot of moss hanging from the trees. Also the wildlife bothered them quite a bit, haha
Load More Replies... #35
My grandmother lived on a mountainous farm for 30 years:
a neighbour's water supply turned black, turns out a sheep had fallen in and died. They fished it out and the local doctor said that as long as they weren't having any major issues, they'd be fine. They were unfazed by the event.
when selling the house to a family moving from an apartment block in London, they were asked about the plumbing. When they were explained to them what a septic tank was, the family decided to go out in the January rain at the bottom of the garden (basically a swamp at this point) and measure it themselves despite being told that yes, it was sufficient.
the family also decided that one of the fields was "too dangerous" for children because of a former mole infestation.
"this is a nice cut of meat" "His name was snowflake"
a conservation group has started a campaign for the rewilding of the Welsh countryside. As you can imagine, the farmers who use the Welsh countryside for sheep grazing are not happy about this, as it is their livelihoods.
they didn't lock their cars. The nearest house was a mile away. Who was around to steal it?
When it snowed, they just didn't leave the house. The pantry had enough food for at least a week.
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
One thing in the Uk that I hear of (but luckily have never witnessed) is city dwellers moving to the countryside for peace and quiet and then complaining furiously about things like church bells tolling on a Sunday morning and noisy heavy farm vehicles. Yes, it's the countryside but it's also a real place where people are getting on with life, not some invented paradise nonsense.
Gavin Johnson 4 years ago
On a Sunday morning? Also every hour, quarter, half and on Tuesday nights the campanologists all gather to ring the peels, sometimes well, sometimes not so well but we love them all the same. The quarter is a single chime, the half is two and the hour is a slightly different note struck according to what hour it is. The church clock is also out by about 4 minutes so these bell ringing moments are not there to set your watch by 😀
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#36
Wildlife is wildlife... Don’t call bylaw for: moose, coyotes, wolves, deer, skunk, raccoon etc.
Dogs bark. Your 4 lb chihuahua may not be loud but it’s 100% more barking than my 80 lb husky mix.
When it snows, road will be ploughed. It will NOT be a dry, black stretch of road but it WILL have less snow on it.
Flash Henry 4 years ago
We have literal tanks to plow the snow in winter. Everything gets plowed immediately. And if it doesn't, half the people in the village have snowmobiles.
#37
You can just pee anywhere outside.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
You must be a man. That gets trickier as a woman, particularly with out any TP.
#38
That we need to have a car.
It's all fine and dandy that you want to be environmentally conscious (I do too), but where I live public transport is non-existent and it's can be several miles to the closest anything.
Kira Okah 4 years ago
Our car was written off a month before the start of lockdown. We very rural and are also keeping an eye on my partner's elderly father who lives even more rurally 20 miles away with only one bus each way per day. So we can't look after him properly and obtaining a stock of food before lockdown was a nightmare. Vehicles are such a necessity here.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Yeah. We had to drive over a half-hour to get to a store. It was that, or take all day on a horse-drawn cart, assuming we could find a cart and so forth.
Black Panther11 4 years ago
In my state (tamil nadu ) each village has almost 5-10 bus stops lol
#39
I'm not sure how "out in the country" it is, but I live half an hour north of a town with a population density of 15 per square mile. I actually moved here six months ago from Toronto. Since moving here, I realized how peaceful life can be. When I'm not working, I'm out on the farm with birds, pigs and horses. It's absolutely eerie, hearing all these different bird songs, and horses galloping and having a moose crash your party as opposed to a million voices, highway traffic and a methhead. It is so different in a positive way. While we are definitely social creatures, I don't think we were meant to be packed that close together, away from nature. Also well water.
#40
The backwoods bonfire Friday night high school party stereotype is 100% accurate. Now that I'm grown up, the same group now drinks on the pontoon boat every Saturday.
#41
Having to travel down dirt roads. Hating life when the rains wash out said dirt roads. Wonder at your neighbors who first complain about the dirt roads with you then in the next breath say they would fight the county if they tried to pave the road.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
OMG yes. "Don't them county supervisors pave this road to raise my taxes!" (It's the other way around: Raise taxes to pave road.) And two days later, "County oughta pave this, sick of the ruts."
Grumble O'Pug 4 years ago
We are very dry so in the summer there is “dirt road fog” in the afternoons.
Botox 4 years ago
Having a neighbour who use chains for wheels during rain and destroying your road.
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#42
I can’t speak for everywhere, but where I used to live, the vast majority of gun owners didn’t own guns because they were some gun-obsessed redneck. They owned guns because police response time was 25-35 minutes on average. That and animals with rabies.
oddkiddo 4 years ago
I grew up that rural. People only had guns for hunting. And maybe only 10 % of people did that. Guns for “protection” from people is gun crazy.
Nubmaeme 4 years ago
You might think it's "gun crazy" to own one for protection until you've had someone break into your house in the middle of the night, set on doing you and your family harm. You could be dead long before the sheriff could arrive. Most people in the country own guns instead of some fancy alarm service because no matter when or how the sheriff is notified, it still takes a good half hour or more for them to get there. A sign in the yard from some alarm company isn't going to scare someone. A loaded gun in the hands on someone who knows how to use it will. It doesn't even have to fired. Just the presence of it can work.
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Arthur Waite 4 years ago
Grew up in a small town - which grew into a large town, then a 'City'. I'd rather have a gun and not need it, than need a gun and not have it.
#44
Driving and transportation. I grew up "out in the country" and currently live "in town", and I've spent time in major cities. When I first did traveling to a large cities, I would rent a car because I didn't want to get stuck somewhere. But soon learned that the car was more of a hindrance, when I could just simply walk to half a dozen restaurants or get a ride if it was further out. In a city, driving is a privilege and oftentimes a nuisance. In the country, driving is a requirement, something you need to sustain life. In a small town, you might be able to get by with walking/biking, but you'll spend a lot of time doing it.
If you live in town, you might be able to get pizza delivery. It'll probably be a Pizza Hut or Pappa Johns. If your town can sustain it, maybe both. If you want pizza from the third pizza place, you can call it in and go pick it up in your car. Same with Chinese.
The town might have a local hospital only 15 minutes away, but the rise of larger regional hospital systems may have shut down most of the services, so if you want to give birth to a baby in a hospital, that'll be the larger hospital 30-45 minutes away.
If you're having elective surgery during the pandemic, you need to drive 45 minutes one day for your consult, then drive up a different day for your covid-19 test, then 3 days after that for your surgery.
On the plus side, if you want to have a campfire in your yard, just scrape out a bit of a hole or put some rocks in a circle and build a fire. If you want to avoid a city-wide riot, the nearest one is 2 hours away, so you'll be fine.
#45
"Just vote" doesn't always fix things. You might have exactly one person running per position, and on the off-chance that you might have more than one, some of those other position candidates are all in a close network who ensure that they and their buddies are all that'll ever be in any position of power (and sometimes, opponents aren't really opponents, they just list themselves as opponents; Mississippi's most rural areas have BIG problems with this, especially when it comes to water management). Continuously doing this can eventually lead to less than 10% of a town's populace even BOTHERING to vote. And why should they? You have no choice. When you compare this to larger elections (like a governor) where choices actually exist, you see how laughably unsupported a lot of the small-town candidates are who very quickly drop out with some excuse if they bothered to run at all.
#46
Drinking and driving is more common cause the bar is so far away and Uber or Lyft are not a thing.
Sasy 4 years ago
No, nope, not something to list and even worse to add an excuse....walk or sleep in the car.
Mike Ward 4 years ago
this isn't a list of what should be, it's a list of what is, and this is a real fact.
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Carol Emory 4 years ago
Who goes to a bar in the country? You get a fridge, put it on your front porch and stock it with beer. Amateur!
Andreas Simon 4 years ago (edited)
I´m living in the country in Germany, no Taxi and Uber, but we DON`T drink and drive! Was shocked, when i was in NC, how many people do this in the States and nearly all drive not buckled up! Just stupid!
John C 4 years ago
Excuses! If only they had known the bar was so far away, and that Uber and Lyft weren't a thing in their area BEFORE they went into the bar! Welp, no choice now, may as well drive home drunk. It'll probably be ok. That stuff happens to other people - those city folk mainly. God takes care of us.
Bex Hallihan 4 years ago
Can confirm... 30/40 years ago it was still considered ok by some people. However when someone in our village fcuked up and killed someone, the family had to move away.
#47
I’ve been living in a busy street of Milan to move to Switzerland in a small town near the mountains. The silence in the night was something weird and actually annoying my first nights there.
So I’d say total silence around you at night.
Also nature smells : grass or animals for example
Oh and having actual animals in town like cows or horses.
Oh and... ok I’ll stop there and let the others talk
#48
How rural towns stay orderly with no police presence, little riches, and no crime: reputation. Since no one moves in or out, what you do today shapes your reputation for life. This is why we don’t lock our doors. Locks don’t keep determined rednecks out. But being known as a thief for the rest of your life by everyone you know does. Working as a pastor in a rural town was hard because those who needed counseling never came for it. If anyone saw a married couple go into the pastor’s office, the whole town knew forever you were having problems. This is also why we loved yard sales, trading, and such. No one was willing to rip you off because they knew word would get around.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Crime happens, but the state cops never get there in time for them to do much but fill out paperwork and nod and leave.
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
It's a lie that there's no crime in rural areas. There's actually the SAME amount of crime, it's just so backwards that there's no one to report it to, and if you do, your neighbors will destroy you with gossip. There is just as much spousal abuse - but there's nowhere for women to go for help, so they die. There is just as much drunk driving (more, actually), but no one gets pulled over for it, and when they kill someone nothing happens to them. And on and on and onandonandon...
Flash Henry 4 years ago
My town has not had police for over 50 years because we didn't need them....
Load More Replies... #49
Driving to the next town over with your friends for something to do, after-prom being a beer-filled bonfire party, your Tinder options are guaranteed to only be white boys in Bass Pro hats holding fish.
#50
Quiet. Solitude. Slow pace. Peace of mind. Genuine smiles. Good neighbors. There is an episode of Andy Griffith, where a big-city business type has his car break down in Mayberry. He's in a mad rush to get to his big meeting in Raleigh. Gomer can't fix the car, and his boss doesn't work on the weekends so the the business man can only wait. Which really isn't in his plans. He finally slows down and ends up enjoying his time in the bucolic setting of Mayberry, sitting on the porch with Aunt Bee and Andy and Barney singing old folk songs, napping and eating ice cream-even after Gomer has fixed the car. He slowed down and reset. Being in a rural place means you take your time, there's no mad rush. You sit and listen to the crickets and the creek bubbling by you. You can hear your neighbor's kids laughing while they're playing in the back yard. Where I'm at, we can hear the bear dogs howl when they find their prey. It's a place full of manicured yards where just about everyone sits out on their porch of an evening and they wave at their neighbors as they drive by. Main Street is still full of Mom & Pop shops (which are closed right now, thank you Covid-19) and we have Christmas parades and music festivals and a summer carnival and our whole town comes together and honks their horns when the high school sports teams come back the conquering heroes. I spent nearly 15 years of my life around the DC Beltway and I came here to this little town (and few other little towns like it before I settled here) and I wouldn't go back to that grind for any amount of money. The peace of mind and the connection to my community are too precious to me. Yeah, I sacrifice some income to live where I do, but you know what? It's worth it to me. I still live a comfortable life and I don't have to worry about all the things that are going on outside my door when I lay down at night. This place is home. It's roots. It's where I look forward to returning when I'm gone on vacation or a work trip.
#51
Live in a village of about 2000 people which is about an hour from the nearest biggish city. It's 99% peaceful and 1% boring. I think that living someplace small means you tend to be more self sufficient about finding your own entertainment. You don't have movie theaters or bowling alleys or things like that. We have a gas station and a couple of diners and an ice cream shop that is open in the summer. Folks tend to go fishing more, do more hiking, camping, and backyard bbq. I also think that we tend to be more fanatical about our high school sports, they are the only game in town really.
#52
I grew up in rural Colorado and we would never lock our house IN CASE SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET IN. Weather at high altitudes is brutal. If a neighbor hit a deer they would be able to shelter in our house instead of walking miles to theirs. Or a lost hunter or whatever. Also most of what's been said here already. Monthly trips to the store, deep freezer full of meat, that type of thing. And shooting guns off the front porch of course.
Flash Henry 4 years ago
I don't think anyone in my town ever locks their doors. If someone's door is locked, they up to something sketchy.
#53
1. How much you are at the mercy of the elements. (the wind seems stronger, the snow deeper, the driveway impossibly long and difficult to clear)
2. How every project turns into multiple long trips to the hardware store (that is 35 minutes away, unless you have an emergency at 1am, and then you're heading 90 minutes away to the 24 hour store there).
3. The value of consistently good internet connections
4. How cool it is to cut down trees that are on your property.
#54
I grew up in the country... graduating class of 24. Went to college in a smaller town.
After college I moved to Denver.
If I had heard that people picked up their dog poop anywhere in the world, I would have laughed.
#55
Driving 2 and a half hours to get somewhere like a mall, or a specialist, is normal.
#56
Here young people generally still like oldies music instead of modern music. Not even ironically, they go wild for Status Quo.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
Our was country all the way. Our town population exploded every Labor Day due to the county fair and rodeo.
#57
The same thing that Europe can't understand about the US. No, we can't just have a $500 million high speed rail network serving the 15 people who live in Northwestern Iowa.
Diana 4 years ago
Well in Germany they close most railway stations in smaller cities. And if you are lucky to have one, there are no high speed trains. If you are lucky it is a regional train once or twice per hour that sometimes is on time, does not have working toilets or air conditioning/heating or doors and needs a lot of time to get to your destination. Just spend 3 hours traveling 90 km with one of those on sunday
#58
I live near Yosemite and we get a lot of people who don’t know how to drive in the mountains.
Dave van Es 4 years ago
I live in a city. There are plenty of people who don't know how to drive, period
Teucer T 4 years ago
I have no idea how to drive in snow/ice. I was living in central Indiana and there was an ice storm. Got to work and nobody was there. Called my boss and was told the office was closed because nobody could get there with the roads iced. Wish someone had told me before.
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 4 years ago
That ain't a country thing...that's a world wide thing. Unfortunately!
#59
Depending on your area, seeing large tractors (preferable green ;) on the roads is not anything amazing. I'm just trying to do my job.
#60
Having a wendigo eat your cousin that was a pretty weird BBQ
Teucer T 4 years ago
A wendigo is an evil spirit that possesses humans and drives them to cannibalism, according to the traditions of Native American nations in the Northeastern US and Eastern Canada. This one is a joke.
Load More Replies...
Molly Block 4 years ago
I think a wendigo is some kind of made up animal that turned into a cannibal who eat people. Some kind of folklore story like that.
#61
This doesn’t go for all small town, but the one I live in there is no law enforcement. We fall under the jurisdiction of a neighboring town but it’s like 45 minutes away. So the people out here just deal with incidents on their own. To be honest though, it’s pretty rare that any instances occur.
#62
Leaving guns/knives against the wall by the front door. Not like handguns. It’s common for a full length 12 gauge to be the welcome mat.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
If you live in bear-moose country, you may need a shotgun to get to the barn. And we all have hunting knives. I still have mine. That'd differnet to a pocket-knife. Depends on region.
Memere 4 years ago
I grew up on a farm & my dad always had a 22 rifle + a shotgun in the back hall closet, ready to use. And we kids were very strictly trained to NEVER touch them. One time a stray dog showed up & it quickly became apparent it had rabies. Having the rifle close at hand, loaded & ready saved us & our animals from being bitten. If my dad had to take the time to in the house, find the key to the gun safe, load the rifle, and get back outside, there could have been tragic consequences.
Memere 4 years ago
And when each of us got old enough (meaning big enough to handle the 22 rifle safely), Dad taught us everything from A-Z about handling the gun safely & shooting it!
Load More Replies... Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
This is how innocent people get shot by some trigger happy person with their gun too close to hand.
#63
That the second amendment is for folks that need to protect themselves when a policeman is 30 minutes away.
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
It's so weird because in the UK there are people that live with the nearest police officer being 30 minutes away and none of them need guns for protection.
#64
Outdoor freedom. You can do whatever you want out here. No cops. No neighbors. Hell its like the Wild West. No permits or regulations. No permission slips. Wide open backroads through the country with windows down and a little Hank Williams Jr. Can’t beat it with a stick.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
This person is the one the rest of us loathed in the country. And after he came by blasting Hank, and swung a bat or fired a shotgun at mailboxes for his ide aof "fun", oh, he learned.... he learned.... And there are permits and rules. And they are enforced. This person simply wasn't caught yet. .... YET
What do you think ?
Mimi777 4 years ago
I agree with many of these. It’s absolutely beautiful to lay out on a warm summer night and just stare up at all the stars. No light pollution and u can see the Milky Way. It’s so peaceful and quiet.
Daria B 4 years ago (edited)
I could do the same in my hometown city of Umag, on the way to the lighthouse. Seoul and nearby cities, on the other hand, less so, but not entirely impossible.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 4 years ago
Knowing why people have light bars on their trucks... HINT: They're not for decoration.
ChickyChicky 4 years ago
Lack of access to quality health care is one thing that would be not so great.
Bill 4 years ago (edited)
I have lived in parts of Asia and several US cities and I was happy as a clam moving back to the country and will never leave
Scyth 4 years ago
Me too. I've worked and lived in the middle east and south europe, but now I have settled in north Ukraine and would never want to move away.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 4 years ago
You can tell the Europeans on this list. In the US "being 25 minutes outside town" is called "living in the suburbs."
A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
Yep. I was talking to someone from Europe who said, "In American, 100 years old is old. In Europe, 100 miles away is far."
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 4 years ago
Actually going to a neighbor to borrow a cup of something. Or an onion.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
You find flaws in any situation, and human nature is what it is across the board ----- grew up rural, have lived urbansuburban and frankly prefer to just avoid humanity. *That* seems to eliminate most negatives ;-P
Katie Garr 4 years ago
another addition: coyotes. my mom heard one for the first time with me and my horse at our barn, and said "what is that?" my sister (not an outdoorsy person) told her it was a coyote. she didn't believe her until i confirmed that it was, in fact, a coyote, and that it was standing about 30 feet in front of us, in the pitch black, and that my horse was looking right at it and could see it better than we could.
Botox 4 years ago
Backing bread is not trendy hobby. Most of the time it's the only way to have fresh bread ) I love living in the countryside. I miss some "Citi's things", but it worth it. And I couldn't imagine real difference before, although I spent whole summers at grandma's house and thought I know everything about countryside. I did not. It's a true difference between tourism and emigration!
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
Why does it matter if bread is “fresh” though? Grocery store bread from a factory isn’t fresh but I think it’s what most people use.
Load More Replies...
Joyce Blodgett 2 years ago
Lived rurally for a great many years. Can't buy the bit that if you hear a car (ortruck) door slam, it means something's wrong. People work all kinds of shifts, start at every hour of the day or night, so someone closing a car door could just as easily mean they've gotten home from work. Until 2020, it even meant that those of us who are night owls were just getting home from shopping, or the movies, or from a friend's house. People writing on BP really need to stop the insanity of writing dumb things meant to scare people. There's enough wrong in the world, nobody needs to add to it by writing half truths and full out untruths.
Mimi777 4 years ago
I agree with many of these. It’s absolutely beautiful to lay out on a warm summer night and just stare up at all the stars. No light pollution and u can see the Milky Way. It’s so peaceful and quiet.
Daria B 4 years ago (edited)
I could do the same in my hometown city of Umag, on the way to the lighthouse. Seoul and nearby cities, on the other hand, less so, but not entirely impossible.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 4 years ago
Knowing why people have light bars on their trucks... HINT: They're not for decoration.
ChickyChicky 4 years ago
Lack of access to quality health care is one thing that would be not so great.
Bill 4 years ago (edited)
I have lived in parts of Asia and several US cities and I was happy as a clam moving back to the country and will never leave
Scyth 4 years ago
Me too. I've worked and lived in the middle east and south europe, but now I have settled in north Ukraine and would never want to move away.
Load More Replies... Teucer T 4 years ago
You can tell the Europeans on this list. In the US "being 25 minutes outside town" is called "living in the suburbs."
A.M. Pierre 4 years ago
Yep. I was talking to someone from Europe who said, "In American, 100 years old is old. In Europe, 100 miles away is far."
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 4 years ago
Actually going to a neighbor to borrow a cup of something. Or an onion.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
You find flaws in any situation, and human nature is what it is across the board ----- grew up rural, have lived urbansuburban and frankly prefer to just avoid humanity. *That* seems to eliminate most negatives ;-P
Katie Garr 4 years ago
another addition: coyotes. my mom heard one for the first time with me and my horse at our barn, and said "what is that?" my sister (not an outdoorsy person) told her it was a coyote. she didn't believe her until i confirmed that it was, in fact, a coyote, and that it was standing about 30 feet in front of us, in the pitch black, and that my horse was looking right at it and could see it better than we could.
Botox 4 years ago
Backing bread is not trendy hobby. Most of the time it's the only way to have fresh bread ) I love living in the countryside. I miss some "Citi's things", but it worth it. And I couldn't imagine real difference before, although I spent whole summers at grandma's house and thought I know everything about countryside. I did not. It's a true difference between tourism and emigration!
Mewton’s Third Paw 4 years ago
Why does it matter if bread is “fresh” though? Grocery store bread from a factory isn’t fresh but I think it’s what most people use.
Load More Replies... Joyce Blodgett 2 years ago
Lived rurally for a great many years. Can't buy the bit that if you hear a car (ortruck) door slam, it means something's wrong. People work all kinds of shifts, start at every hour of the day or night, so someone closing a car door could just as easily mean they've gotten home from work. Until 2020, it even meant that those of us who are night owls were just getting home from shopping, or the movies, or from a friend's house. People writing on BP really need to stop the insanity of writing dumb things meant to scare people. There's enough wrong in the world, nobody needs to add to it by writing half truths and full out untruths.
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