This week’s newsletter is going to be quite a bit different than normal…it’s going to primarily be a conversation among readers (and myself) and it’s an article that you’re going to want to come back to throughout the coming days to read and reply to the comments and responses.
One of the most common lines of questioning that I get from people is about the “best” place to move to. The intensity of this question has been increasing as of late, with friends calling me up, telling me that they’re ready to make big changes in their lives, and asking me where in the heck they should move to.
I’ve read every book that I know of on the topic, as well as countless forum postings, and the only constant answer to the question of where to live is, “It depends.” This question has as many answers as it has people asking the question, simply because of how different people’s lives are.
You may need to be close to a major airport for business or to be able to get to ailing parents quickly. You may have medical concerns that mean you need to stay near a military hospital or another specific type of medical facility. You may have allergies or arthritis, lung issues, or other conditions that dictate where you live. If your profession is geographically specific, you’re going to be limited somewhat.
Wheat farmers and deep sea fishermen are examples of this. Wheat farmers won’t find many wheat farms in New England and deep sea fishermen won’t find too many boats in Kansas.
Regardless of what your criteria is, the National Association of Realtors says that 1 in 7 households move every year. The US Census Bureau says it’s as high as 1 in 5 households. Either way, it happens a lot. One of the ramifications of that statistic is that thousands of people reading this article will be moving in the next 12 months. Thousands more will move in the following 12 months. In other words, this is an important topic and your educated input could literally help thousands of people.
In addition to “normal” factors, like jobs and family, many of those thousands of people will be choosing their new state, city, neighborhood, and house based in part on how survivable it would be in the event of an EMP, currency collapse, infrastructure breakdown, terrorist attack like a suitcase nuke, hacking, or bio weapon attack. These events, and dozens more could all easily lead to a breakdown in supply chains and civil order.
The fact is, where you spend the majority of your time is going to be one of the biggest factors in creating a survival and preparedness plan. That’s the exact reason why I created the SurviveInPlace.com Survival and Preparedness Course…because most people spend the majority of their time in houses and cities that are a far stretch from being “perfect” and they need to have a practical plan in place when disaster strikes.
But what if something in your life changed today that made it possible to relocate to your ideal location—one where you’d be equally happy spending the rest of your life if no disaster ever struck or if civilization imploded in on itself tomorrow.
This week, I want to get a lot of input from you—particularly from those of you who have recently moved and from those of you who are in the process of picking a new place to call home.
If you are looking to relocate, what features are you looking for? If you have relocated, what features DID you look for? Regardless, if you could tap your toes and live anywhere you wanted to live, where would it be?
Would you want to follow the Mel Tappin model and look for a town of 10,000, hoping that it’s big enough to provide mutual aid and a wide range of skills but too small to support a large entitlement population?
Would you want to live in the middle of nowhere, cut off from society, hoping to be insulated from people?
Would you want to live in a tiny town, hoping to be accepted as a local?
Would you want to live in a city of a million or more, to take advantage of the increased earning potential, shopping choices, medical care, technology, and food choices for as long as possible?
Would you look for a city in the 100,000 range, so that you could have a taste of both big and small?
Do you want to live outside of one of these towns in an attempt to mix the benefits of rural living with the conveniences of urban shopping and job opportunities?
Do you think that the popularity of the upper Northwest among preppers makes it more desirable or simply makes it a concentrated target?
How about specific states and towns? Any “honey holes” where you love living now as a prepper or would love to move to? (Only if it makes sense to share them)
Kerrville TX? Mena AR, Angelfire NM? Montrose CO? Ft. Collins CO? Colorado Springs CO? Basalt CO? Prescot AZ? Carson City NV? Salt Lake City UT? Ogden UT? Sun Valley ID? Coeur d’Alene ID? Sandpoint ID? Spokane WA? Bend OR? Fairbanks AK? How about East of the Mississippi in the Appalachians? Or even other countries like Chile, Panama, or the Philippines?
In short, if you could pick your ideal place to live, where would it be and why do you want to go there?
Is there an established prepper network to plug in to? Is that where your family and friends are? Is it purely a SHTF tactical decision?
Do you want to move somewhere and drop out of society, or move somewhere where in the hopes of having your cake and eat it too…enjoying the benefits of both increased self-reliance and a developed infrastructure and a wide variety of foods, products, and services during good times.
Do you want to live in a “prepper” community?
What about factors like politics, gun laws, homeschooling laws, taxes, local views on alternative medicines, predominance of a “buy local” mentality, crime rates, great churches, etc.?
The editor of Resounding Earth, and pursuer of relatively interesting information, Simon has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and Journalism from the University of Wales, and is a photo-journalist and writer whose written and photographic work has been represented by the AFP news agency and appeared in newspapers across Europe and Asia.