I am rereading The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing. It is an autobiographical account of a couples venture to create a self sufficient lifestyle in the mountains of Vermont. They left their life in New York City and settled in the country for twenty years. During that time they built their own shelters, grew their own food, and explored the breadth of human existence. I read it 5 or 6 years ago and really enjoyed it. The entire concept is extremely appealing to me.

“We had tried living in several cities, at home and abroad. In varying degrees we met the same obstacles to a simple, quiet life, -complexity, tension, strain, artificiality, and heavy overhead costs. These costs were payable only in cash, which had to be earned under conditions imposed upon one by the city, -for its benefit and advantage. Even if cash income had been of no concern to us, we were convinced that it was virtually impossible to counter city pressures and preserve physical health, mental balance and social sanity through long periods of city dwelling. After careful consideration we decided that we could live a saner, quieter, more worthwhile life in the country than in any urban or suburban center.” – Helen Nearing