What #IWouldMiss if living rural or remote?

I have a dream in my head, a dream that would only ever be fulfilled with a six number win on the lottery. I would love to go and live on part of an estate on one of the Scottish Isles. I can see my three bed bungalow, with a built in gym and indoor swimming pool, on a nice piece of wooded estate where Lilly could run to her hearts content, where we could walk for miles in suitable clothing. I would have a helipad with a helicopter and pilot to bring in my shopping. A small boat at the dock to take out and admire the wildlife.

Flogas recently spoke to 910 Brits and found that 85% of people have, at some point, considered moving away from the city to live “off-grid.” 

No near neighbours, no need for the commute to work, no worries about the remoteness as we would have a cellar full of tins and packets  and a massive generator and some bottled gas for when we have any power cuts. Oh if only. But I am not the only one who dreams this dream.

25% of people are confident of their ability to self-sustain, ranking a local shop as a low priority when living in isolation.

I do not feel I could self sustain, I personally could not kill and gut a living creature. and I know that growing food so far North would be nearly impossible.

I suppose rural or remote is relative to where you live now. For some the small village I live in may seem rural or remote. We have a population of 2300, have no mains gas and have only had fibre optic available for less than  a year. My Fibre optic runs at an average of 48mbps, which considering earlier in the year I was on old fashioned broadband and in an evening we could run at 1/4 mbps then we have seen a huge improvement withing the last three years.

80% of respondents think that living in a remote area would suit them. 

One of the things I missed when I moved here I have to say was my mains gas, quick convenient efficient cost effective central heating. But having been here for over three years now then I have got use to not having it. My fuel bills are sky high, I know some of the villagers have alternatives like oil and bottled gas but that means changing over the whole heating system.

Gas is a high priority for 64% of people 

I take no personal pleasure in going into the big cities, I visit Glasgow for hospital appointments, and do not pleasure in a day of shopping there as many do. Glasgow in comparison to London is a lot less densely populated, so you have no chance of getting me there.

When we were on holiday earlier in the year in a small village called Ellenabeich, which has a population of 59, we realised maybe we were not so remote. A village reached mostly by single track road. The children go to school in Oban on a Monday and board there until they come home on a Friday. The supermarket delivers to the ferry port, and for those that live on the smaller island of Easdale the ferry man brings your shopping over for you and people then use wheel barrows to transport it to the house. There are no cars on . They have no mains gas or a mobile phone signal. To get a signal you wandered to the top of the hill. We did get a signal and send messages when we were out and about but used the payphone for any calls we needed to make. The shop did offer to allow us to use the phone but I thought I would save that for an emergency. The pub would give you their wifi code if you made a donation to the RNLI.

climb to the top for a phone signal. 

Almost half of respondents would miss their smartphone within a week!

I have to say it is a beautiful place to visit, but would I want to live there? Yes if I did not have to leave the island every day for work. Most of the cars parked at the ferry port, I laughingly call it that, it is a wooden hut with a call button that connects to the wooden hut on the other side,  are bashed and dented from the traumas of the single track road due to oncoming vehicles on one side and rocks and slate walls on the other. We did it in the day light of the Summer, not sure I would fancy it in the dark winter months.

 Running water was voted as the most important service, followed closely by gas and electricity

I have to agree not having running water is a nuisance. When we lived on the farm a number of years ago we often use to get a loss of supply just because of where we were. Not the first time I have hooked the hosepipe up to a none sterile supply in the barn to fill the bath to use to flush the toilet. It is the one service I would most hate to be without. No way for a wash, to cook, to put on your washing machine, or dishwasher, Yes you can drink bottled water but it is difficult to use an electric shower with it. Coal, logs and generators as well as bottle gas would substitute for mains gas and electricity.

An impressive 77% of people are confident of their abilities to change a gas canister. 

statistics and image courtesy of  www.flogas.co.uk/

How would you feel, could you give up the rat race, move from your cushy cosy city dwelling life to something rural, remote and off grid?



*This is a collaborative post.