Joel Howe - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Reply to: How to balance community and independence (City vs Rural living) Posted May 24, 2022

There are a few easy ways to meet people in a small town. First of all, remember that the social contract is different in small towns: people generally want to stop and chat, or at least say hello in passing. We have a dog and walk her twice a day. This gets us out into the neighborhood constantly, meeting not just dog owners but anyone else out walking or doing yard work, etc. Speaking of yard work, if you’re thinking about prepping you’ll probably be doing lots of gardening work outside on your property. I’ve been out planting fruit trees and bushes for much of the last week, and I nearly spent as much time chatting with passers-by as I did actually digging holes. It’s cliche, but people are more outwardly friendly in small towns. If you don’t find them, they’ll find you! With that said, we don’t live super rurally – we’re near the downtown of a small town of about 5,000 people, but I feel like we’re in a pretty good sweet spot: we bought a double lot so we have lots of space to grow food, but we also have lots of neighbors and plenty of opportunity to run into people. We’re within walking distance of a hardware store, pharmacy, tennis courts, etc. but the town isn’t big enough or close enough to a major city to worry about the particular afflictions of large urban centers. We even have fiber-to-the-home internet! Lastly, I’ll echo what others have said: volunteering is a great way to meet people. And unless your hobbies are very uncommon, you’ll find like-minded people, even in a small town. My wife and I like playing board games, but there wasn’t a local shop, so we started a drop-in board game night and ran $30 worth of ads on Facebook to get the word out. Our first night we only had 6 people show up, but 2 of them became great friends, and our last event we had 16 people. Not the kind of turnout you’d find in a big city, but still plenty of people to play games and have fun with! Good luck! 🙂

Reply to: A Gentle Suggestion Posted October 25, 2021

Hi John, I appreciate your response. While I obviously think that preparing is important, I haven’t found many other sites to be a good fit for my disposition, which is generally more measured. TP has become my first stop whenever I’m considering purchases or have a moment to read up on the latest articles. I appreciate the rational approach you take in those articles and the fact that your newsletter isn’t filling up my inbox but rather is an infrequent yet can’t-miss collection of new articles and conversations. I purchased the courses to support the excellent work that you do, and I’m happy to see your response to such minor feedback is in keeping with the tone I’ve seen elsewhere on the site. Good luck with the redesign!

Reply to: How to balance community and independence (City vs Rural living) Posted May 24, 2022

There are a few easy ways to meet people in a small town. First of all, remember that the social contract is different in small towns: people generally want to stop and chat, or at least say hello in passing. We have a dog and walk her twice a day. This gets us out into the neighborhood constantly, meeting not just dog owners but anyone else out walking or doing yard work, etc. Speaking of yard work, if you’re thinking about prepping you’ll probably be doing lots of gardening work outside on your property. I’ve been out planting fruit trees and bushes for much of the last week, and I nearly spent as much time chatting with passers-by as I did actually digging holes. It’s cliche, but people are more outwardly friendly in small towns. If you don’t find them, they’ll find you! With that said, we don’t live super rurally – we’re near the downtown of a small town of about 5,000 people, but I feel like we’re in a pretty good sweet spot: we bought a double lot so we have lots of space to grow food, but we also have lots of neighbors and plenty of opportunity to run into people. We’re within walking distance of a hardware store, pharmacy, tennis courts, etc. but the town isn’t big enough or close enough to a major city to worry about the particular afflictions of large urban centers. We even have fiber-to-the-home internet! Lastly, I’ll echo what others have said: volunteering is a great way to meet people. And unless your hobbies are very uncommon, you’ll find like-minded people, even in a small town. My wife and I like playing board games, but there wasn’t a local shop, so we started a drop-in board game night and ran $30 worth of ads on Facebook to get the word out. Our first night we only had 6 people show up, but 2 of them became great friends, and our last event we had 16 people. Not the kind of turnout you’d find in a big city, but still plenty of people to play games and have fun with! Good luck! 🙂

Reply to: A Gentle Suggestion Posted October 25, 2021

Hi John, I appreciate your response. While I obviously think that preparing is important, I haven’t found many other sites to be a good fit for my disposition, which is generally more measured. TP has become my first stop whenever I’m considering purchases or have a moment to read up on the latest articles. I appreciate the rational approach you take in those articles and the fact that your newsletter isn’t filling up my inbox but rather is an infrequent yet can’t-miss collection of new articles and conversations. I purchased the courses to support the excellent work that you do, and I’m happy to see your response to such minor feedback is in keeping with the tone I’ve seen elsewhere on the site. Good luck with the redesign!