This is my dream, but I grew up in the country so things to do outside in the country (hiking, fishing, gardening) always have appealed to me. I currently live still in a rural area but its an hour to get to good hiking trails, and fishing, and in the winter skiing. I'd love to be able to buy a few acres, build a small home and have some livestock (I'm thinking goats, chickens, and possibly some geese to keep the chickens safe), a garden, and land to be able to have fruit trees. I used to dream of it being where I grew up, but the older I get, the less likely that looks as land prices there have become beyond what I'd be able to afford and still build a small home.
However the high speed internet thing I think is getting better but still not great when you get out into the country. And most rural areas don't have any type of public transportation, so for us to make it a feasible option we have to wait until after we are FIRE, or the cost of commuting would make FIRE nearly impossible.
Also, as a healthcare worker at the largest hospital in a rural area, you need to take into consideration that in cases of emergency you may be too far from a hospital capable of intervening to save your life. It might take 3+ hours to get to a hospital capable of treating a heart attack or stroke, or with the capacity to treat a severe trauma. There are often small hospitals closer but they mostly would stabilize and ship. We use a lot of air transport(helicopters and planes) to get rural patients to us, but sometimes they can't fly because of weather. Then you wind up with a patient who is having a heart attack or stroke or who has had a severe trauma who is 3+ hours away via ambulance(if the community where they live have an ambulance service who can leave the community for 6+ hours) to be able to get help. It can result in increased severity of debility or death. I feel like that might be something people who contemplate a life in the county don't take into consideration.
