Would you move?

[MissAnpassad]

I have just been offered an opportunity to move 720 km north to a friends smallholding outside of Storuman. At the moment I live in the countryside north of Stockholm which have a fairly mild climate (not compared to yours, it´s a lot colder than your coldest parts) where I can grow a number of things. Okay, I can't grow peaches, but things like figs (Bornholm) work if you grow them towards a wall.
If i move north, the number of things I could grow would decrease quite a lot, but at the same time, I could increase my yield as I would have a lot more land to work with.
I have been trying to weigh the pros and cons against each other.

Plus:
Incredible hunting grounds
No people (except for my friend and her little family, it would be 6 km to the nearest neighbour and 20 km to a village of 56 people)
No tics
No snakes (I must admit that I have a phobia)
I can breed goats
Reindeer everywhere
Enormous woods all to myself, so nobody would pick all the mushrooms
I would be far out of the way if Russia decided to invade Sweden
Nearly 24 h of sunlight during summer
No nuclear reactors nearby

Negative:
It's the land of the mosquitoes even during daytime
-45 C is not unheard of
Neither is 2 meters of snow
It takes an ambulance at least 45 minutes to arrive
Hardly any sunlight during winter
Slow internet
No jobs (not a problem for me at the time, but I don't want to be sick the rest of my life)
I would have to buy a car as there are no buses
I would be close to Norway, if the US decides to steel their oil

So, what would you do?

[Plymtom]

At my age and the way I am with the cold, it's unlikely I'd want to go The pro's are great mind you and if you can handle the cold I would have thought they'd outweigh the con's, I like the idea of getting away from loads of people, but always remember going camping in winter (nothing like yours but we were poorly equipped) and the coming home to the warmth was as good as the getting away.

[diamond lil]

I'd go. People have been living and coping with cold in those latitudes for centuries. I think people are more dangerous than winter weather and isolation really. And I think Norway is very stable and if I was younger I'd have been looking at living there. But it has to be you who decides
You could look at hydroponics etc?

[metatron]

Unless i had family commitments or a large social/support network in my current area, I would give it a go.

[Arzosah]

It sounds really interesting! Couple of questions - are you used to processing the animals you've hunted, or do you want to learn, at least? And what about age and ageing? What if you *did* get sick? Or can't work the land any more. And what would the financial arrangement be, how would both you and your friend sort it out? Needs to be done beforehand, for both your sakes.

Thats logic. But my heart is going Wow! Wow! It sounds like a fantastic opportunity!

[MissAnpassad]

It sounds really interesting! Couple of questions - are you used to processing the animals you've hunted, or do you want to learn, at least? And what about age and ageing? What if you *did* get sick? Or can't work the land any more. And what would the financial arrangement be, how would both you and your friend sort it out? Needs to be done beforehand, for both your sakes.

Thats logic. But my heart is going Wow! Wow! It sounds like a fantastic opportunity!

I am accustomed to slaughtering and "chopping up" animals as I breed chickens and rabbits, but i am not a hunter, but I could become one. The only downside is the manshuovanistic culture in the hunting parties, but times are changing and more women become hunters nowadays. But there are a lot of male hunters that likes to petting women's heads and try and send us back to the cooking stove.
I'm already sick, that is a concern, but my friend is well aware of my health issues, so I would mostly be living of Sweden's social security system if I couldn't work. We have a really good social security system, if I got really sick, then I can get things like a personal assistant or nurses that come to my home, and the government would pay for it all.
I'm 40 years old, so not to old for a move, her grandfather is 94 and still lives on his farm in the area, so I don't think I would have to move. Actually, I wouldn't be able to live where I live as I got old (in 1710 they didn't exactly build for disabilities), if I moved north, she would build me a house, so I could probably have a say in it´s planning.

I'd go. People have been living and coping with cold in those latitudes for centuries. I think people are more dangerous than winter weather and isolation really. And I think Norway is very stable and if I was younger I'd have been looking at living there. But it has to be you who decides
You could look at hydroponics etc?

My friends husband is a permaculture designer, so yes, hydroponics might be a solution. I've been thinking of asking her to build a "Naturhus",, that is a log cabin inside a greenhouse (my house doesn't need to be big, I can cope on 30 square meters), then I would have a more southern climate just outside my house..

[Arzosah]

It sounds even better now and as for the idea of a house being inside a greenhouse ... brilliant

[Deep Thinker]

Prepper opportunity if you ask me and there is already support .Remember the things we regret are often what we don't do.If it is an improvement then I would .

[Catweazle]

It sounds great, opportunity for self-sufficiency plus a ready-built friend/support network.

[featherstick]

I have a different take.

Putting aside the global problems or threats (Russian invading etc.) my feeling is that there is a lot to be said for easy access to services, facilities, and especially medical facilities.

My view is partly formed by some work I did in Spain a few years ago with Brits who had retired out there. People would retire at 50 to the romantic hilltop farmhouse miles from anywhere and have a good time for 15 years or so, but after a while, his diabetes would get worse and she never learned how to drive and suddenly it was a long way away from the doctor, pharmacy, supermarket, the circle of friends and so on. We also saw people tipped over into great hardship when the roof blew off or something else happened, but to an extent this can be mitigated by planning. The health aspects can be more damaging to life quality.

I've long fantasised about moving out to the country, but I have to recognise that for my wife (40) and me (47) our current situation is pretty good for ageing - we are close to two motorways with easy access to countryside, parks and the sea, and within walking distance of the train station, the doctor's surgery, the pharmacy, two theatres, shops, busses, libraries, allotments, parks and playgrounds and so on. We've been putting a lot of effort into building up a circle of friends around where we live and it's paying off with great mutual support networks looking after kids and so on.

So I would stay local, to be honest.