u/Prestigious-Fig-1642

Hello,

Looking to move to the UP with my family to be closer to the wild, less extreme climate issues, and because i could afford to purchase more land there than really anywhere else I fancy.

But one thing holding me back is the glaring fact that I grew up very rurally and was utterly failed by my school system.

I am hoping to homeschool as much as possible but it is already clear that my kids will be 2E, or at least gifted.

I dont want my kids to get left behind.

So can anyone share anecdotes about the greatness of Michigan's schools or homeschooling networking? Or anyone here have any hot tips about how to choose which UP city to relocate to, based upon a culture of learning/itellectualism but not TOO far?

I know where the colleges and higher learning places are, just hoping for some boots on the ground insight. ​

I know this is extremely tangential and random but I am really trying to cover all my bases here because this move is kind of a huge deal for me/my family and I want to be as prepared as possible.

have farmed/homesteaded for 10+ years and grew up on farms too. destination: UP MI. funding: sale of our old farm and a co-signer because i have no credit score at all.

I guess my ask is more: would you rent in the area for a year? (i worry there is no housing availabke for this) would you carve out time to travel to the area? would you make your best and most educated guess after one partner travels to the area, and just buy? how did YOU do it?

My family and I are considering a move to a new state which we havent traveled to before. We live currently about 9 hours away. The region we are looking at is large, about ​200x50 miles.

So, we've done a TON of research over the past couple years. We have already moved once, and that gave us insight for what to look for because this place aint it... Social, weather, economic, soil, climate...looked at mapd and maps and maps of all kinds, watched YouTube videos, looked at Google maps to see the local schools/stores/farmers markets.

The only things left...i guess, is to visit.

We dont have a lot of time or money though. Our lease ends this fall and we would rather not renew it for 6 months as it would be a bit expensive. Our two young kids and existing farm make it hard to just go on a 2 week vacation to explore. So I am thinking I will go and drive around for a week?? Or...should we just buy sight unseen?? That feels way too risky--for town folks its one thing but we have an entire ecosystem to create and maintain!

So please, if you have experience moving in a situation like this, please share

have farmed/homesteaded for 10+ years and grew up on farms too. destination: UP MI. funding: sale of our old farm and a co-signer because i have no credit score at all.

I guess my ask is more: would you rent in the area for a year? (i worry there is no housing availabke for this) would you carve out time to travel to the area? would you make your best and most educated guess after one partner travels to the area, and just buy? how did YOU do it?

My family and I are considering a move to a new state which we havent traveled to before. We live currently about 9 hours away. The region we are looking at is large, about ​200x50 miles.

So, we've done a TON of research over the past couple years. We have already moved once, and that gave us insight for what to look for because this place aint it... Social, weather, economic, soil, climate...looked at mapd and maps and maps of all kinds, watched YouTube videos, looked at Google maps to see the local schools/stores/farmers markets.

The only things left...i guess, is to visit.

We dont have a lot of time or money though. Our lease ends this fall and we would rather not renew it for 6 months as it would be a bit expensive. Our two young kids and existing farm make it hard to just go on a 2 week vacation to explore. So I am thinking I will go and drive around for a week?? Or...should we just buy sight unseen?? That feels way too risky--for town folks its one thing but we have an entire ecosystem to create and maintain!

So please, if you have experience moving in a situation like this, please share

edit: it seems like readers of this are interpretting this to mean I have no experience or knowledge of homesteading actually works? have farmed/homesteaded for 10+ years and grew up on farms too. destination: UP MI. funding: sale of our old farm and a co-signer because i have no credit score at all.

I guess my ask is more: would you rent in the area for a year? (i worry there is no housing availabke for this) would you carve out time to travel to the area? would you make your best and most educated guess after one partner travels to the area, and just buy? how did YOU do it?

My family and I are considering a move to a new state which we havent traveled to before. We live currently about 9 hours away. The region we are looking at is large, about ​200x50 miles.

So, we've done a TON of research over the past couple years. We have already moved once, and that gave us insight for what to look for because this place aint it... Social, weather, economic, soil, climate...looked at mapd and maps and maps of all kinds, watched YouTube videos, looked at Google maps to see the local schools/stores/farmers markets.

The only things left...i guess, is to visit.

We dont have a lot of time or money though. Our lease ends this fall and we would rather not renew it for 6 months as it would be a bit expensive. Our two young kids and existing farm make it hard to just go on a 2 week vacation to explore. So I am thinking I will go and drive around for a week?? Or...should we just buy sight unseen?? That feels way too risky--for town folks its one thing but we have an entire ecosystem to create and maintain!

So please, if you have experience moving in a situation like this, please share. ​

Would you be okay with a friend allowing your kids to ride sitting down, in the back of a pickup truck, open bed with tailgate up, going less than 10 mph on our driveway? The kids are 3 and 5, very experienced farm kids for their age, but I still am not ok with letting them be back there alone. I only allow it if there's an adult with.

I am feeling pretty upset though, as this friend will definitely be needed to watch my kids again and I worry they wont respect my ask....which, even if they are safe and nothing ever happens, it's lame to think they'll be undermining my parenting.

So what do yall think? Would you let your kids?

I am considering moving to a place that gets 300 inches of snow yearly, in a zone 4 climate (no colder than -25F).

I am wondering about the logistics of farming with that level of snow.

Thinking I definitely need enough barn space for all animals, plus extra in case of being snowed in?

Also..for veggie farmers: do you tarp you fields? Or just rely on tunnels?

Are there any important things to know? I am from an extremely cold place but the snow is a bit deterring.

Any suggestions for folks schools in the UP or northeastern WI?

Ones that I can visit, or even enroll myself or my kids in.

Would you:

A: move to a house you own on a small farm but is extremely rural next to a scary neighbor

B: stay on a large farm where you are a share cropper and dont have a certain future or guarantee to put down roots, and the land owners are nice but aging and expect us to stay for 9 years (a legal agreement yet to be written)in a trade for the deed, but the city nearby is too big for your taste and the weather is extreme north/cold, and the highways are loud

C: move to a new region 8 hours away in a place you're never been nor know anyone, but have done a ton of research on, the climate is better and will improve with climate change, the COL is affordable and could buy a farm or build one, but the winters are very snowy and not sure if it'll be too rural or not and will have to sell our home in A and it might be financially tight

D:?

I recently moved from SD to MN. I am finding that the white/native populations get along here way less, seemingly, than back home. Maybe it is different because I am also in a city now, or maybe because I havent really made any native friends yet, but this sentiment was shared by a friend and also a coworker, too.

So, as a mom to kids who look quite native (dad is native but was adopted so no tribal ties 😪) i am wondering where in the US might be the a friendly place to live amongst these specific communities. ​