13 Ways to Save Your Cabin Living Dream

City noise fades fast, but so does unprepared optimism. We pull back the curtain on cabin, RV, and rural living with thirteen candid realities that decide who thrives and who bails before the first winter. From bidding wars on properties to the slow truth about deliveries, contractors, and internet, we share the practical steps that turned a daydreaming sketch into a working address in the woods.

0:00 The Rural Dream Meets Reality

1:17 Thirteen Realities To Master

3:41 Movers, Supplies, And Contractors

6:01 Isolation, Community, And Sanity

8:35 Disaster Prep And Relationship Stress

10:03 Trauma Kits And Life-Saving Readiness

10:39 Food, Water, Power In Harsh Weather

11:51 Preparedness Pays Off

By the end, you’ll have a clear checklist for turning wilderness into home without losing your nerve or your budget. 

Grab our free companion ebook at nnbl.blog.

Disclaimer

BeRootedIn
Magnesium Cream

Ready Hour & My Patriot Supply
Best price on US-based preparedness and long-term storable food. Shop now with my affiliate link.

LIFEWAVE
Boost your body’s innate powers and live better and younger with LifeWave phototherapy products!

The Health Ranger Store
The best price on US-based lab-tested supplements and superfoods. Shop now with my affiliate link.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Rural Dream Meets Reality
• 1:17 Thirteen Realities To Master
• 2:34 Bidding Wars And Distance From Family
• 3:41 Movers, Supplies, And Contractors
• 5:03 Fitting In And Finding Work
• 6:01 Isolation, Community, And Sanity
• 7:01 Chores, Skills, And Delays
• 8:01 Tools, Internet, And Self-Reliance
• 8:35 Disaster Prep And Relationship Stress
• 10:03 Trauma Kits And Life-Saving Readiness
• 10:39 Food, Water, Power In Harsh Weather
• 11:51 Preparedness Pays Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Thinking about a cabin, RV, or rural living, you're not alone. 75% of Gen Z and millennials would buy a tiny home, cabin, or rural property. Yet the hard truth from builders, realtors, and online communities is that 50 to 80% of people abandon the dream before they ever move in. I refuse to be one of them. After four progressive moves that finally landed me in my cabin in the woods, I discovered exactly why most people quit and how to make sure you don't. These are the 13 realities I had to master to turn my daydreaming sketch into my rural address. In 2021, roughly 200,000 Americans lived full-time in RVs. By year end 2025, that number will top 486,000 and keep climbing. Another survey shows that 73% of Americans would consider a tiny home a cabin or a rural property. With 50 to 80% of people abandoning the dream of cabin living, I want to help you keep your dream alive. I discovered exactly why most people quit and how to make sure you don't. These are the 13 realities I had to master to turn my dream of cabin living into a successful reality. Number one, bidding wars now happen in the woods. Multiple offers on raw land in northern Idaho and Tennessee are commonplace in 2025, notes Radiant Reality's latest rural land report. Cash-rich remote workers are driving prices up fast. Start looking 12 to 18 months early and lock financing. Number two, distance from family is bigger than map shows. The biggest shock is realizing you now measure family visits in full vacation days instead of Sunday dinners, says full-time RVer Lynn Martin. Build that into your plan from day one. Number three, moving companies go to rural addresses. National firms often refuse gravel road deliveries and long distances from their base of operations as little as one hour's drive away. This happened to us. Local companies in popular counties are booked six to ten weeks out. Book early or rent a truck and entice friends with grilled steak and cabin vacations in exchange for helping you out. Number four, supplies cost more and take longer to arrive. Amazon Prime is a myth in many rural locations. You can still get your delivery, but it will not be fast, and returns are a hassle. Budget 30 to 50% above your spreadsheet estimate and plan to exercise patience. Number five, quality contractors are scarce and they choose their clients. During our cabin renovation, we had trouble getting contractors to return our calls because of our out-of-state number. Some assumed we were robocallers. Others thought we were cabiners living in the area only during peak season. These customers usually don't receive a callback until the contractor has extra time on their hands. Switching to a local number and including that we live in our cabin year round during the message resulted in faster service. And remember to be polite to your contractor because word of mouth that you are a rude customer will spread. Number six, the not from around here syndrome is real but beatable. I haven't experienced this challenge in the Midwest, but the mountain west and some places in the South were less welcoming to newcomers. I can understand why. The culture of these places has changed rapidly and not for the better in the minds of locals. The assumption is that the changes are caused by people moving from other regions and countries changing the local culture. You might never experience the welcome at feeling, but here are a few ways to overcome this challenge in time. Show up to town meetings, buy your coffee locally, be a good neighbor, and volunteer in your new community. Reputation compounds faster than you think. Number seven, jobs vanish unless you already have remote work. Rural unemployment can be double the national average in some places, while others have an abundance of local jobs in town. Secure income first. The beautiful view won't pay the bills. Number eight, isolation is the silent killer. I almost sold after the first February, one Redditor with 78,000 upvotes confessed, know how you'll recharge before moving rural. If you're an extrovert and recharge by feeding off the energy of others, having conversation, going out, being super social, rural living might not be for you. If you're an introvert, you'll need to be mindful of how little human contact you have on an ongoing basis. Going to town or visiting a big city can feel incredibly overwhelming. I experience that. If you're an ambivert, a person with both introverted and extroverted traits like me, you'll find it easier to transition to rural living. I'm naturally extroverted and like meeting new people, and I'm very comfortable being alone or just with my family. My advice is to schedule regular town trips and foster a few local friendships early by being a good friend and neighbor. I started the informal Northwoods Women Club. At first it was the two of us, then three, and now we are six members strong. Number nine, outdoor chores aren't optional. Everyone needs to know how to do all the jobs and use all of the equipment. Chores need to get done whether you're sick or well. If the power is out and the only person who knows the right wood for burning indoors versus outdoors is too ill to function, this could become an expensive problem. Consistently burning wood indoors that contains significant amounts of creosote could require professional chimney cleaning mid-season when it's too dangerous for a contractor to go on the roof. In this case, you may be unable to heat your home or supplement your home heat with your fireplace or wood stove until you have it professionally serviced. Creosote, high-content wood should be burned outdoors. So everyone in your household needs to know about choosing the right wood for the job. Chainsaws, snowblowers, roof shovels, forest management, avoiding introducing invasive plants, wood splitting, and septic maintenance are skills you'll need to master before you're snowed in. Too often, people moving into a rural cabin who are used to picking up the phone and getting a contractor within hours to a day are shocked to learn that it might take months for a repair or installation. There are many factors causing service call delays, such as some projects not being completed during the winter because the ground is too hard or due to safety issues. Number 10, tools are your new best friend. Start buying quality tools and learn how to use them now while you still have easy access to stores and YouTube tutorials with a decent internet connection. It took my family friend more than 10 years to get internet service at their cabin. It took us 18 months to get high-speed internet service. Number 11, disaster prep decides who thrives and who flees. During the 2021 Texas freeze, prepared neighbors helped unprepared neighbors, according to reports. The unprepared neighbors quickly left the area and moved back to the city, realizing rural living was not for them. Water, heat, and communications redundancy aren't paranoid. They're basic when you live in rural areas. Number 12.7 Togetherness tests every relationship. Therapist Esther Burrell has described the situation of sudden full-time cohabitation in confined spaces, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as a Petri dish moment that amplifies existing relationship dynamics and serves as a stress test. She noted that disasters generally operate as an accelerator in a relationship. Talk through conflict styles and alone time needs long before the moving trucks arrive. As an experiment, Matt and I spent one month in our cabin not talking to anyone. We even made it a point to avoid the package delivery trucks and the mail carrier because we didn't want to communicate with anyone except each other just to see how we would do. And guess what? We didn't miss people. We enjoyed each other's company and our alone time so much that we had to start forcing ourselves to leave the cabin. Number 13. Per the National Rural Health Association. A solid trauma kit and training literally saves lives. A home use trauma kit is a specialized collection of supplies to control severe life-threatening bleeding and injuries until emergency services arrive. It differs from a standard first aid kit by including more advanced items such as tourniquets, pressure bandages, trauma shears, and chest seals. These kits are designed to stabilize a person with severe injuries, such as from an accident, fall, or other traumatic event. By mastering these 13 realities, you'll be ahead of the game and ready for the challenge of moving to a rural cabin, RV, country home, or cottage. Up next in this series, we'll talk about the rural challenge of food, water, and power during the harsh weather seasons. Many obstacles can stand between you and access to these necessities. If you don't have power, you might not have access to your water well. And obstacles like Up next in this series, we'll talk about the rural challenge of food, water, and power during the harsh weather seasons. Many obstacles can stand between you and access to these necessities. If you don't have power, you might not have access to your well water, and obstacles like down trees, flood water, or snow can block your trip to town for food. Two blizzards without power during our first winter in the new cabin could have cost us our lives if we weren't prepared. So sign up for our free newsletter for future articles in this series. It includes actual off-grid budgets and contractor vetting scripts to help you on your cabin living journey. We live the dream now because we treated these 13 realities as mandatory homework, not optional speed bumps. The silence, the stars, the freedom, it's all worth it, but only when you're prepared. The words are waiting. Come prepared and stay.