Seeking like minded individuals for small IL community

My name is Annmarie and I am so glad I found this site. I feel like I have finally found “my people” so to speak. I’m a 40 year old single mom seeking a few like minded people to create a small off grid, homesteading community.

I currently live in the Chicagoland suburbs and am yearning to relocate somewhere where I can have more land, grow my own food, live off grid, homestead and live a more nature based life.

Further south is preferable as it offers a longer growing season, but I’d like to stay within driving distance to the Chicagoland area, unless some amazing opportunity presented itself elsewhere. I spent a good portion of my childhood living in Arizona and camping in Northern AZ and the California mountains, so getting back there might be something I’d be willing to relocate further for.

As I mentioned above, I am a single mom and I know there is a better life out there for myself and my children. We currently live in an expensive suburb and I feel like a slave to my house. I only work to pay for it. This isn’t how life should be. I’m tired of being the electric company’s bitch lol. I feel like I’m trying to “make it” in a world that wasn’t set up for someone like me.

I saw a video a while back that said “you think it’s strange that I have to light a fire to make tea, but I think it’s strange that you go to work for someone else for 40 hours every week so that you don’t have to light a fire to make tea” and it really resonated with me. I’m trading precious hours of my life, time i should be spending with my children or creating a better life for us- for heat when I know how to light a fire. What a joke.

The past several years have been a stressful balancing act of how I can afford to stay in the home I’m currently in and care for my children full time and I am so tired of the struggle.

I’m a naturally happy and positive person and I love being out in nature, growing our own food, creating beautiful landscapes and gardens, and living off of what Mother Nature provides.

My favorite books as a kid were the little house on the prairie books, maybe I always thought I could really be Laura Ingalls Wilder. It just seems to make more sense.

I feel the society I am currently a part of doesn’t hold the same values I do and it makes me sad to know that my kids are growing up this way, around fake people, eating fake food and falling into all the trappings of materialism.

I’d like to opt out of the system so to speak.

I’m not a full blown “prepper” but I’m certainly teetering on the edge. I believe covid was the start of all our systems (healthcare, education, 40 hour work week, etc. crumbling) and I actually think this is a good thing because they weren’t sustainable anyway.

In other news, I heard the other day that for every human to continue living as we are now, we need 1.6 planet earths. Problem is we are .6 earths short. I don’t know much about environmental issues, but I feel a deep connection to our earth and would like to learn more about how I can live more responsibly.

I have a very entrepreneurial spirit and have started several small businesses and “side hustles” that have came through for me in times of financial hardship. I have lots of ideas on how to generate income using my natural talents and any future land that I might have access to.

As you can imagine, being a single mom on a tight budget, I’m also very resourceful. I’d rather hunt on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist for a free or used item than go buy it new. I’m easy going and easy to get along with, but sort of introverted so won’t be intruding on your space too much for company. I believe I have high emotional intelligence and am able to handle whatever life throws at me with a good attitude.

I have a green thumb and know how to do a lot, but I’m coachable and open to learning new things or how to do things better. I’m smart, have great creative ideas and I can build stuff -kind of, I’m still a beginner but I enjoy the challenge 😃 It’s my dream to build my own home someday and to help others build theirs. Would love to know a carpenter who I could learn more from and would also love to learn more about canning, fermentation and storing food from someone with experience. I love animals and can care for and raise them, but I can’t butcher them myself. I can certainly cook them and eat them though.

I am a hard worker and can spend 10 hours building new garden beds without flinching, but I like the idea of having someone else around. Being totally out on my own is probably what has been holding me back so far. I like the idea of having a small community of likeminded neighbors with different skill sets so we can help each other out as needed. I think community- real community- is what is missing these days. Here in the suburbs, I hardly know my neighbors. They pull into their garages in the evening, close the door and go inside. It’s a lonely life.

I’m my imagination, in 5 years time I’ll be living on some acreage in southern IL/southern Indiana/eastern Missouri/northern Kentucky, etc. in an off grid earthship style or other naturally built home with about 5 or 6 other families who each have their own off grid homes nearby. I obviously don’t have all the logistics worked out just yet, figured finding like minded people should come first.

A few other things- I am not a drinker or partier, but I am 420 friendly. I’m very artistic and creative. I love music and working outside with my hands. I’m usually in bed early and am up early the next day. I don’t align with any political party and I don’t get riled up over current events, in fact, I don’t even consume news media and I don’t watch tv. My entertainment is usually a good history documentary or YT video about off grid living, natural building methods or permaculture.

I am spiritual, not religious and I practice transcendental meditation daily. I believe that joy is the key to living a good life. I’m also super duper down to earth, I promise.

If you’re interested in chatting more about this idea or anything I mentioned, or if you already have or know of a community that might be a good fit for me, please shoot me a message.

Are you aware of the website www.ic.org?  It's the premier website for intentional communities wordwide, and it's searchable both by location and keyword.  Chances are there are already people doing what you're envisioning somewhere within visiting distance, and I highly recommend doing exactly that.  I've spent much of my adult life in community settings on land, with anywhere from 4 to 30 people.  It is it's own unique dynamic, and it's definitely not for everyone.  The learning curve coming from mainstream culture can sometimes be steep, and it requires a set of "people skills" that are getting uncommon in our fragmented and individualized culture.  I could say way more but it's already been said better, and there's no replacement for checking it out for yourself.  If you are at all intuitive or aware, even a week's visit should be sufficient for you to determine if it's a fit.  If it doesn't feel right just try a few more, communities can differ quite dramatically from one another.    There are also more informal ways to create life together, starting with renting out rooms in an existing house....One popular way is the wwoof organization but that is basically pointed toward short term people wanting experience with farm life....the farm owner gets free labor while the volunteers get the experience and education and (usually) room and board.   Of course having kids complicates all of these possibilities and will narrow your options somewhat.   But it's an ideal worth having and pursuing.  

I’ve been thinking of something similar. How old are your kids? How many?