I have a dream

Tired of the status quo!

For a long time I figured that I would be able to do both, have career in a company that I love and be able to live a self sufficient life. Then I (and 400) others where made redundant, it was at that point that I realized that I actually wasn’t satisfied with the status quo anymore!

I knew that I enjoyed the simple things in life, and that I have been content living with very little money. I knew that I want children one day, and being able to spend as much time with them as possible but also for them to have a chance to grow up with family close by and not half-way across Europe. I wanted to spend more time at home, spend more time with family, being able to spend more time outside and just live life in a way that was meaningful to my beliefs and values.

I had been gardening in my rented flat for years already and am no afraid of hard work but finally I was at the point were I wanted more then just a tiny share of that life. I kept dreaming, and the idea of a simple life, producing my own food and running a small business was becoming more appealing each day.

The big questions was if I would stay in the North East of England or move back to my home country of Germany. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was time to move back to Germany. My dad passed away in 2003 and I wanted to spend more time with my mom, so the decision was made in January 2012 that I would move back to Germany. It wasn’t just the family that pulled me back to Germany. As much as I love the North East of England many other factors such as climate, house prices, community etc played into this too.

In August 2012 me and the dogs moved back to Germany. My mom owns a big house with a big garden that has 2 separate apartments, in the upstairs part she lived together with my brother. The down stairs part (my old apartment) was rented out over the last few years and me and the dogs moved in. It took me a while to find work that enables me to work on my homestead dream at the same time. I am now working as a tax consultant for a small company and while I could earn more money if  I would work for a different company there are other peaks that I have, like working from home 2 days a week.

My big goal is to save enough money to buy some land and build or buy a home without a mortgage. I hope to eventually be able to live full-time on my little homestead with only income from a small business venture like working as a self employed tax consultant (rather than relying solely on farming). I now dream of a future where I spend my time taking care of my family, the land, and giving back to the community. 

In the coming days and weeks I will write about what steps I am taking to make this dream a reality!