What do you think of when you picture moving to a cabin? Perhaps you see an escape from city life, a cozy retreat, or stepping into a more natural environment…
The concept that comes up most often when I’ve talked to people about moving to a cabin is: escape. Cabins offer a unique opportunity to escape. They promise a chance to start over in a new place. They provide a lifestyle that’s close to nature, outside of city life.
BUT what no one tells you about moving to a cabin is that you also learn a lot about yourself!
our cabin in winter – lots of snow + firewood!
What No One Tells You About Moving to a Cabin: You Learn a Lot About Yourself
Most people seek out cabin life as an escape, but what they really get are a few lessons about themselves. And here’s why:
- Cabin life is usually very different from life before you moved. Especially for people who are looking to get out of the city or start over in a new place.
- Cabins are usually rural, they have their own set of maintenance requirements, and are unlike places you’ve lived before.
- No matter how badly you want to move to a cabin or how well you plan it, cabin life is so different that it takes time to adjust.
And as you adjust to your new cabin life, you learn things about yourself!
At least that’s I what experienced 🙂 And the few people I’ve met who have made similar life changes to live in cabins have echoed these sentiments.
What I Learned About Myself
In my case, when we moved to our cabin, I learned about what I enjoy most. We moved from a big apartment complex in Austin, TX to a little log cabin in Jackson, WY. Before we moved, I pictured us spending lots of time outdoors, exploring the landscape around the cabin.
But after we moved, I learned that I also love to spend time inside the cabin with our little family.
In the months that we’ve lived here, some of my best memories have been of our family spending time together in the cabin. These times are made extra special by the cabin itself: it feels cozy in the winter as we hang out in the living room by the wood stove. And in the long, bright summer, I love to cook or bake together as a family and with all the flavors of the season. My favorite activity is to try baking new recipes with huckleberries that my husband goes out and picks!
I learned that I crave this: these times with our family as we settle into making the cabin our home. It’s not the mountains, nature, or outdoors that I seek out the most – it’s quality time with my husband and son.
our wood stove – the center of the household during winter
The Cabin Promise
Cabins live up to everything that they promise: they really are an escape, a retreat, a place to start over. But they’re also more than that: they teach us about ourselves.
And in this case, it’s impossible to have one without the other – you don’t get the ‘escape’ of a cabin without learning about yourself in the process.
For more posts like this, check out the Cabin Life series.
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I was looking for some comments from other “cabinsters”
I do NOT live in a cabin, but that was my dream off and on. I don’t know if I’m rugged enough for it, and I’m sure that aging lowers my ruggedness, but a cabin is the woods is what I often crave. To be away from so many people. I like to camp with friends, in a camper, but it is often much more crowded that my own yard at home. I work doing income taxes and bookkeeping with my husband, and we have been blessed beyond measure with our business, but oh, so crazy busy at this cold and snowy time of year. When I’d really enjoy a season of ‘snow days’ to putter and craft. To sew and knit and read. My children are grown and grandkids are starting to arrive. I have a good life, but our vacation choices have been for years to relax, not chase… thanks for sharing your pictures and your life. I hope to travel west in 2020. I will enjoy seeing so much that I have only read about. Maybe even your neck of the woods
Thanks for your message! There may be a cabin out there that is the right amount of ‘rugged’ for you 🙂 And I had doubts if I would be able to keep up when we moved to our cabin but I have learned so much!
Hope you get the chance to travel out this way & find a cabin that you love!
– Megan