Moving is rough. That doesn’t stop us from doing it. In fact Americans move more than Europeans by quite a lot. One reason could be that we have more expendable income to blow on moving trucks and new houses. If the American dream is tied up in buying a nice house, then it is an expensively recurring dream for many as they keep doing it serially. Doing something just because you can is probably not a very good reason for doing it.

Of course, there are more practical reasons to move such as for work. A lot of people have recently found themselves without a job. They had to relocate to where the jobs were. Some people relocated to places where they could find more affordable housing. Some tried to accomplish this by moving to less expensive cities. Others did it by making the transition from urban to rural life. For some, it was not a matter of money. Living in the city can be exhausting as well as expensive. Small, cramped apartments for rent in Indianapolis are not everyone’s idea of a good time. Speaking of which, what do people do for a good time when they don’t live in the city: Here are just a few of the activities you can look forward to that would have been difficult in an urban environment:

Learn an Instrument

When you are in a rural area, you don’t have to worry about making too much noise and disturbing the neighbors. There will be no one to complain about you grabbing one of your favorite acoustic guitar picks and playing your favorite songs on your front porch. That is very hard to pull off in an urban environment. A lot of people in rural areas know how to play at least one instrument because noise is not a concern. 

The kids can practice the piano at all hours of the day and knight. They can practice the violin. There are few noises more offensive than those coming from a badly played violin. Horns in urban apartments? Forget about it. Garage bands don’t have to be limited to the garage. Musical instruments are not just pleasing to the ear when played well, they are among the most mentally healthy activities a person can do. If you have not had the opportunity to learn an instrument while in the city, be sure to take advantage of the more open spaces of rural living.

Ride a Horse

You probably have never asked yourself about the best material for building a barn. This is not the kind of thing that typically crosses the minds of city dwellers. However, your new rural location has the space for horses. What child didn’t want a pony at some point? Now, you can have one because you have the right space and the right setting. 

You also have the space for a few cows, chickens, goats, and other work animals. You can finally get a real dog without worrying about pet deposits and pet rent. Your dog never has to know a leash or pee pads scattered all over the house. Your dog can roam free, you know, like a dog. You can play fetch with an actual stick instead of something plastic that came from a pet store. Your cat can hunt, you know, like a cat. In rural settings, animals don’t have to pretend to be small humans. They can be what nature intended them to be. If you love animals, you are going to adore rural living.

Play Outside

Wouldn’t it be nice if your kids left the house to play every now and then rather than staring at a screen pretending to kill fake aliens? In a rural setting, you can feel more confident in the safety of your kids. It is okay to let them get outside and run and play and roughhouse. We are raising a generation that has no idea what that is like. They know all about physical play in rural areas. You can, too.

Sure, you are not going to get cable. There are solutions for that sort of thing. What you will get when you move away from the city is a chance to learn an instrument, an appreciation of real animals, and outdoor fun that doesn’t involve a screen.