Welcome One and All!

I would like to welcome everyone to our brand-new blog, Suburban Quest!

Please join us in our tasks and plans as we attempt to become self-sufficient without leaving the suburbs.

I'm sure some people are asking...why not just leave the suburbs? Buy a farm, get some acreage, have some space around you to do what you want?

My answer is usually the same no matter who asks the question: Have you noticed the housing market lately?

Unfortunately, selling the house and moving are just not an option, much as I sometimes wish that they were. Plus, when we bought the house, we absolutely fell in love with it. After seven years, we've invested a considerable amount of time into it, if not money, and the thought of packing it up and leaving it, even if for greener pastures, doesn't sit well. Heck, let's be honest, packing in and of itself doesn't sit well!

There is another factor at play here alongside a downturned economy and somewhat depressing housing market - even if we were to embrace a 100% self-sufficient lifestyle, for the time being, food still needs to be put on the table and the bills paid. That means at least one person in the family has to leave the home to work, and therefore leads us into another pitfall - access to roadways and (at least some) part of civilization. While I'm sure we could find a spot that would suit us, I'm not entirely sure the cost of gas and other resources wouldn't be more eaten away as we attempted to "live our dream" on a large scale.

So, here we sit, on 1/3 of an acre, in the middle of suburbia - a planned subdivision, no less! - in Southeast Michigan, not that far away from Ann Arbor or Detroit, doing our best to at least pretend that we live somewhere out in the middle of the rural countryside. Follow our exploits (some happy, some sad, some hilarious), as we attempt to try, over the long-term haul, to become less dependent on what we can run to the store and buy, and more dependent on what we can do for ourselves. Will it work? Will it fail? I don't know, but I'm sure willing to give it a shot!

Thank you everyone - have a good day!