No joke, living out where we do means that going anywhere takes at least 20 minutes each way. This may sound obvious to people who have lived in the suburbs or rural areas before, but to me, it was a bit of a surprise.
When I lived in Wicker Park I could just walk across the street to get some snacks from the corner store, or walk an extra block and get some healthy snacks. There were at least a dozen restaurants within a 4 block radius, and retailers for most anything I could want within a mile. You have a craving for gourmet ramen and then want to shop for eco-friendly shoes while you sip on a fair-trade matcha latte? Trivial.
Even for things that were a bit farther away, if something took me 20 minutes to get to it had damn well better be special. I was addicted to convenience – I’m the person who has Amazon Prime but will still pay for same or next day shipping on stuff I don’t really need right away, in lieu of the free 2 day shipping.
Out here at the Hivestead, though – I’m coming to realize 20 minutes is nothing. It takes us about that amount of time to get to Farm and Fleet or Walmart. It takes us a bit more to get to Target or the good Ace Hardware. Nipping over to the Square is about the same.
This mundane observation has actually had some profound effects on me. I’m already noticing that I’m just not in a rush all the time. I feel less frantic, less like I need to GO GO GO and always be doing something. On the other hand, I notice that I’m also, weirdly, wasting less time – there’s ACTUAL work to do around here vs. the old place in the city, and as a result I feel more focused.