Are you really ready for that Tree Change?

This question is raised by many who are bitten by the ‘grass is greener on the other side’ bug.

The Tree Change adventure can come early and or later in life. Non-conformists make up one group of people who go west in search of the freedom to become self-sufficient and bring up their families in fresh, unpolluted air. Others yearn for a chance to make their own clothes, grow their own food, or bring the cost of living down whilst enjoying a healthier way of living. Many middle-aged couples decide to make a change to a simpler lifestyle, less traffic and a chance to smell the roses. Many hobby farmers are lured by the chance to own God’s own acreage and the opportunity to enjoy keeping an assortment of animals.

What influences people to make a Tree Change?

The age of ‘earth garden’ magazines and books covering everything from, how to grow your own meats, cheese and produce, to knitting and weaving your own home-grown yarn, promoted the move to go and try ‘back-to-basics’ living movement that thrived in the 1980s. Mr and Mrs Tree Change find themselves compiling comprehensive lists of pros and cons, of the benefits and losses involved in relocating and surviving with a little money left over. Oblivious to the use of reams of paper produced from the dwindling forests, the tree changer’s, sense of adventure makes the move seem more alluring with every item on the list. Being a basically community-loving group they yearn to walk down the main street of town and get a ‘Hi, mate’, and a ‘How’re you going?’ – a place where you know all your neighbours. The Tree Change fires your imagination with the promise of keeping those chooks you have always dreamt about, or maybe that sweet-faced Jersey cow. The prospect of cooking some fantastic culinary delights with that creamy fresh milk…and surely you can perfect the process of making some pure, unadulterated butter to spread on that wonderful high-rise loaf of homemade bread.

What’s the next step?

I could go on, but, whoa! Enough you say, somehow you have to anchor both feet to the ground, concerning the logistics of the move and relocating yourself several hundred kilometres away from family and friends, but that dangling carrot, that alluring prospect of having surplus money to play with after banking the proverbial ‘nest egg’, entices them to go on. Mr and Mrs Tree Change somehow get used to wearing their rose-coloured glasses and all the doubts start to dissipate into nothing issues. The friendly real estate agent, pouncing while you are in this state of euphoria, pops around with potential buyers, gleefully rubbing their hands together at their imminent generous commission as they hover over signing on the dotted line.

Looking for that little piece of Heaven

Generally before this sale is done, Tree Changers have spent all their spare time, looking at every hobby block in a 200-kilometre radius of their homes. Areas chosen, days are spent searching out that little bit of paradise. For some, the sight of rich volcanic soil spilling over on luscious acres of green, almost sends Mr and Mrs Tree Change into state of obsessive hysteria. A babbling creek meandering over mossy rocks, a semi-fenced block ready to keep that lovely Jersey milk machine safe are factors that are ‘must haves’. Days and nights are spent investigating septic loos, state-of-the-art drainage systems. Reality hits as prices for these virtually untouched pieces of paradise soar beyond their budget. Blocks without town water, power or electricity, which were previously unacceptable for consideration, now start to attract a little more attention. As you have guessed, Mr and Mrs Tree Change then take the advantage of the plea of temporary insanity and consider donning an owner-builder’s hat and building their own basic house from scratch.

Tune in again shortly to follow the adventures /misadventures of their back to basics journey…

Have you made a seachange or a treechange? What were the challenges? What are the things you’ve enjoyed most about the change?