“Where’s the perfect place to homestead??”
I get this question approximately forty-seven times per week (okay, maybe not quite that many, but it feels like it), and every time someone asks it, I die a little inside. Not because it’s a bad question—it’s actually a perfectly reasonable thing to wonder about—but because the entire premise is flawed from the ground up.
There is no perfect place to homestead.
There. I said it. The thing that nobody wants to hear but everybody needs to understand.
Every single location on this planet comes with trade-offs, and the sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.
But let me back up and explain why this question drives me bonkers, and more importantly, why asking it might be preventing you from actually starting your homesteading journey.
The people who ask about the “perfect” place usually have a mental checklist that sounds something like this: mild climate, fertile soil, low cost of living, reasonable property taxes, minimal regulations, good neighbors, access to healthcare, reliable internet, proximity to amenities, abundant water, long growing season, and probably a unicorn grazing in the front pasture.
Here’s the reality: that place doesn’t exist.
Every location I can think of that has some of these advantages also has significant disadvantages. Places with amazing soil and long growing seasons often have high property values and strict regulations. Areas with low costs of living might have harsh climates or limited job opportunities. Regions with minimal government interference might also have minimal infrastructure or services.
You can’t have everything, and trying to find everything will keep you stuck in permanent research mode.
I know people who have been “looking for the perfect homestead location” for literally years. They’ve researched climate data, studied soil maps, compared tax rates, and analyzed zoning laws for dozens of different areas. They’ve become experts on places they’ve never visited and can tell you the average rainfall in counties they’ve never seen.
But they still don’t have a homestead.
Meanwhile, other people have bought imperfect land in imperfect locations and are happily growing food, raising animals, and building the lives they want. Their climate might not be ideal, their soil might need work, and their neighbors might think they’re crazy, but they’re actually doing it instead of just researching it.
Perfect is the enemy of good, and good is the enemy of started.
Here’s what I wish someone had told me when we were looking for our place: The best homestead location is the one where you can actually afford to buy land and start building the life you want.
We ended up in Wyoming not because it’s the perfect place to homestead (trust me, it’s not), but because it’s where we could afford to buy enough land to pursue our goals. The winters are brutal, the wind never stops, and the growing season is shorter than I’d like. But it’s ours, and we’ve made it work.
The imperfections of our location have forced us to become more creative, more resourceful, and more resilient.
Our short growing season taught us to use season extension techniques and to preserve food efficiently. Our harsh winters made us better at livestock management and infrastructure planning. Our windy conditions forced us to build things stronger and to choose hardy plant varieties.
Every challenge has also been an opportunity to develop skills we wouldn’t have needed in an “easier” location.
I think the obsession with finding the perfect place often masks a deeper fear: the fear of making the wrong decision. People want to research their way to certainty, to find the one location that guarantees success and eliminates all challenges.
But homesteading isn’t about eliminating challenges—it’s about becoming the kind of person who can handle whatever challenges arise.
The skills you develop, the resilience you build, and the mindset you cultivate matter way more than the specific characteristics of your location. A skilled homesteader can be successful in a wide variety of environments, while an unskilled homesteader will struggle even in ideal conditions.
Focus on developing your capabilities rather than finding perfect conditions.
That said, I’m not suggesting you should ignore location factors entirely or buy the first piece of land you see. There are definitely practical considerations that matter: access to water, zoning restrictions, climate extremes, distance from family and work, and your budget constraints.
But these are practical considerations, not perfection requirements.
Instead of looking for the perfect place, look for a place that’s good enough. Good enough climate for the things you want to grow. Good enough soil that you can improve over time. Good enough water access for your needs. Good enough regulations that you can work within them.
Good enough is actually pretty great when you stop comparing it to impossible perfection.
Here’s my advice for anyone stuck in the “perfect place” research loop: Set a deadline for your research phase, and then make a decision.
Give yourself six months to research locations, visit your top three choices, and make a decision based on the information you have. Don’t wait for more data, don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t let fear of imperfection keep you from taking action.
Every day you spend researching is a day you’re not building the life you want.
Remember that you can always move later if a location truly doesn’t work out. Most decisions aren’t permanent, and the experience you gain from actually homesteading somewhere imperfect will make you much better at evaluating future locations.
The knowledge you gain from doing is worth more than any amount of theoretical research.
I’ve learned more about what matters in a homestead location from living on our imperfect Wyoming land for fifteen years than I ever learned from all the research I did before we bought it. I now know which inconveniences I can live with and which ones would be deal-breakers for me.
But I only learned that through experience, not through research.
So if you’re stuck in the perfect place research loop, I’m giving you permission to stop. Pick a location that meets your most important criteria and that you can afford, and start building the life you want there.
The perfect place to homestead is the place where you actually start homesteading.
Your land doesn’t have to be perfect. Your climate doesn’t have to be ideal. Your neighbors don’t have to understand what you’re doing. You just need to start where you are with what you have and learn as you go.
The rest will figure itself out along the way.
Homesteading imperfectly in imperfect Wyoming,
-Nichole
P.S. If you’re still convinced you need to find the perfect location before you can start homesteading, try this: start developing homesteading skills wherever you are right now. Grow food in containers, learn to preserve food, practice traditional crafts. You’ll quickly discover that location matters less than skills, and you’ll be much better prepared for wherever you eventually land.
