It seemed that most had gone through a frustrating period of time where either the land they wanted was out of their reach, or the land that they could afford was not the land that they thought they wanted.
It seems that one of two things happened.
Either the people waited patiently for the right land at the right price, or they adjusted their dream to fit with something that they could afford.
We did a bit of both. Having bid unsuccessfully on a number of plots (it is a very frustrating thing to find some place you love, and to not be able to have it.)
Initially we thought we wanted about 30 acres, ideally mixed woodland with a small paddock area. We weren't worried about planning permissions at this stage.
What we ended up with is 15 acres of partially fenced pasture, with a stream and planning permission, that backs on to a large forest.
Firstly, I probably should address the planning issues. When we first started looking I had recently read the excellent book "How To Live Off Grid" and we were both pretty fired up and thought we would live outside the system. However, thinking is different to doing. The reality of living like this with four children started to bother me. We already home educate. I get a little fed up of the "Crazy Hippy" label that is applied to us anyway, I didn't want to fuel it any further, and I didn't want to build a beautiful house and have it torn down.
I found the land by chance. I'd actually been on the land agent's website several times but I hadn't noticed this particular plot for sale. I think it was under a different heading, and so I hadn't clicked over. I still can't remember why I did click....probably desperation.
Finding land isn't easy, and it isn't for the feint hearted.
I think it is a rare, or lucky, person who buys the first piece of land that they see. There are huge emotional roller coasters that go with this process. You will be up and you will be down.
This feeling doesn't seem to go away once you do have land. You simply have more things to get excited/ freak out about.
The one significant thing I will say about our plot, is that it was the first one that all of us loved straight away. We had seen several, and we all liked them, but there was always something that someone wasn't sure about - the slope of the hill, the nearby road, the lack of suitable bike riding areas.
So, the land is almost ours. Now we just have to work out what we are going to do with it.
