What’s It Like to Move From City to Country?

The website you’re on now – BaileyLineRoad.com – is named after the little country road where my wife, Mary, and I live and are raising our kids. When people find out both Mary and I grew up in the city and moved to this very rural property on an island in Canada back in the late 1980s, they always have questions and comments:

“Did you find the transition from urban to rural difficult?”

“What is Manitoulin Island like?”

“How do you make a living?”

“What is there to do do up there?”

“I’ve always wanted to move to the country, but never tried.”

There are three reasons I enjoy answering questions and comments like these. First, I believe the world would be a better place if there were fewer people in cities and more people in the country. There are many opportunities out here for wholesome, healthful living.

Second, I remember what it was like when I was asking these some kind of questions when I was in my 20s. I’d like to share what I’ve learned.

Third, it’s just plain fun talking with people who are interested in the same things I am, even if they’re only superficially interested. A surprising number are deeply interested.

These are some of the reasons I’m writing a book called The Bailey Line Road Chronicles. It’s a detailed account of the adventures Mary and I have had over the last 30 years making a life for ourselves in a quiet little corner of the rural island. I’ve written 10 chapters so far, and quite a number of people tell me they can’t stop reading the BLR Chronicles once they’ve got started.

There’s another reason I’m writing the Bailey Line Road Chronicles and it has to do with my grandfather, Ken Maxwell. He was born in 1907 and died in 1995, and one of the valuable things he left us with is a detailed account of his own life growing up and raising a family in Toronto and Winnipeg. I figure I might as well follow his example and leave an account of my time, too.

Click here to read Chapter 1, but be warned. If what I hear from other readers is right, you may not get as much work done today as you had planned 😉 I think you’ll like the story, but you let me know. You can click from one chapter to the next – there are 10 chapters in all now so far. Click here to send me an email and let me know what you think!