Finally it’s happening! We’re moving to the mountains!

Have you heard the news that our dream to move to the mountains permanently is taking shape? And while some people think we’re tenacious, they could be right again!

Ever since we started our homestay, we have been making frequent trips whenever our obligations in the city permitted us to do so. However,  we have been missing out on so much. Several wonderful people have stayed at our homestay but sadly, we could meet only a handful of them.

Plus, we have not been able to witness snowfall in Hartola which turns the entire landscape into an illustration from a fairytale book. Although, thanks to our caretaker and generous neighbours who took pictures and videos during the time, we were able to satisfy our excitement virtually.

Neither have we been able to pick fruits from the fruit trees on the land and sink our teeth into some juicy and unadulterated apples, plums, and pears.

But this time we have our agenda set. With whatever resources and interior decoration skills we had, we did up the place pretty decently—‘quaint’, ‘warm’, ‘beautiful’ are some of the adjectives used. Now it’s time to move outside – a small kitchen garden, new and better fruit trees, and more green patches and flower beds. All-in-all, it will now be our mission to turn our patch in the mountains into a green paradise and most importantly, to start a subsistence living and make it into an art.

How it is going to turn out living at the end of the road, only time will tell, but if you ask me about my thoughts on modern living, I can tell you this: “I’ll take the leopards, scarcity of water, severe winter, snow, rains and landslides or anything else Mother Nature wants to throw at me over staying in a city full of  bustling hordes  and big concrete structures, the heat and dust, and heavy pollution.

Needless to say, Hartola promises a bounty of green life, but knowing how to identify and get them to the table demands a special breed of person and we believe with a little bit of luck and perseverance we will do just fine. Even though we would be visiting our friends in the city once in a while, hopefully, in the weeks to come we will be able to build character to be able to leave civilization behind and settle in a remote place. No guarantees in this world, but we’re upbeat about this change. Fingers crossed!