We bought 14 acres in central Vermont for $290k and had $220k left after the New Jersey equity. T…
T=0: The Decision
Suburban New Jersey. Four bedrooms we used incompletely. $4,800/month mortgage on a house we had bought for the school district. Two children, 8 and 11. Remote work since 2020. The 2021 equity market gave us enough profit on a sale to make a different kind of choice.
We bought 14 acres in central Vermont for $290k and had $220k left after the New Jersey equity. The children would be homeschooled. My partner would start a small goat operation. I would keep my remote design role. We moved in June 2022.
Children who know how things work. A mortgage we can actually pay off.
6 Months Out
The children adjusted within two months in ways we did not anticipate. Our 11-year-old built a chicken coop from YouTube instructions and scrap wood. Our 8-year-old identified 40 tree species by December. The logistics of rural life — propane, wells, dirt roads — were harder than we planned.
“Find the local homeschool cooperative before you arrive. Vermont has a strong network and the children need peer contact — you cannot replicate school social infrastructure as individuals.”