Welcome to Iliana Acres!
Thanks for stopping by to check out our new blog. We’re excited to share our homesteading journey and look forward to getting to know our readers along the way. While some say blogging is a thing of the past, we believe it’s a timeless way to connect and share stories. We’re a bit old school and thought, why not give it a try?
Who We Are
We’re a millennial couple in our late 30s (elder millennials? 😭) who recently made the leap from city life to country living. I’m Richard, and Julie is my better half. We spent most of our lives in South Florida, but now we’re giving rural living in North Florida a try. As this blog grows, we’ll share more about ourselves. For now, we can sum ourselves up as idealists, excited to embrace this new chapter.
The Catalyst For Change
Like many people, 2020 was a transformative year for us. After months of being stuck at home, we decided to take a trip to St. Augustine when travel restrictions eased up. Along the way, we made a life-changing decision to do a farmstay through Airbnb. We met an inspiring older couple who had finally turned their dream of homesteading into reality after retiring, despite having no agricultural background. They had always been interested but never took the plunge. While they were happy to start, they regretted not doing so sooner, as the hard labor took a toll on their bodies.
Their story resonated deeply with us because we were in a similar boat. We had always considered homesteading but never took it seriously due to our lack of agricultural experience. But if they were able to figure it all out at their advanced age, surely we could as well? Seeing ourselves in this couple, we feared we, too, would wait until we were older to finally “move to the country and eat a lot of peaches” 🎵 🎶
Additionally, the pandemic’s impact—lockdowns and empty supermarket shelves—was a wake-up call for both of us, pushing us to consider a more self-sufficient lifestyle long before we even stepped foot on that old couple’s property.
Exploring Our Options
In 2021, we booked another farmstay and a farm tour to continue our research and planning. We devoured books like Joel Salatin’s “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” (paid link), and followed homesteaders on YouTube, social media, and, yes, even blogs. We were soaking up everything we could to learn about this lifestyle. By 2022, we were ready to commit and started looking for land all over the United States. I even went on my first (and so far only) hunting trip at the beginning of the year which was exciting. (Shoutout to Black Tine Outfitters in Citra, FL!)
Where We Ended Up
We both agreed that staying in Florida was optimal because it’s where we grew up and we love it here. (It’s not as crazy as the internet makes it out to be. Well, maybe a little bit lol.) Also, we didn’t want to be too far from family and friends. So, in 2023, we purchased some affordable raw land in what’s considered to be the last frontier of development in this state: the Florida Panhandle.
Our plan was to develop the nearly 10 acres from scratch, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we opted to move into an established house instead, while still keeping the 10 acres for future development. It was the best way to avoid the red tape and delays of building from scratch, which we didn’t have the time for. What’s important is that we managed to make the move after years of planning. And even though it was not cheap, we found a way.
What We're Trying To Do
Our primary goal is to build a homestead where we can grow and cultivate as much of our food as possible. We’d love to eventually have some animals, install solar panels, and set up a few cisterns, etc.—all in an effort to become as self-sufficient as we can. While we’re not aiming to live completely off-grid, we want to be prepared to weather any storm comfortably if the proverbial poop hits the fan.
For our long-term goals, we’d love to start one or more businesses. We have several ambitious ideas we’re tossing around, and we’ll share them with you eventually. But in the meantime, we’ll be working on this blog and using it as an excuse motivation to learn and explore as much as we can so we’ll have interesting things to publish in the near future. Honestly, we’re figuring things out as we go.
What We’re NOT Trying To Do
To be clear, we’re not doomsday preppers. Well, maybe we are a little bit 🫣, but we’re not expecting or hoping for society to fall apart anytime soon. While it’s always a possibility, we like to see the glass as half full and believe that society will continue to thrive. That is to say, our modus operandi will not be doom and gloom or fear-mongering.
Similarly, we’re not here to push our politics or any kind of agenda down your throat. There’s enough division in the world right now, and plenty of content creators already engage in that sort of rhetoric. That’s simply not our style. We prefer to focus on universal themes that most people can relate to. When we do touch on sensitive topics, we’ll strive to be fair and balanced, discussing them thoughtfully and compassionately to the best of our abilities. That being said, we’re also not going to apologize for who we are and what we believe. We believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion, including you. Live and let live, know what I mean?
It’s important to understand that we’re not trying to proselytize or convince people to do what we’re doing. We’re not saying you should leave the city, grow or hunt your own food, raise chickens, etc. This lifestyle is definitely not for everyone, and we understand that. We also believe many of our goals can be accomplished in urban and suburban areas with the right planning and determination. And to be sure, we’re definitely not qualified to give out any kind of advice even if we wanted to 🤪
Challenges
Starting a homestead with no prior experience is challenging, to say the least. We’re trying to learn everything from scratch through YouTube, books, blogs, Facebook groups, etc. As anyone who is giving this a go would know, it’s not a cheap endeavor, so we’re also figuring out how to fund this ambitious project. The local economy in this part of Florida isn’t exactly bustling, so we’re adapting as best we can. And who knows, if our blogging venture takes off, maybe our sincere efforts to promote this region will ultimately boost tourism. That would be amazing!
Truth be told, we don’t know what we don’t know. I suspect it’s going to be very difficult to try and achieve our goals. It may be even harder than we could ever imagine. Joel Salatin notes that many new homesteaders tend to quit within the first 3-5 years, right? He calls it the “Slough of Despond,” where new homesteaders face the steepest learning curves and most challenging setbacks. We’re aware that’s a thing. We’re determined to push through. Follow along and see if we make it!
Meaning Behind The Name
You might be wondering, “Who is Iliana?” My mother, Iliana, passed away in 2022, and we named our homestead and blog in her honor. I’m sure I’ll be bringing her name up again in the future.
What Now?
We started this blog to document our journey, share our experiences, and connect with others—from beginners like us to seasoned experts with wisdom to share. We hope our story will inspire others to pursue their dreams and embrace the challenges along the way. You are welcome to follow along as we figure things out. We hope you’ll join our community and share your questions, critiques, and concerns with us. We’re open to all of it. We’re going to be experimenting and trying a lot of fun things, and we’d love for you to be a part of it! The first step is building up this blog with a list of topics we’re excited to write about. Once we have a few posts published, we’ll get our store up and running—more on that later! As the site grows and our services expand, we’ll update this introductory post to keep you all in the loop.
Thanks for reading!
Talk to you soon,
👨🌾👩🌾
UPDATE 10/17/2024 – We’re excited to announce that Iliana Acres is now listed on HipCamp for a primitive camping experience! Our goal is to gradually enhance the land with unique features, making it an even more exciting destination for outdoor and homesteading enthusiasts. Stay tuned as we bring new improvements to life!
TL;DR
First of all, how rude. This is our introductory blog!
j/k
We’re a chill millennial couple from South Florida who moved up to the Florida Panhandle in 2023 to start a homestead after getting a wakeup call from the Covid-19 debacle that took place. We have no clue what we’re doing but we’re trying to figure it out. Also, you can book a stay at Iliana Acres on HipCamp now if you enjoy primitive camping.