20M looking for community in Southwest VA Area

Hello I'm J Hawks, I have interests in electrical and software engineering, artisanal teas, rock climbing, gardening and self-sufficiency.

I've known about permaculture and off grid living for a while now and as I live more and more in a consumerist, isolationist place  I can tell that my values do not align with those around me. I find the majority of my happiness stems from the simple. I like working with my hands, learning new things, and being happy with what you have.

I've made the trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the southwestern part of VA a few times and knew that one day I'd like to live there. Though I wouldn't be opposed to living in WVA, TN, KY, or NC as long as we're close to mountains.

As I was thinking through how I could achieve an off grid lifestyle I realized that social interactions would be few and far between. I like the idea of having a close knit community of people who look out for each other and share similar values to myself.

I lean left politically and am agnostic. I spend the majority of my time nowadays working on personal software projects and like to drink tea, read, and play boardgames in my downtime. I mostly read fantasy fiction and tech novels.

Thanks for reading

There are lots of communities in your target area, so that can bode well for finding a right place to fit.  In addition to using permies, I'd recommend going to the Foundation for Intentional Community website and checking out their communities directory, that way you can see what's in your target area for locations and what the communities are like.