How to get a head start?

I made a question on health Insurance and the homesteader. Found here:
https://permies.com/permaculture-forums/8161_0/homestead/health-insurance-for-the-homesteader-and-off-grid

I am wanting to buy land and be as self reliant as possible, off grid, etc. Im not looking for 100% self sustaining, but to do as much as possible without having an extra job. My land will be my "job"
I don't know where I want to buy land yet. I have been looking on Landwatch website in Northern California, So Cal ( San Bernardino), some Oregon, and Big Island Hawaii. Although I am open to any other places in the world really. I don't have my mind set, I am just browsing. It would be about 4 years at least until I actually would buy some land.

For someone like me, what things could I start to learn, that would help me live sustainable, yet I don't know where in the world I will live yet. If I knew I were going to get land in the desert I would study about harvesting water, drought resistant plants and so forth. But I don't really know where I will end up so I feel I could learn something that would better benefit my situation of not knowing.

Some things that come to my mind are basic needs. Food and shelter. No matter where you live you will need to have food and shelter.

If you have no idea of agriculture then you will need another income or a lot of savings. If you have a lot of money you might look buying an established orchard
Even if you live self sufficient you will have to pay bills and only to become self sufficient you need a lot of time to bridge.
You will need tools, shoes, clothes etc. you will have to have an  income.

Calif and Hawaii have extremely high costs of living, maybe you should try the Midwest, I live in Michigan and we have a much lower cost of living, makes it easier to survive on your own

Since you have already stated in another thread that you plan on putting in 20 years in the USAF, you will be earning a pension once you retire.  The states/counties with abundant employment opportunities have high costs of living, while those areas without many jobs are much cheaper to live in.  Since you will not "need" a job then, you will find lower land prices, and lower property taxes in the less affluent counties/states.  By the same token, the residents in those areas will not pay $4 a pound for tomatoes either.

I would suggest looking around Appalachia, or the Ozarks for a piece of undeveloped land.  There is no point in paying property taxes on a $60,000 house you will not be using for the next 20 years (plus the maintenance issues).  When on leave, tow a travel trailer there to live in while working your property.

Thanks for the thoughts and ideas, it gave me something to think about. What about outside the U.S.? Like other countries?

You may get a chance to be stationed @ an overseas airbase.  Observe, study.  But don't forget that what may look like the Garden of Eden today, may become the Gateway to Hell a few years down the road.  I have lived in three foreign countries, and had some wonderful times, but there were a few Hell Nights as well.

John Polk wrote:
Since you have already stated in another thread that you plan on putting in 20 years in the USAF, you will be earning a pension once you retire.  The states/counties with abundant employment opportunities have high costs of living, while those areas without many jobs are much cheaper to live in.  Since you will not "need" a job then, you will find lower land prices, and lower property taxes in the less affluent counties/states.  By the same token, the residents in those areas will not pay $4 a pound for tomatoes either.

I would suggest looking around Appalachia, or the Ozarks for a piece of undeveloped land.  There is no point in paying property taxes on a $60,000 house you will not be using for the next 20 years (plus the maintenance issues).  When on leave, tow a travel trailer there to live in while working your property.

In these areas would there be tornadoes?

oracle wrote:
In these areas would there be tornadoes?

Here's a map of tornado risk areas:  http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/tornadoes.shtm

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
Here's a map of tornado risk areas:  http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/tornadoes.shtm

Thank you!

Keep in mind, tornadoes are possible almost anywhere in the US/North America.  I survived a near-hit by a tornado in my youth, about six miles from where I presently live (flattened our barn, tore the porch roof off the house, and toppled my grandmother's mobile-home).    This is a "moderate risk" area.

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
Keep in mind, tornadoes are possible almost anywhere in the US/North America.  I survived a near-hit by a tornado in my youth, about six miles from where I presently live (flattened our barn, tore the porch roof off the house, and toppled my grandmother's mobile-home).    This is a "moderate risk" area.

Yes, your right! There was a small tornado here in california near Chico a few weeks back