Note: I am not the original author of this text. It was originally posted to Reddit by /u/catnaphead, who is no longer active on the site. I am reposting it here for archival purposes.
Sure, you can move to a cheaper place, an off-grid cabin or you can move another country. You can live in a rental or a van on the road, or a small house in a backyard.
But at the end of the day, every move you make isn't going to give you a simple life unless you can create one right now for yourself. You still need to find food, most of us still need jobs (though maybe not as stressful), and all of us need a safe place to live. You need to learn how to navigate what you have now, in a simple way.
I think many of us overlook the fact that you can create a simple life for yourself wherever you live, right now. Moving can solve a few problems (the cost of property sometimes), but thinking that moving will solve everything and create that simple life is wrong. You can get it. It's right in front of you. No moving required. Start where you are. With social media it's all too easy to think that moving to Bali, or living in a tiny house or ran will fix everything. It won't. There's just different work involved, different complications. Nothing is a given.
Part of simplicity is using what you have right in front of you. Live in a condo with too much stuff, downsize your stuff. Stressed from your job, get a less stressful job. Finding you lack human connection, find new friends. It's doable.
I wish more people understood that rural life is really freaking hard, especially if you don't already have connections.