I live surrounded by nature, but I work remotely for big companies, so I do not take advantage of it as much as I should. I am going to grow a few veggies this spring so that I force myself to be outside. I was also considering chickens, but I don't think I want to be responsible for someone else's life to that extent!
I think we have to make our little utopias where we are. I hope you find yours!
Sometimes I think my utopia is just a fantasy. It sounds really nice and cool to grow your own food, raise your own animals...etc. But once you're in it, you're like whoa, this is some major work! I was wwoofing (world-wide organization of farming or something like that) around UK and many of the places I visited were beautiful with people raising their animals, growing food, sustainable living...etc. But man, your a** is waking up daily at 6am letting the chickens out, picking weeds...and the work never ends. Gotta start slow though...I'll start with growing herbs and see how that goes!
Totally hear that... My first, very ambitions garden was a miserable failure because I was just not prepared for the amount of work that veggie gardens require!