Get me out of here!
May 30, 2012 10:44 PM Subscribe
Where is the End of Nowhere?
Let's just say I want to go to the absolute End of Nowhere. I'm a North American, so I only speak English, so don't send me somewhere where that won't work. North American people - where's the ass end of nowhere? Give me your recommendations!
Let's just say I want to go to the absolute End of Nowhere. I'm a North American, so I only speak English, so don't send me somewhere where that won't work. North American people - where's the ass end of nowhere? Give me your recommendations!
My hometown of Salina KS is the same distance from LA as it is from NY. appox 2500 miles.
Western KS is equally desolate, and flat.
posted by hellojed at 11:15 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Western KS is equally desolate, and flat.
posted by hellojed at 11:15 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
West Texas. Like in No Country for Old Men.
posted by Chekhovian at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Chekhovian at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2012 [2 favorites]
If you just need English-speaking end of nowhere, Australia has plenty of excruciatingly remote places. Most of the Canning Stock Route, for instance.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:26 PM on May 30, 2012
Do you want live at the end of nowhere (so, somewhere inhabited), or just walk around briefly and then head home (so, visit somewhere uninhabited)?
Either way I would head north, into the Canadian tundra.
posted by Joh at 11:29 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Either way I would head north, into the Canadian tundra.
posted by Joh at 11:29 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Suggest you drive to alaska (great in summer). Met someone in Yosemite who did that and he had great stories - for example he saw a grizzly bear just kind of sitting beside the road at one point.
posted by zia at 11:31 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by zia at 11:31 PM on May 30, 2012
Response by poster: I would like to live there,
if possible. Lightly populated, not too popular - and not completely ice-choked would be my preference.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:33 PM on May 30, 2012
if possible. Lightly populated, not too popular - and not completely ice-choked would be my preference.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:33 PM on May 30, 2012
So are we talking a small town that's off the beaten path here, or would you like to not see another human being for weeks at a time if you didn't want to?
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:45 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:45 PM on May 30, 2012
West Virginia has some back-of-beyond places. I'm sure lots of states do.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:46 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by Mister Moofoo at 11:46 PM on May 30, 2012
You may be looking for bumblefuck. This may not be an actual place but more a state of mind. In my younger days, we would get in the car and head out to - bumblefuck. Drive in any direction - and keep going until you found it. There are many places that could possibly be the place - but you'll know for sure when you finally get there. Someone in our car would look around and announce "bumblefuck". That was when we found a cheap motel and spent the weekend getting lost in a local dive bar.
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 11:49 PM on May 30, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 11:49 PM on May 30, 2012 [7 favorites]
Geeveston is pretty far away from you.
They speak English, or at least one head do.
posted by Kerasia at 11:56 PM on May 30, 2012
They speak English, or at least one head do.
posted by Kerasia at 11:56 PM on May 30, 2012
Response by poster: Hah! We used to call the BFG: Butt F*ck Egypt. It is truly a state of mind. Not sure what I want. Alaska sounds good, as does Canada, also the desert. Just need to get out of Dodge for a while and don't want to meet more than 5 people once I get wherever there is.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:57 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:57 PM on May 30, 2012
Response by poster: err... we used to call THAT BFG....
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:58 PM on May 30, 2012
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:58 PM on May 30, 2012
Best answer: With no indication of population or whatever, I have always thought of Alaska as a distinctly separate place from the rest of the world that could provide perspective, solitude, and at the same time, adventure! My dream has always been to live in Alaska for a year and experience all of the seasons. Yes, this would involve ice and extended periods of darkness, which may not be for you, but something about Alaska, man, it just seems so kick-ass and appropriate for recalibrating yourself. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Hawaii. Yes, it is the US, but it is so distinctly different from any place else, and there is significant distance between there and the mainland. Unfortunately, Hawaii is expensive and probably far more populated than you'd prefer. Still, you might find remote communities that you could happily live in for a bit.
Regardless of which location you choose and whether you to decide a build a life and live there would most likely depend upon your experiences within the first couple of years. First years in new places suck because of the culture shock and the haunting thought of "what did I just do?" By the second year, everything isn't so foreign and you start to see the nuances of the place and community. Third year is usually when you make the final decision to stay or flee without any "what ifs" or glances back. It sounds like you are on the precipice of something awesome, enjoy!
posted by katemcd at 1:30 AM on May 31, 2012
Regardless of which location you choose and whether you to decide a build a life and live there would most likely depend upon your experiences within the first couple of years. First years in new places suck because of the culture shock and the haunting thought of "what did I just do?" By the second year, everything isn't so foreign and you start to see the nuances of the place and community. Third year is usually when you make the final decision to stay or flee without any "what ifs" or glances back. It sounds like you are on the precipice of something awesome, enjoy!
posted by katemcd at 1:30 AM on May 31, 2012
Any national park with canoe-able lakes in Canada. One portage later and you've already lost 99.999% of the crowd.
posted by Yowser at 2:53 AM on May 31, 2012
posted by Yowser at 2:53 AM on May 31, 2012
I, too, enjoy the end of nowhere. Likely places include many places in Alaska outside of the major cities [downsides: cold, unforgiving weather, can take a LONG and expensive time getting anyplace else. upsides: other people who mostly want to be left alone so they won't bug you], northern Maine [similar stuff however northern Maine is mostly owned by logging companies] Nunavut way up in Canada [depending where you are the English-speaking and ice-choked thing may be an issue] some sort of rural mountain dwelling in KY, AL, MS or TN [upside: lovely, downside: hot, you will be sharing isolation with pot growers who may be awesome or paranoid, depending] somewhere in the deserts of Nevada [unforgiving climate, not as far from other things] or even some sort of remote compound in any number of midwestern states Questions I'd be asking myself
- How far can I be from civilization for things like medical care, leaving my location to visit people, access to mail/internet/etc?
- How self-reliant am I? Want to chop your own firewood? Hunt your own animals? Build your own house?
- How much money do I have? Can you enforce isolation through the usual mechanisms [walls, long driveways, keep out signs, security systems] or do I need to literally be where no one else wants to be?
- Is it okay to be where no one knows your name, or do you need to be where there are no people? This is a huge difference. The former is quite easy, the latter much more complicated.
I'd also suggest the bush country in Australia. English speaking, crazy beautiful, unlikely to be like anyplace else you've ever been. Best of luck.
posted by jessamyn at 5:09 AM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
- How far can I be from civilization for things like medical care, leaving my location to visit people, access to mail/internet/etc?
- How self-reliant am I? Want to chop your own firewood? Hunt your own animals? Build your own house?
- How much money do I have? Can you enforce isolation through the usual mechanisms [walls, long driveways, keep out signs, security systems] or do I need to literally be where no one else wants to be?
- Is it okay to be where no one knows your name, or do you need to be where there are no people? This is a huge difference. The former is quite easy, the latter much more complicated.
I'd also suggest the bush country in Australia. English speaking, crazy beautiful, unlikely to be like anyplace else you've ever been. Best of luck.
posted by jessamyn at 5:09 AM on May 31, 2012 [3 favorites]
Yeah, it really depends on what you're looking for. If it's just a two mile long driveway, and no neighbors for miles around in the middle of the woods, then heck, you can find that even in NJ, the most densely populated state in the US! And you'd also still have access to things like the internet, hospitals and food without having to airlift that stuff(or yourself) in or out. If you want truly middle of nowhere, then I'd second Alaska, or if Canada is an option, then pretty much anywhere in Canada that is further than 100 miles north of the US border will do, as something crazy like 90% of Canadians live within that range.
posted by Grither at 5:58 AM on May 31, 2012
posted by Grither at 5:58 AM on May 31, 2012
could try Nowhere, Oklahoma. Just from watching the video, it looks like a small little town.
posted by royalsong at 6:10 AM on May 31, 2012
posted by royalsong at 6:10 AM on May 31, 2012
In the UK we don't have any real wildernesses to call the end of nowhere. But we do have sets of people who fiercely seek out the most boring map grid squares. How about TG0645 - it has no features and no contour lines - just gravel and a little sea. You could make it there on a day trip from London. It will probably rain. Bring sandwiches and tea in a thermos.
posted by rongorongo at 7:16 AM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 7:16 AM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Wyoming is simultaneously the 9th largest and least densely populated state in the lower 48.
Seems like you'd find nowhere somewhere in Wyoming.
posted by namewithoutwords at 8:14 AM on May 31, 2012
Seems like you'd find nowhere somewhere in Wyoming.
posted by namewithoutwords at 8:14 AM on May 31, 2012
I read this book by Tom Bodett way back when about the End of the Road in Alaska. It made me want to move to Alaska to get away from it all (I never could afford to), but if anything he says in the book is true, it's where you want to be.
posted by patheral at 8:54 AM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by patheral at 8:54 AM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Come to Alaska, definitely. You know you're in the middle of nowhere when you've been driving for a couple of hours and start seeing power poles and get excited because you know "civilization" (a town with a population of a few hundred, and maybe a gas station) is near. Of course, if you're in an area where you don't have to catch a plane to leave, that still counts as civilization.
Come to Alaska. We have highways that are dirt roads.
posted by griselda at 11:07 AM on May 31, 2012
Come to Alaska. We have highways that are dirt roads.
posted by griselda at 11:07 AM on May 31, 2012
Or, if you don't like the cold, you can always move to Mississippi where the biggest town is Jackson (pop: ~175,000) and everywhere is the middle of nowhere. I understand that Louisiana and Alabama are similar but I have no experience with them.
Also, the website I linked to for Mississippi will give you statistics to any state in the US of A and the Canadian Providences. Just so's you know.
posted by patheral at 11:31 AM on May 31, 2012
Also, the website I linked to for Mississippi will give you statistics to any state in the US of A and the Canadian Providences. Just so's you know.
posted by patheral at 11:31 AM on May 31, 2012
My reading suggests that Northern Alberta, Alaska & Texas all have some potential for offing work in their remote places, but jobs usually necessitate other people.
Except for fire lookout jobs definitely a way to get away from it all for the northern hemisphere summer
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 11:42 AM on May 31, 2012
Except for fire lookout jobs definitely a way to get away from it all for the northern hemisphere summer
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 11:42 AM on May 31, 2012
Iqaluit! Though it's pretty ice-choked, I guess. But they even have a Road to Nowhere.
The Nevada desert is the most desolate place I've ever been. (Like here.) It goes on forever, and there is just...nothing. Eastern Utah can be pretty remote, but has the natural beauty going on.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 11:53 AM on May 31, 2012
The Nevada desert is the most desolate place I've ever been. (Like here.) It goes on forever, and there is just...nothing. Eastern Utah can be pretty remote, but has the natural beauty going on.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 11:53 AM on May 31, 2012
Oh man, and how did I forget! The Salton Sea! Though it's gotten a bit more attention recently due to its imminent destruction. Bombay Beach is the craziest place I've ever been.
posted by goodbyewaffles at 11:56 AM on May 31, 2012
posted by goodbyewaffles at 11:56 AM on May 31, 2012
Drive through any part of Nebraska except the far eastern part.
I have nightmares about doing so.
I haven't been to North Dakota but I hear it is the same. Absolutely nothing and nothing and more nothing until you might hit a tiny town which contains nothing.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:26 PM on May 31, 2012
I have nightmares about doing so.
I haven't been to North Dakota but I hear it is the same. Absolutely nothing and nothing and more nothing until you might hit a tiny town which contains nothing.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 2:26 PM on May 31, 2012
The furthest point away from McDonald's is in western South Dakota, the geographic center if North America is in north-central North Dakota, the Pole of Inaccessibility is also in western South Dakota, Wyoming is the least populous state, Montana and South Dakota have equally low population densities.
As a personal anecdote, the National Grasslands in eastern Wyoming (pretty close to all of the described points above) is the most uninhabited place I've ever been. There's a big sign warning that once you pass that point, you better have enough gas, water, and/or food to make it to the other side. My daughter and I pulled off the road at one point and walked a ways away from the road, to a distant windmill we could see at the top of a hill. When we got there, a high point where we could see for miles, I was struck by the lack of man-made sounds. Other than the slight wind and grasshopper noises once in a while, there was absolutely no sound. There were no powerlines in sight, no fences, no car-wide roads other than the highway. The entire time we were away from the car (about a half hour) nobody else drove by anyhow. In fact, we didn't see another car, even going the other direction, our entire drive through the grasslands. It was early on a weekday, so I suppose a weekend might be "busier", if that is even noticable.
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:12 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
As a personal anecdote, the National Grasslands in eastern Wyoming (pretty close to all of the described points above) is the most uninhabited place I've ever been. There's a big sign warning that once you pass that point, you better have enough gas, water, and/or food to make it to the other side. My daughter and I pulled off the road at one point and walked a ways away from the road, to a distant windmill we could see at the top of a hill. When we got there, a high point where we could see for miles, I was struck by the lack of man-made sounds. Other than the slight wind and grasshopper noises once in a while, there was absolutely no sound. There were no powerlines in sight, no fences, no car-wide roads other than the highway. The entire time we were away from the car (about a half hour) nobody else drove by anyhow. In fact, we didn't see another car, even going the other direction, our entire drive through the grasslands. It was early on a weekday, so I suppose a weekend might be "busier", if that is even noticable.
posted by AzraelBrown at 5:12 PM on May 31, 2012 [1 favorite]
Other than population, Bakersfield, CA fits the bill in so many ways.
posted by deborah at 1:35 PM on June 1, 2012
posted by deborah at 1:35 PM on June 1, 2012
Ka Lae, Hawaii. Incredibly eerie, windy, stark, and beautiful (look at what happens to the trees there!), as well as the southernmost point in the United States.
posted by Addlepated at 9:14 PM on June 1, 2012
posted by Addlepated at 9:14 PM on June 1, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
Or English-speaking end of nowhere?
No people nowhere? (Wyoming? Northeast Montana?) No scenery nowhere? (desert, but less pretty?) Or hick-town nowhere? (Wind up the windows and drive fast?)
Not entirely clear.
Population density map of the US: http://www.mapofusa.net/us-population-density-map.htm
Lights at night maps of the world: http://geology.com/articles/satellite-photo-earth-at-night.shtml
posted by Elysum at 11:05 PM on May 30, 2012