Here’s the list of ingredients for my current mindset: I’m a Gen X man, my tech consulting work has slowed to a crawl, I might be on the cusp of retirement anyway, I’ve always loved New Mexico from time spent there in the past, and I’ve spent my whole life living either in cities or suburbs. So if I’m feeling restless and have a desire to shake things up, how about looking at 20 acres for sale in the New Mexico desert?
The price for this daydream? Zero. The price for the 20 acres? $14,000. Ok, sure, it’s in the desert, it’s in the middle of nowhere, but 20 acres for $700 an acre? With views of the mountains as seen above? Why not?
The description of the property suggests that I can build a house, and that it’s a great getaway from the city. Which city? I don’t see any nearby on the map. And it also says that water and sewer are not available. Ok, so I could set up cisterns and collect rainwater, add a septic tank, or something that would allow me to be off-grid. But I’m not joking, it looks like it’s literally out in the middle of nowhere, how far would I need to drive to get groceries?
I decided to ask A.I. about this property, and gave it the specific address. And A.I. saved me a flight out there to see it, as it describes the following: San Antonio, New Mexico isn’t a town – it’s a “census-designated place” in Socorro County. To reach the property, I would need to drive over 7 miles on a dirt road, and it’s out in the “open basin desert.” Back in 2018, a thunderstorm caused flooding which covered the area in 2 feet of mud. It’s 28 miles from Trinity Site, where the first nuclear bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945.
Additional research shows that it’s part of a subdivision created to sell cheap acreage, and that I wouldn’t be getting ranch land, I’d have a parcel in a remote grid. My “neighbors” could be campers, RVs, abandoned projects, who knows what (probably some coyotes and rattlesnakes in there too). But still … to own 20 acres? With mountain views? Even if I got an RV (with a water source) and camped out there myself, $14,000 allows me to own 20 acres of planet Earth! There’s still some sort of appeal there to this guy sitting at a computer in the suburbs. I wouldn’t have to live there full-time, just own it and go out there a few weeks per year. A.I. said it would be a good purchase if I wanted private camping land, a stargazing base, the emotion of “owning a piece of the West,” and a long-term hold that I don’t care about selling. It says it’s a bad purchase if I want to retire here, have a cabin, or think that my investment will appreciate in value.
But then A.I. gets philosophical on me, and I found this fascinating: I was asked, “Is this a personal freedom purchase? Because that’s what cheap western land really is — a lifestyle asset, not a financial one.”
Okay, so I can go for a lifestyle asset, but A.I. continues by telling me that I need to understand the psychological reality of living here. Socorro County only has 2-3 people per square mile. At night, there are no visible towns, no highway lights, no aircraft, just stars and black horizon. I will hear wind, insects, distant coyotes, and often nothing at all. A.I. then emphasizes: “And I mean nothing — a silence most East Coast people have never experienced.” I am being given the advice that people react to high desert isolation in two opposite ways: #1, a profound peace, you suddenly sleep better, thoughts slow down, creativity increases, time feels wide. But, don’t get too comfortable, because the #2 opposite feeling could be: unsettled, and after 1–3 days, a different reaction hits: your brain expects human presence, but instead you get total absence, perhaps some unease at sunset, hyper-awareness at night, time moving very slowly, and a “why am I out here?” feeling. Sounds to me like someone could lose their mind! There’s no casual walks to any specific destination, there’s no spontaneous coffee runs, no visual anchors (trees, rivers, neighborhoods), your brain can lose orientation cues — and that affects some people more than they expect.
I have to say, A.I. seems like they’re trying to creep me out, but it has me intrigued: how would I react? The final bit of advice is: rent an RV or camper van, stay 2 nights alone on Bureau of Land Management public land nearby, and my reaction on night #2 will tell me what I need to know.
Truth be told, I didn’t have to go this deep to make my own decision. I could think of $14,000 spent on land as something I’d use probably less than a few weeks or a month per year, or I could spend $14,000 and go to Europe several times, or someplace more exotic. Rather than the responsibility of ownership, I think I could just have the experience as a visitor, and not as an owner. I could rent an RV and go be isolated anywhere to get the experience. And maybe when I do, I’ll write about it here.