Commune living

My advice to you is twofold: make sure you spend a week or two living at a commune before you decide to move there for good. This will allow you to experience their pace of work and lifestyle, and decide if you like it. More important, it will allow you to get to know the people you’ll be living with, and if you can learn to trust them (commune living fails without trust).

The second thing I advise you to do is make sure you have a useful skill, or set of skills. A serious commune has no place for “freedloaders”. I’m not saying you’re one or that you have no skills :), I’m just warning you that true communes expect you to contribute something and work hard. If you know how to garden, sew, work with wood or metal, basic medical care, or even how to manage money, most communes could use your help. Good luck!