She left the US, and the rat race for a life worth living in Romania

Published: Sun, 02/28/21

Meet Cheryl, a US ex-pat living in Romania, and a part of the Rural Sprout Team

Is it Sunday already? I guess it is.

The week just flew by.

I don't know about you folks, but we finally got a small taste of spring, with weather in the 50s. There was even this terrifyingly bright orb in the sky at one point.

I imagine the redbuds will be in bloom soon, and I'll be out foraging for garlic mustard, purple dead nettle and violets.

I've been cooped up far too long, and I'm ready to get back into the woods. Go out and get the stink blown off you, as my grandmother used to say.

Is anyone else suffering from cabin fever?

Our regular readers know we've been introducing the Rural Sprout writing team in the past few newsletters, and this week is no different.

And of course, at the end of our interview, we've got three new blog posts you might want to check out – roses, pickle juice, and peeps.

On to the interview

I'd like to introduce Cheryl Magyar, a US ex-pat who decided with her family to ditch the crazy rat race and opt in to a life worth living. Join me as Cheryl tells us all about her life in Romania.

TB: Well, Cheryl, why don't we start with your life here in the states and tell us a little about yourself.

You wouldn't know from looking at me or from hearing me speak (after 15 years abroad, no one can guess where my accent is from) that I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago.

Yet, my family always made it a point to be out in nature, whether it was climbing the magnolia tree in the backyard, wandering around The Morton Arboretum or hiking in numerous state parks.

My grandparents owned fifty acres in Wisconsin that we visited regularly. My sisters and I trekked through the forest in search of arrowheads and drank fresh water from the bubbling source.

I was also in Girl Scouts till the end of high school, which led me on many adventures in nature - camping in caves, canoeing for days down the Rock River and more.

Fast forward to earning a degree in Horticulture from Iowa State University, then moving out west to the Portland, Oregon area to become a greenhouse manager at a large tree nursery - where I met my husband nearly 20 years ago!

We drove down to Las Vegas to get married, moved to the Seattle area where we loved hiking, but much less so the weather, which led us to a move abroad where we decided to start homesteading in 2006.

Ópusztaszer, Hungary was our life lesson for eight years and where our wonderful daughter, Csermely, was born. Her name is Hungarian for "creek".

Hungary is where we started raising animals (goats, turkeys, guinea fowl, Mangalica pigs and ducks) and where our sustainable life began.

There is no return to the city when you fall in love with a quieter, slower, rural pace of life.

As for hobbies, I rather like to think about them as things that I do either for enjoyment, production, or just living a self-reliant life. I knit, sew, spin, weave, garden, can and preserve food (we still have more than 200 jars to finish in our pantry), hike, forage and write poetry.

In the future, I wish to learn blacksmithing, leatherwork and pottery.

TB: Wow, you're right; I would never have guessed you are originally from Chicago.

It sounds as though all that travel helped you find the perfect spot for you and your family. What made you decide to get into homesteading? And from a lot of your writing, it appears you're living off-the-grid. Is that the case?

Quite simply, we got tired of working hard for a living. What we both desired was a living that was worth working for.

Though I have a long line of farmers in my family, Roland grew up in Arad, Romania, while the country was still under Communist rule. Although Roland grew up in a village, it turned out we still had a lot to learn!

Once we bought our 13-acre farm in Hungary, along with - albeit crumbling - cob buildings, it was just what we needed to get started on creating the peace and comfort of a slower lifestyle lived in harmony with nature.

Last Halloween's pumpkins grown by Csermely in our no-dig garden:
Pictured: Cheryl, Csermely and Roland

As for living off the grid, I am beginning to understand that is more of an assumption that most people make when learning that we have no running water in the house - meaning that we wash everything by hand.

We consciously choose not to have a refrigerator or freezer instead, utilizing other methods of food preservation.

We heat and cook with the use of locally-sourced firewood and, by all manner of being, live quite simply with a deep connection to the Earth.

We use approximately 10 kWh each month, which could quite easily come from renewable resources. We have spent several months in our lives without any connection to the grid, but for now, a stable connection to the rest of the world is important.

TB: It's interesting to hear that you're not off the grid but pick and choose how to be connected; what a wise way to live. How did you end up in Romania?

We were looking for a place to finally settle down with four seasons, good soil, quality food, land, space and more land.

We've been here for more than four years now, and every time we see this view as we come home, we know deep in our hearts that this is the only place for us.

Breb, Romania

Naturally, we had discussed the possibility of moving to Romania for years, so it wasn't quite a spur-of-the-moment decision. But as soon as the opportunity arose, we had to take it.

Sometimes you just have to trust your gut and ride that feeling, even if it scares you.

TB: Oh, my goodness, that view! After reading this, you may have some new Rural Sprout neighbors.

Just out of curiosity, is there something you thought you couldn't live without but don't miss at all?

A car.

Well, maybe I miss it on a very random occasion, like when it is -10 °C outside, and the snow is up to your knees (but that doesn't happen very often). It would be pretty difficult to drive a car then too.

This is the road leading up to our house on the hill, at the edge of the village.

We have been car-free for 16 years now, and you might be surprised to find out that in northern Romania, it is very easy to get along without one.

According to locals, the first cars in our village of Breb arrived around ten years ago. Before that, there were horse-pulled carts. Then came tractors.

More and more people are driving around, but many of them still remember what it is like to walk everywhere, so hitchhiking is one option to get to where you need to go.

Surprisingly, the bus system works incredibly well. The bus might only go a handful of times a day, and we might have to walk 3 km to the nearest stop, but by now, we are used to walking.

TB: Do you have any interesting projects planned for this year?

One project that we are all excited about (Csermely, Roland and I) is an earth oven that we will be building as a tutorial for Rural Sprout. It is as much for you as it is for us.

For now, snow is coming and going; as the creek is ever-flowing, but come April/May, we are ready to make another cob oven to share virtually with you. Here is where it will sit.