Lancaster, PA – Amish country. Those words evoke imagery of long bearded men wearing black suits and suspenders, women in full dark dresses and bonnets and boys running a team of horses as they plow farmland.
When I first started writing this article, I did so because I thought that there might be people who want to try going Amish for a weekend. Not me of course, I like receiving a hundred texts a day, surfing the net on my laptop on the train and drinking a Redeye at Starbucks in the morning. I’m the kind of guy that needs to be connected 24/7. You can imagine writing for an online magazine called New York Weekends attracts a certain type, and that type is me! However, I also acknowledge that some might not feel that way…
Then I did the research. Starting with reading a copy of Amish People, Plain Living in a Complex World. The book explains that the Amish abide by a strict set of rules called the Ordnung. Failure to observe those rules may result in being “shunned” (ignored or even thrown out) by the family. “So let me see if I’ve got this straight,” I thought “if you want to read a book and you use a light bulb you’re kicked out of the family?”
The article was looking less and less likely…
Then I read on. 138 pages later, I realized why the Amish have endured, largely unchanged since the Middle Ages. What matters most to the Amish, is being totally engulfed in the family and community. There are no half conversations while one talks and texts at the same time. Mom doesn’t heat up three separate meals for her three sons as they come and go from their myriad of daily activities. The Amish work the farm together and then converge at the table for three meals a day. Talking, laughing and soaking in the Amish way. They experience a sense of connection to each other and their community that can’t be matched elsewhere. There is no keeping up with the Joneses. No one is measured on the size of their house, their education or what they do for work. In short, it’s a very simple life. This is the life that our ancestors led up until about 150 years ago. And for anyone who is over worked, over stressed or just burnt out, a long weekend in Amish country may do far more for you than an weekend in the Bahamas.
How to Get to Lancaster PA
The Amish live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Lancaster is about a 165 miles outside of NYC so it’s about 2 hours and 45 minutes by car. Lancaster is also known as Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and it is big, About 18,000 Amish live there. They farm over 5000 Amish Farms. What this means is unless you have a plan you will get lost.
How to Experience Pennsylvania Dutch Country
We highly recommend checking into an Amish bed a breakfast (yes they exist). There is a website called Amish Farm Stay that can accommodate your desire to go Amish. They refer people like you to four different farms: Beacon Hollow, Country Lane, Dutch Homestead, and Sunset View. On one of these farms you will experience a much more simple life, albeit only for a few days, not a lifetime.
What You’ll Get From an Amish Farm Stay
Perspective and balance. The hardest thing for anyone (myself included) is to consider that there is another way in life. We grow up with rules of thumb that often turn out to be completely opposite of who we are as a person. There is an inner conflict, but we just can’t put our finger on what it is. If you’re going to find perspective, an Amish Farm Stay may be the place to do it. We’re told by those that partook that the real benefit was seeing that other people have a different and more simple set of priorities, calling into question their own.
How to Experience Life on an Amish Farm Stay
One piece of advice – leave your cell phone at home for the duration. If you’re there for the same reason as everyone else, you long to get back to basic living, if only for a few days. You can’t do that with a cell phone at your side.
As for me? After writing this article I’m now planning my own personal trip to Lancaster, PA. I need some perspective in balance in my life, and yes I WILL be leaving my cell phone at home!
Who to Contact
Amish Farm Stay: 215-948-3473, AmishFarmStay.com
Discover Landcaster: 1-800-723-8824, DiscoverLancaster.com
