I strongly suspect that the vast majority of living in the old times was hardscrabble, boring repetition with little opportunity for recreation.
Everybody hears about the adventuresome aspects of the old days, but nobody bothers to mention the endless days spent behind a mule trying to keep yourself fed.
Until fairly recently, life for the common folk was a constant struggle for survival. Anybody who wants to live like they did back then can buy a secluded patch of land in Appalachia, a mule, a milk cow, build a log cabin and get after it.
Not everyone were farmers. There were a lot of adventurers. The American continent was a free land with a free people and many, many men lived that way.
Actually a lot of people today are going back to self reliance. Wise, but very different.
Adventurers had a VERY short life expectancy. Indians, wolves, hypothermia, frostbite, claimjumpers, trap robbers, infection, smallpox, influenza, tainted food, etc, etc.
Man is a predator, often the easiest prey is other humans. It is only through education that we curb that innate tendency.
A sprained ankle, or broken leg, or sick/injured pack animal, was a lethal calamity.
Romantic is not synonymous with wise.
I could have continued living on the 20 acres, I bought from my folks in 1983, with no plumbing in the house and an outhouse. The garden would feed a family of ten. There were fruit trees and berry vines of every persuasion with enough pasture to feed beef for several families.
Possibly romantic, but it was a lot smarter to keep a job, put a pump in the well, and showers and toilets in the house.
