We left our house in a city for a rural cabin. Parts of the monthlong experience were great, but I wouldn't do it again.

Leaving city life for a rural cabin meant confronting a lot of my fears.

Kate Irwin I spent most of my adult life in cities before moving to a rural cabin for my husband's job.

It was hard to adjust, and I had to confront many of my phobias before moving back home.

Although I wouldn't choose to live in a cabin again, I'm grateful for what the experience taught me.

At the end of the summer, I packed my bags and two cats and got on a plane by myself, leaving our spacious home in Portland, Oregon, for a two-bedroom cabin in the remote woods of upstate New York.

I was planning to live there temporarily so I could spend some time with my husband, who had rented the place while he was working on a movie in the area.

He had moved to the area a few weeks earlier to start work, and he would stay there until mid-November when the project wrapped.

His options for where to stay were limited: a room at a Best Western , or a quaint cottage with a wood-burning stove and brick flooring on a historic acreage with farm animals.

If I hadn't planned to come, he might have just chosen the hotel room, but he wanted a pet-friendly option with a little more space.

I saw staying in the cabin as a chance to slow down a bit after feeling work-related burnout — but I was nervous, too.

The cabin showed me what I took for granted at home The cabin was a far cry from our house in Portland.

Kate Irwin Immediately, there were some things I genuinely loved about rural living .

One of my favorite parts was the privacy.

The cabin sat next to a creek and a grove of trees on a massive acreage at the foot of a mountain.