Yeah, there're a lot of factors you dont see coming that make poetic middle of nowhere life feel not super sustainable long term.

Me and my partner lived in the CA desert for a long time for reasons similar to what you list about problematic big cities and benefits listed in the post but once we felt like we conquered it (?) we ended up wanting to return to family / friends / civilization / 6 dollar cappuccinos / brick oven pizzas / walkable resources etc.

That said I wouldnt trade that time for anything and theres a strong chance Ill be back when im done futilely participating in humanity.