I tried homesteading too. All I ever wanted in life is to have nothing to do all day, and homesteading is the opposite. It's for workaholics, and also for people who love driving.

And I don't think it will help you survive in a collapse. Here's a piece from 2004 that I mirrored on my own website, Urban vs Rural Sustainability by Toby Hemenway: http://ranprieur.com/readings/urbanrural.html