Yeah, same here. Remote farm country and woods all around. We were always off out and about. I used to roam around with a 22 rifle when I was ten or younger, went out fishing or we'd all go off ice skating on a local pond or sledding down back road hills ... it's not that no one cared ... they just trusted us. I'm not sure with all the modern niceties like cell phones and all the organized sports and such, kids ever learn that element of trust or to rely on themselves. Mommy can check on them every moment or is chauffeuring them around everywhere ... so personal responsibility is lost on many, if that makes sense. Kids never get to be kids.
Replace farm with forestry, and ice skating with mountain climbing (or extreme sledding), and we had similar upbringings.
Its a different world today.
So true. And unfortunately, not always in a good way.
Right there with you.
When I was a young child I lived in a very remote rural area. Once I was old enough to have learned basic navigation and survival, I was allowed to roam free. "Home by sundown" was the rule, and the only 'plan' we ever had.
If someone asked my mother where I was on a Saturday afternoon her answer would be "No idea."