You’ll Love Missouri’s Most Laid-Back Hippie Town

Six decades ago, to be called a "hippie" meant something completely different than it does today, but it's still a word meant to describe free spirits who think differently. In Missouri, there is one community that fits that bill and continues to maintain their own lifestyle of going against the normal.

Thrillist just put together what they consider to be the best hippie towns in America. What is a "hippie" according to them? They say they looked for "free spirits on college campuses to mountain-dwelling stoners, boomers still living in the '60s, and boomers-turned-yuppies who buy expensive art". Only one community in Missouri truly fits that description and it does so to a "T".

What is the most laid-back hippie town in Missouri?

This is East Wind Community who have made their home in the Missouri Ozarks for a long time. They say that they created an "intentional community" back in 1974 and have continued to build it since then. The 50 members of their community have developed one of the more sought after nut butters in America. They say they produce over 200,000 pounds of nut and seed butters every year. I don't understand a lot of their life philosophies, but the one thing I completely respect is they have developed a self-sufficient lifestyle that doesn't depend on any modern trappings of regular civilization. If the rest of the world shuts down, they will not have any problem surviving.

Say or think what you want about the East Wind Community in the Missouri Ozarks, but I really doubt they'd care either way. They dance to a different drummer and there's no place in Missouri that continues to embrace the "hippie" lifestyle more than they do.