You don’t mention where you are based but trying to transcend small town attitudes is very familiar to me—I grew up in a very small town and though I had lots of family vacation travelling experience, I felt very much the same as you describe in your post and was seriously overwhelmed with my first move (big city 4 hours from home town, when starting college). Travelling as a family (at least in my experience) gave little preparation for moving and living elsewhere as the demands are almost entirely different. So your lack of travel experience may not be as much of a handicap as you are worried it may be.
Depending on how long you have before finishing university, one thing you could consider is whether it’s possible or feasible to transfer somewhere else to finish your degree. This not only has the benefit of moving into a university environment which very much serves a transitional role in living independently (many people there will also be moving for the first time) but also gives you the chance to target somewhere offering more opportunities in your desired field. Further, depending just how small scale your current college is, this may create barriers to getting into a good graduate program even if your grades are good.
If this is not a possibility, what about seeking summer research experience in a lab at a university—at least in my field this is a common practice and can get you good recommendations which are crucial for grad school. Additionally it will get you a more realistic picture of what this career path is really like (in an academic environment anyway). In my experience email inquiries are perfectly fine (I prefer them to phone or in-person, at least where summer undergraduate places are concerned).
(EDIT: From the webpage linked in your profile, it looks like you are close to a large metropolitan area which has a couple of large universities of the sort I am talking about. You might be able to work on your career/educational development options first, without having to move. In which case the following paragraph can be disregarded. Although I think moving away from the family can have serious benefits, especially if your family is highly religious/restrictive)
If you manage to get a summer research opportunity,, it’s usually extremely easy to get short term accommodation in these circumstances. This can be through lab/departmental channels—in the run-up to summer we are always getting email requests from other faculty (“does anyone have a spare room for my summer student”); or subletting a room from someone who has signed a year lease but is not in town for the summer (in my experience this practice is rife in college towns, usually leading to inexpensive opportunities as the supply far exceeds demand). This can provide you with a taste of independence in various ways… although still does not guarantee you will automatically find a like-minded rationalist community.
You don’t mention where you are based but trying to transcend small town attitudes is very familiar to me—I grew up in a very small town and though I had lots of family vacation travelling experience, I felt very much the same as you describe in your post and was seriously overwhelmed with my first move (big city 4 hours from home town, when starting college). Travelling as a family (at least in my experience) gave little preparation for moving and living elsewhere as the demands are almost entirely different. So your lack of travel experience may not be as much of a handicap as you are worried it may be.
Depending on how long you have before finishing university, one thing you could consider is whether it’s possible or feasible to transfer somewhere else to finish your degree. This not only has the benefit of moving into a university environment which very much serves a transitional role in living independently (many people there will also be moving for the first time) but also gives you the chance to target somewhere offering more opportunities in your desired field. Further, depending just how small scale your current college is, this may create barriers to getting into a good graduate program even if your grades are good.
If this is not a possibility, what about seeking summer research experience in a lab at a university—at least in my field this is a common practice and can get you good recommendations which are crucial for grad school. Additionally it will get you a more realistic picture of what this career path is really like (in an academic environment anyway). In my experience email inquiries are perfectly fine (I prefer them to phone or in-person, at least where summer undergraduate places are concerned).
(EDIT: From the webpage linked in your profile, it looks like you are close to a large metropolitan area which has a couple of large universities of the sort I am talking about. You might be able to work on your career/educational development options first, without having to move. In which case the following paragraph can be disregarded. Although I think moving away from the family can have serious benefits, especially if your family is highly religious/restrictive)
If you manage to get a summer research opportunity,, it’s usually extremely easy to get short term accommodation in these circumstances. This can be through lab/departmental channels—in the run-up to summer we are always getting email requests from other faculty (“does anyone have a spare room for my summer student”); or subletting a room from someone who has signed a year lease but is not in town for the summer (in my experience this practice is rife in college towns, usually leading to inexpensive opportunities as the supply far exceeds demand). This can provide you with a taste of independence in various ways… although still does not guarantee you will automatically find a like-minded rationalist community.