Does anyone ever get the feeling that they are missing out on something & that there’s something better out there?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy with my lot but keep thinking that there’s something missing.
Me & my dh have always loved a particular east coast town & I love being near the sea. Mentioned to my dh this weekend that maybe we should consider moving there. It wouldn’t be simple, we have a house to sell & 2 school age children to consider (7 & 8) and both have full time jobs (us not the kids ) but I think that you can make anything work if you put your mind to it.
Has anyone done this & what was your experience? did you just think bugger it we’re doing it or was it a more practical approach?
Obviously there’s a lot to be taken into account but if we’re only here once do you just go do it or as my practical dh has considered, do you wait until the kids have left home??
Was discussing the exact same thing with my DH this weekend, have exactly the same desire as you, think if we don’t do it soon we never will. Then read my buddhism book and thought perhaps I should just count my blessings instead of seeking. I haven’t got the answer you are looking for, nor do I have the answer I am looking for.
I do know right now I am going to have 10 minutes shut eye in the sunshine
Yup I packed in an extremely well paid job as a PA in London and took up temping work at the county council, dropping over 10K; and I told my husband I wanted a divorce, sold the house, paid most of the debts off, and then bought a clapped out espace, threw a mattress in the back and off I went for about 4 months travelling around mostly southern England, going to places I’d always wanted to see - Devon, Dartmoor, Cornwall, Glastonbury, New Forest and the last leg went back up to Yorkshire for a bit - when I needed to kick the doors open to get out in the morning because they’d iced up, I decided it was time to meander back down to Kent.
Actually, I’ve up sticks a few times; after my relationship with Rye’s dad ended, I stayed close for a year; and then got fed up and moved down to Folkestone, packed in my job eventually; 6 months unemployed as I sorted stuff out for childminding.. and now of course, I’m childminding. I’m happy down here; although I would love to take off with Rye travelling for a few months - this time round Northern England - but it’s not possible at the moment - but maybe when the contract eventually ends with my current charge I will take off for a bit.
Still, it is relatively easy for me to do this; as it’s just me and Rye and of course he’s home schooled.
I think we put too much off in life and before we know it the opportunity is missed. If you really want to do this - then go for it.
IMO do it , life is short, your kids will be fine, follow your dreams, how can that be wrong. We are leaving in september to go travelling with our 1yr old and 3yr old for 18mths, have no idea what country we are going to live in when we come back, we live in spain now but don’t want to come back here, my husband is from belgium and i’m english but as far as we see it the world is pretty much our oyster (give or take).
Go for it because otherwise you might never do it and remember the old saying about never regretting the things you do just the ones you don’t. good luck
i think you’ve got to just do it,you can wait for the kids to leave school but there will always be something else holding you back.we’ve been going to move on the boat for the better months of the year for a couple of years now,but theres always something,this is the year we will be giving it a go,we can’t just sell it all and go yet,thats not what we want at the mo,but dh’s job is at its dodgiest,so who knows.we’re not quite old fogies yet but older than most on here and with dh’s back probs getting worse(he broke it 12 yrs ago)and phone calls from friends saying you know so an so,he’s having dialasis,and anothers dad is losing his memory,it makes you realise life is short,one such call from one of dh’s mates last night made me think,if theres something we think,i wouldn’t mind doing that sometime,get on and do it.xx
Never have, but last night I was in tears in the realisation that my dream is just impossible. Would love to move away from it all, just don’t know how we could ever do it other than by joining a commune.
Go for it! I totally agree with angelbaby, “IMO do it , life is short, your kids will be fine, follow your dreams, how can that be wrong.“ As the ppl who’ve read my introduction thread know I had the chance to travel loads when growing up and I loved it - still do. I’ve been in the UK (east midlands) for 7 yrs now and that’s the longest time I’ve ever been in one place and to be honest I can’t wait to move elsewhere. And we’re doing it this year! Hubby was offered a job in the States so we’re off as soon as Visas come through (which could take up to October though… we need to sell the house, car etc all the crap and schools to look into and pregnancy care etc but I’m finding it all exciting rather than stressful.) That’s the only thing I’d suggest is to make sure at least one of you finds a job before you move then go for it! Your kids might be upset about leaving their friends but they’ll get over it - I always did and if friendships are meant to last they will; I’m still in contact with my best friend from when I was 6 yrs old lol.
btw angelbaby; where abouts is your DH from in Belgium? my dad’s family’s from there
Whats that saying about better to regret things you did, rather than things you didnt get to do…
I had lived in the same small area around the village I grew up in for 30+ years.
Then 4 years ago I decided to sell up and moved onto a boat at the other end of the country.
It hasnt always been easy, in the early days it was hard till I started to find my feet. But ive never regretted it. I would never have met DH and had Phelan if I hadnt, as the move boosted my confidence to take chances in life.
Ive now got itchy feet again and we are planning our next move- just got to decide where!
When I was 17 I emigrated to the Caribbean. When I was 19 I emigrated back LOL!
When I was 8 months pg with no.2 we moved from Hertfordshire up here to Leicestershire.
We plan to move to the coast in 2 and a 1/2 years time when DD1 is finished at college and going on to Uni/stage school. My dh has built up a modest business here over the years but we won’t worry about upping sticks and moving. The younger ones are home educated which makes it so much easier to up sticks and move. We have been tied to this general area by our eldest’s school and proximity to her dad but once she’s 18 and able to move around herself then we’ll be moving to where we want to live.
Where I *really* want to live is either the Caribbean or Australia/NZ but this will always be a pipe dream now because I have no intention of living on a different continent to my children unless *they* move away
Go for it, what’s to lose? (you could rent your house out and rent a house in the new area til you are settled and sure you want to stay?)
I really want to live abroad. I’m sick of the bitter cold here for 6 months of the year, and the pittiful summers we have. I hate that the kids go crazy indoors here because so often it is too cold and too wet to let them play out. AND, I hate that over here, the house prices are so HIGH! £100k will get you a very small 1 or 2 bed terraced house here, probably without a garden. £100k in central Florida will get you a 3 or 4 bed detached home with a pool. How crazy???
Can I ask, how do you get a VISA for the Carribean? Cos tbh the only thing that stopped us going to Florida is/was the difficulty getting a visa.
Different situation now tho, cos I’m single, I’d move abroad in a flash, but me ex is more reserved (and practical, lol) and worries, and tbh just wouldnt move away from his parents, and he wouldn’t let me take the kids unless he was coming too, so not an option right now :( I’d love to do it though.
We’re trying to move atm - not a million miles away, only 40 mins from where we are now - into the country, out of the city. It scares me as it’s a very different lifestyle (and it looks like we’d need two cars, which is rubbish) and means moving dd to a different school (but oh what a gorgeous teeny school it is!) and dh having a longer commute to work, plus means leaving our friends and lives here - which are very comfortable and lovely I think, dh is v unhappy though. In the dream-world though, there’s the chance to run my business from home, there’s space to write, space to keep chickens, nothing out of the window except hills and fields…
I think I’d just drift if it were just me - maybe travel and come back to the same place but as I’m happy with my lot, I’d probably just put up with living in the city. However, everyone I talk to says ‘oh do it now while the children are young enough!‘ (dd is nearly 9 - lots of people have said it’d be too late once she’s at secondary school) and dh and dd are so excited by the thought of it (as am I when not being pessimistic and imagining myself never making any new friends, ever, lol) that I just couldn’t be the sticking point any longer.
I moved to Devon with dd when she was a baby - but I had a place at uni so had a ‘motive’, and I didn’t need to research schools or anything at that stage. Thinking about it now, the first things we’ve looked at are areas - villages with good schools, in the catchment for a great secondary, places that feel right - and then I’ve done the boring bits looking at ofsted reports, visiting schools, finding houses, getting local magazines etc. I’d say go for it - life’s too short to regret the things you haven’t done
We moved over 10 years ago now from the Midlands to the South Coast. I always wanted to live near the coast, there is just something magical about it and I felt it was always meant to be. It was just dh and I at the time (not married then) and we knew no-one down here but just went for it. I did have the advantage at the time of transferring from my place of work up there to down here, so took a couple of weeks leave and then started work down here. Hubby had just finished uni so could easily move away and found work soon after moving here. We would have done it anyway if it had meant me changing jobs.
We like where we are as the coast is so accessible and there are many great places to explore here. We do plan to eventually move down to Cornwall one day, and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it if the timing was right for us all, I wouldn’t wait until my daughter has left home - she can enjoy the adventure of moving too!
If it’s in your heart to do it, follow your dream.
Well technically it wasn’t my decision when my Mum and I upped sticks because I was only 14 but I did have some say in the matter (just not a lot lol, although I was in agreement anyway) and we moved all the way from a very northern isle in Scotland (which was all I’d ever known) to the east midlands of England - it was the worst decision of our lives but only because we moved for the wrong reasons and from a very beautiful remote island to a big grotty town that has a bad reputation. We moved for my Mum’s relatively new relationship that didn’t last in the end anyway but we had itchy feet and some romantic vision of what was to come. We’re both still stuck in the east midlands 9 years later which is the very reason that my OH and I will being upping sticks and moving to where I grew up or somewhere similar, just as soon as we’ve got enough money which is the biggest obstacle or I’d already have done so. Not that it’s all bad, I’ve gained a lot from having the experience of living somewhere different and I wouldn’t have my 2 (nearly 3) lovely children if we hadn’t moved.
So after that long ramble, I say go for it, like someone else said, better to have done it than to regret never doing it!
We have a dream of moving to north wales but keep talking ourselves out if it. Family need us close by, what about our jobs, schools for the kids, the fact that the area we wish to live in is expensive property wise and everybody speaks welsh so it would mean learning a new language. i still really want to do it but don,t know if it will happen. If you have the chance do it.
We are in the final stages of setting off now. This will be the third time for us. Dh will still be working but his job is in different places every week so we are going to travel where ever he is working in our campervan. The main reason we are doing it is to save enough money to buy some land in Spain and be self sufficient. My children are 6 and 7 and have moved 10 or so times. They love it because it is always such an adventure. They are also home educated so it is a lot easier for us to just move. We tend to immerse ourselves in the place we are in for the time we are here then move on when I get bored.
If you see at as an adventure they will too. They will meet new friends and can always visit old friends or be pen pals.
Just about to and being torn in two directions…..we have a large beautiful house with lots of land in the wilds of Spain and have just bought a small cottage in Wales, I don´t know how my kids are going to handle just having a back garden!
) but I think that you can make anything work if you put your mind to it.
