If you grew up somewhere really flat...

[FreezerBird]

...do you feel uncomfortable in a hilly landscape?

I often ponder this. I grew up in the west country - rolling hills and little lanes down dips (called 'bottoms' which might be more widespread than west country but that hilarity is for another thread) where the trees would meet overhead.

I find very, very flat landscapes really unsettling. Really can't cope with big skies and just flatness in all directions to the horizon. It makes me want to hide under a table or something because I feel very vulnerable. I know other people who grew up in the same sort of landscape who feel the same. I now live on the west coast of Wales - sea to the west, mountains everywhere else. Lovely.

I wonder if people who grew up in flat places feel uncomfortable in the landscapes I would prefer? I could imagine you might feel a bit confined?

Or is this just an oddity of mine (and some family members!)?

I'm Irish so feel very uncomfortable and claustrophobic if I'm too far from a large body of water.

I now live in Switzerland and can't think too much about how far from the sea we are. Luckily Lake Geneva is large enough to make me feel comfortable.

Ireland is pretty flat in comparison to Switzerland so I'm still amazed by the sheer scale of the Alps.

A friend does. She grew up in the Fens, went to university in London then moved back to the Fens. She has a rather different idea of what is a mountain!

I grew up in the rolling costal landscape of Pembrokeshire. I've lived on the edge of the Fens for 18 years and still find it odd.

Westcountry here too. I live at the top of a very steep hill.
Ive started running again and they sais theyd find a flat route. I was so disappointed. I think its because hills are hard but downhills give respite (if not too steep) plus the outlook is constantly chnaging. Flat (without respite) seems harder work to me!

I also grew up in the West Country and I hate walking uphill! All my walks to and from school, throughout childhood, involved bloody hills! lol. At one time we lived in a village where to get to the only shop it was a long walk uphill, followed by across the moors (a killer in winter) then the downhill part. I much prefer living somewhere flat now. From a scenic perspective, I do prefer hilly landscapes but from a practical perspective I prefer flat.

I grew up in flatter than flat countryside. Although I like rolling hills, I don't think I'll ever get used to having to go up and down slopes in daily life. That's for holidays! Living in a city now, I do feel claustrophobic and I remember feeling very caved in when camping in the midst of a mountain range as a child. Last summer I spent a few weeks back in the old country, and it was amazing how happy my brain was with seeing the horizon all around. Space to think!

Nah. Spent a lot of my childhood around Hull (flat as a pancake) and all of my adult life in the NE (much of it uphill both ways)

The landscape here is far more interesting and I definitely feel at home.

I grew up in Norfolk and quite like a hill now, although I'm not very keen on driving through mountains with steep drops.

But, I love going home and find those wide open skies very calming and tranquil and I feel very at home and at peace. I'd really like to go to the Mid West and see if I got a similar feeling.

The dips in Co Durham are calls laws, btw, as in Harelaw.

The opposite - I definitely remember, after coming home from a long trip to SA (DH's birthplace) the feeling of as though the horizon was so polluted, almost 'squished' back in London, and finding that very unsettling. I usually feel at home, in my hometown!

I grew up in the flattest part of the country, and I don’t like going places with big hills and then looking downhill if that makes sense?!
I have no issues with seeing a hilly landscape, I just don’t like being stood atop a hill and looking down where I’ve just came from

Yes OP I feel the same, I need to see some boundaries. "I cannot see a plain without a shudder" said WH Auden and I feel just like that.

I feel the same. Grew up amongst green rolling hills, down the hill every day to school, everyway from our house was a hill. Now in Essex and when going to East Anglia I get this odd feeling because of the flatness, like a tsunami or cyclone could just come right across in moments. And I love seeing the gorgeous hills appear as we drive back West... DH thinks I'm mad!

Grew up and still live somewhere flat and I absolutely adore hills...my heart sings in the Yorkshire Dales... But I also really miss the huge skies if I'm away from flat places too long. There's something claustrophobic about not being able to see much sky.

Grew up and still live in a very flat landscape. I love hills unless I'm driving. Hill starts and hairpin bends terrify me.

I grew up in Mossley just under the saddleworth moors and live somewhere flat and built up now, makes you appreciate it when you go back

I grew up on the flat, Essex coast. I love hills - but don't like being far from water.

DD's one requirement when she comes home from her flatland uni is to go hillwalking.

I grew up somewhere flat (city built in a plain ringed by hills). I prefer hilly places.

The wind in flat places can be unbearable in England.

I grew up in Suffolk and love the vast flatness but I find a hill (even just a small roll in a field) very exotic

I grew up with hills and moved to a flat, seasidey area. It's taken me years to come to terms with it, it feels wrong. People often say how beautiful it is round here and I still think WTF, no it isn't!

Grew up in a flat area. Moved to a hilly area. Took a lonnnng time to get used to trudging up and down hills.

"I cannot see a plain without a shudder" said WH Auden

Exactly!

This thread is making me feel so much less bonkers, I can't tell you!

Also it does work the other way in some cases, which is what I wondered.

I met an American tourist on a visit to Scotland a few years ago. Can't remember where she said she was from in the US but it was somewhere pretty flat, where she could drive straight for hours, and she said she found riding in a vehicle on hilly terrain and winding roads uncomfortable. Made her a bit dizzy.

I live in the Fens. I love the huge skies and amazing sunsets.

The immediate area I grew up in was fairly flat, there were hilly areas within 5 to 10 miles. I don't remember giving it much thought at the time.

I now live in a VERY hilly area and I totally love it! I find it quite disconcerting when I visit somewhere flat now and can't ever imagine choosing to live in a flat area