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 feel quite discombobulated in flat places, and crave hills. I’m originally from the south east and like the rolling hills there, but if I had a choice I’d live on the west coast of Scotland with the mountains and sea lochs.

Cornwall is nicely hilly but I do long for proper mountains from time to time. I went to the US Midwest last year and found the endless plains quite scary - nothing for miles around. Weirdly suffocating.

I also grew up on the flat Essex coast and I absolutely love flat landscapes, muddy estuaries, huge skies. I like hilly landscapes too, but I wouldn’t feel at home there. Not enough sky!

I grew up in a place with hills nearby, although our house was by the sea. The fens and plains and flat places make me extremely uncomfortable,.... unless they're smothered in trees, like parts of Norfolk - so I can't see the miles and miles of flat landscape, I suppose.
I always think of the fens as a place to go mad in....

I have always lived in hilly places. At the end of two weeks in Florida I was absolutely desperate to see a hill.

This thread reminds me of a

I prefer hills.

Flat, plains-like country freaks me out. It's not natural....

I grew up in a relatively flat area (not flat flat!) and now live in a hilly area (West Country.) My house is in quite a deep valley within a hill; I know my neighbour doesn't like it as we dont get as much sun, but I love it- just because it's different I guess.. it makes me happy every morning looking at the wooded ridge opposite my house. I am also near the coast now and I like that feeling, I used to live splat in the middle of the country and wouldnt want to move back.

God no. Grew up in the fens. Moved to Yorkshire after university for a job. Stayed forever. Can't stand the flat lands any more, they're so boooooring to walk around.

When I moved out of London one of my requirements was to move somewhere hilly. Most of my friends didn't understand. But I can't abide a flat landscape for long. I agree with the PP about wanting to hide under the table - it makes me feel very exposed and vulnerable. And a little bit bored

I grew up in Portugal and it took a long time to get used to the "low sky" in the UK (particularly in Scotland).

It felt very claustrophobic, as if the clouds were just in reach. So strange.

I grew up close to the seaside living in a house right next to a river. I feel uncomfortable living far away from the sea though I'll settle for a river if needed.

Grew up in North Norfolk. I really miss the big skies and flat landscape that goes on forever. Now live in urban area near the Derbyshire border and am surrounded by hills, lots of hills, but I long to return 'home'
DH is a country boy, grew up in rural Dorset and regularly has to escape into the countryside for a 'fix'.

The area I grew up in in not ESPECIALLY hilly (not the Peak District for example) but it is fairly hilly and I also agree that the flatness is very unsettling. It doesn't take long to get into the fens from where I live so encounter them fairly often and always think they are weird. It is almost the sense that there is no change (or hope!) as far as the eye can see. I have often wondered if there is a higher than average suicide rate in these parts but now suspect that it is just what you are used to.

Don't go to Iceland!!!

I don't mind either way, I like the hills but the Fens are beautiful in their own strange way.

I grew up in the West Country too. Now I live in East Anglia. It took me a long time to get used to it, but now I find it a much more subtle beauty.

I grew up in central London and the South Downs, with many holidays in the Lake District. I’ve spent all my adult life in W/S Yorkshire and the Peak District. My default” backdrop” is hilly. I always find flat landscapes rather odd. Not unsettling, more unfinished.,

I grew up on the edge of the fens. I occasionally miss the big rolling storms seen from miles away. But don't miss the lack of anything to do. Now live in Yorkshire and love the hills and trees. My kids don't know how lucky they are to be surrounded by woodland and crags. I don't really get freaked out by things though. Usually find the awe or fun instead.

I grew up in the Broads and miss the sky, I don't understand why people are so enamoured with hills.
When I manage to escape from Yorkshire I find I can 'breathe' again-East Anglia is best for this.

I thought I was the only one who felt like this. So glad to find out I'm not alone!

I live in South Yorkshire (so not especially hilly, but definitely not flat) and I find that when I head east over towards Doncaster, Hull, Lincolnshire etc, it's curiously depressing. It makes me strangely melancholy and I can't wait to get back to somewhere with a gradient (much as I hate walking up hills!)

I grew up somewhere flat. I moved somewhere hilly. I hate hills. I want big skies back.

I love hills and big skies. You can't have both

Absolutely, grew up with Sussex downs and flat landscapes make me wonder if they are about to flood.

Much happier up a hill.

I love hills and big skies. You can't have both

You can from the top of a hill on a clear day.

I love slight hills (Essex born). Flat fens are depressing, but the skies are fabulous.

Hills bring beauty to the landscape, but the weather really sneaks up on you!

True! But you're often not at the top of a hill