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Talk to me about real life outside London

760 replies

Herewegoagain84 · 25/02/2022 13:36

We’re considering the big move out. I’ve been a Londoner all my life and always considered I would stay, but I’ve got a third child cooking and I think it’s time. I know it sounds mad but I’d love to hear what your life outside London is like - especially with children at the weekend. We have everything so accessible to us here and always plenty to do. Can you talk me through how we might be spending our time and what activities you do / how weekends are spent? If you lived in London previously was it a good decision to move? Thanks!

OP posts:
Kennykenkencat · 25/02/2022 15:26

I am from a far northern town and couldn’t wait to leave. Moved to London and felt at home.

Moved out for 12 years to the country idyll which were the most miserable years of my life.

I was throwing things into the back of the removal truck when we moved, not quite back to a London postcode but within the M25. I told Dh if he ever gets any ideas about moving outside of the M25 again he is on his own.

I just don’t think I fitted into English village life. I don’t drink, I am not Christian and I didn’t have children. I don’t think I spoke to anyone other than Dh or our friends from London on the phone for most of time I lived there.

If you are going to do it I would rent your own place out first and rent somewhere. I think maybe if we had rented somewhere we could have changed villages until we found one that wasn’t so traditional and I would have fitted in more.

Or we would have come back to our house in London
Or I would have.

I think choose carefully before you make the leap.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 25/02/2022 15:27

How far are you willing to move OP?

I can describe life here in small town Maine if that's helpful? I can confirm that I have never once missed London since I moved here.

Most of our weekends at the moment seem to involve seeing bands or comedians or other shows. Billie Eilish last weekend. Snow Patrol next week. John Mulaney early March. I also have tickets for Dear Evan Hansen in a few weeks time.

ParisNext · 25/02/2022 15:27

We gather around the only television in the street and watch moving images of London Town and all the fancy people there. Then we eat jam and bread for tea and talk in awe of what we saw. Then the it gets dark so we go to bed as not all houses have electricity.

TalkSomeSense20 · 25/02/2022 15:29

This week we shall mostly cow-tipping and planning a wedding between two siblings Wink

EmJay19 · 25/02/2022 15:29

@Herewegoagain84
I don’t think this is a weird thing to ask.
Biggest adjustment for me is using car loads over public transport. I miss London loads but don’t regret moving. I think I miss London pre baby not post.

One of the things that irritates me is not having really good good market & international shops. Very much dependent on sainsos.

And the parks aren’t as good.

Same otherwise.
Good luck

cheddez · 25/02/2022 15:30

@changingstages where are you if you don't mind?

MaryAndHerNet · 25/02/2022 15:30

I'm up near 'Ull...

There ain't nowt 'ere.
There's no seaside places, no aquariums, no long walks or countryside. There's nowt, so you can all buggering well stay away... Bringing your fancy ways with ya.
We like the rest of yous thinking we're having nowt to do for oursens.

EmJay19 · 25/02/2022 15:30

*good food market

OneSwallow · 25/02/2022 15:30

I can’t believe this isn’t a wind up.

ExConstance · 25/02/2022 15:30

Well, if you are like the other Londoners who have moved to our nearest town you will pay 1.5 x as much for a house as we normally do. At the weekend you will join the hoardes at the local farmers market and spend a fortune on cheese and veg - getting very excited about everything being artisan and organic. You will spend the rest of the day posting on Facebook about how you are new to the town and where can you rent a garage for your vintage Alfa Romeo or buy second hand Critall windows, and by the way you are an artist and want to meet other artists.
After 3 months you will go back to London.

Freetodowhatiwant · 25/02/2022 15:31

My kids were born in London and we moved last year to the coast. We are in Brighton so quite an active town with a lot to do. Our weekends haven’t really changed that much, the kids have never been one for organised activities so we mainly just go for walks around town or on the beach and have coffee, lunch, cinema etc. There are of course many organised activities if we wanted to do them - swimming, classes etc. No real difference to London except there we would have walked in the park (massive royal park) or along the river or pooped into our local part of town and here we do that by the sea or in the Lanes. I find i go into central London as much as we used to, it’s just a slightly longer train ride. Not many people do the whole central London thing -museums, galleries etc - every weekend with kids anyway. I wouldn’t want to live in the countryside as I like having great bars, restaurants and more on my doorstep and not having to have a car but this a personal preference. It’s exhilarating being next to the sea and there’s good night life for child-free nights out. London was a great place for kids but here is too.

Caspianberg · 25/02/2022 15:31

We live fairly remote tbh, no where near a large city.
We still have swimming pools, ice rinks, rock climbing, lakes, zip lines, go ape type places, animal parks, some small museums, sports arena, boat trips, cable cars, playgrounds, cafes etc etc all within 10-30 mins drive.

With being ‘remote’, almost everyone also has a garden, and space at home. So it’s also easier to host friends at home and spend time in the garden especially in summer with bbqs, paddling pool.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 25/02/2022 15:31

@lllllllllll

The homelessness in London seems to get worse every time I have to go for work. Embankment always had rough sleepers but it seems to be in many more areas, and people are clearly living in one area for a long time..

1 in 53 Londoners are homeless according to Shelter.

I have no idea what the solution might be, all I know is that when I'm in London it seems like an insurmountable social issue and that it makes me feel sad.

TalkSomeSense20 · 25/02/2022 15:32

@TalkSomeSense20

This week we shall mostly cow-tipping and planning a wedding between two siblings Wink
mostly be facepalm*

Shows how hard it is to bang out a message on a typewriter.

BantersaurusSex · 25/02/2022 15:41

We took up sheep shagging when we left London.

dottydodah · 25/02/2022 15:43

There is a world of difference though between living in rural surroundings and say the burbs. We live on the SC .I grew up in London and although we dont have the Tower of London or Madame Tussauds on our doorsteps there is plenty to do . We can visit the Coast or mosey on down to the New forest .Lots of activities to enjoy here .Tennis lessons, swimming , football and so on.Same in all areas of UK I imagine ,We are all one country after all!

beautifullymad · 25/02/2022 15:44

I've always lived in the countryside rurally and visited my sister in London when kids were small.

It's very different. In London things are immediately available and you get a choice. The down side is it's a city, it's busy, cars everywhere and rolling hills and fresh air are not in abundance.

We always enjoyed our city experiences and would stay weeks at a time so we got to do normal things rather than site-seeing. But I always wanted it to be a city break and then come back to my home in the countryside.

When my sister stayed with me she was always commenting on having to book and organise activities weeks ahead as there are fewer available. She said rurally she has to drive a minimum of 20 mins to get to anything, whereas in London you open your door and most things were available.

There are no takeaways that deliver!

But the plus side of living rurally is the countryside. No one. It's quiet, you listen to the birds, walk in the woods, play in the streams, throw stones in the sea. At night the sky is lit by stars because there's no street lights. Deer come up close to say hello. An abundance of wildlife are in my gardens.

I'm quite reclusive so it suits me well, but I know some people from big cites can struggle with the silence and lack of entertainment.

KirstenBlest · 25/02/2022 15:46

@dottydodah, we're more than one country but one kingdom

beautifullymad · 25/02/2022 15:48

@ExConstance

Well, if you are like the other Londoners who have moved to our nearest town you will pay 1.5 x as much for a house as we normally do. At the weekend you will join the hoardes at the local farmers market and spend a fortune on cheese and veg - getting very excited about everything being artisan and organic. You will spend the rest of the day posting on Facebook about how you are new to the town and where can you rent a garage for your vintage Alfa Romeo or buy second hand Critall windows, and by the way you are an artist and want to meet other artists. After 3 months you will go back to London.
I think you have this spot on! Grin
bevelino · 25/02/2022 15:50

@Crepuscularshadows

On Saturdays I drive my youngest into the middle of the countryside and leave him there. He has to make it home before the door gets locked for the night at sundown, or he's on his own. I'm toughening him up so he might survive life in Glasgow.

What do you do at the weekend?

Grin

This made me laugh.

PossiblyDreaming · 25/02/2022 15:51

I live in a tourist town in the SW which half of bloody London have flocked to over the last few years. Half of them seem to love it and have got stuck right in to joining the gig club, volunteering, sea swimming etc. The other half seem to spend their time sniggering at how ridiculous things like the museum are for having a few model boats rather than an entire diplodocus fossil, writing hilarious blogs about how thick we all are because every single one of us is responsible for Brexit and having a strop because the shop they opened selling sea glass that they just put in a Nkuku bowl and want to charge £30 a shard for doesn’t have any customers.

allupsidedown · 25/02/2022 15:51

This is hilarious! The responses are brilliant. Lots in the world is completely crazy but this poster seems to think that everyone outside London must just sit watching tv pining to get to London. This question is as baffling as listening to Putin trying to justify what he is doing.

Pluvia · 25/02/2022 15:52

Come to Cardiff. Smaller city but with practically everything you're used to in London going on, with fewer people and shorter queues. Theatre, opera, music, events, a castle, museums and a thriving arts scene. It's a beautiful 45-minute drive to the Brecon Beacons for fabulous outdoor activities. Sandy beaches and surfing closer. Two hours from London on the train.

dottydodah · 25/02/2022 15:54

KirstenBlest Yes of course you are right. Feeling a bit sleepy after lunch !

Pluvia · 25/02/2022 15:55

I live in a tourist town in the SW which half of bloody London have flocked to over the last few years.

Appledore?