to miss London....

[gottomakeaquiche]

Hello all.

DH and I lived in London for 15 and 20 years, both heading their after our studies (we didn't know each other then). I was 24 and planned to be there only for 5 years - yeah right! It was a hard place to live but I knew it well, along with all its plusses and minuses.

We met, got married and had babies (nice). We lived in a great part of town and had all our mates around us..growing our babes up in and around the parks swaffing lattes as we pushed buggies and talked about what we were doing that weekend, etc etc. It was a fantastic time but I always wanted to sample family life in the countryside, it was kind of on my bucket list having come from the country/small city in the country.

So..DH got made redundant, we got stupidly broke and decided this was the time to make the break and move out of London closer to home and family. DS and DD are 6 and 3 so good times to do it.

It's been a tough couple of years but we are now feeling more settled in the village that we live and have made some pals here...not that connection that you feel immediatly to new pals that you meet in London (why is that?) Anyway, work for DH has continued to be frustratingly tough with little work about. That I can handle (sort of) as he is now working at anyjob going just to get the money in - phew we got there in the end.

My question is this..does anyone else miss living in London? I hated it and loved it at the same time. I hated the aggression on the streets and I love the safety and 'niceness' of living out of it, for me and my children. I loved the bubbling opportunities everywhere and miss that sense of anything being doable. I hated the gazillions of people and love the ease of where we live now...its just that I'm a bit lonely inside for those other crazy nutters that I used to find all over my old city - I suppose that is to say my true best mates...

Thoughts most welcome.

By the way, I don't get black snot! And neither does DD. (I haven't asked DH!).

I think you have to be pretty far in for the black snot. None here on this part of the east side...

I think that, living in east London, my kids do pretty much what most kids around the country do. I was talking about this with my cousin the other day who lives with her DCs in rural Cheshire and has done all her life and we decided that it's easy to polarise lifestyles. We spoke of our preconceptions about each other's lives before spending time together. Her idea of what life was like in London was one of prevailing gang crime, high rise living and pollution. My idea of her life was total quiet, not much going on and animals everywhere. We were both wrong and ignorant. On paper, our lifestyles are like chalk and cheese but when we looked at what we and our kids actually both did every day it was so similar.

The only big difference was family transport. She drives everywhere and we walk.

I suppose my question would be is your life really so different to how it would be if you were living in London now with DCs that age? Or, as another poster pointed out, is it that stage of your life you are missing and not the city?

I'd also say that not driving everywhere is the main difference in lifestyle between my kids and their country cousins.

And we've got scores of parks/playgrounds within a half-hour walk; they don't have any in their village and go round each others houses to play.

I think London is a very love/hate type of place. I loved it when I lived there, but as soon as I knew we were moving, everything about the place annoyed me. Dh is the same. I do miss it, though. Live in the arsecrack of beyond now, and would give anything for a shopping centre close by and a gauchos.

I could have written the op a few years ago, we gave it our best but eventually we couldn't cope and left the country. We didn't go back to London, but another big city which was partly choice and partly dhs job. I have never been happier, I'm just a city person. We talk about the five years we lived in the village as the bad years and yet it was beautiful, crime free with a good school. Nope, give me bustle, noise and anonymity any day.

I'm moving to London next month from the North East! been offered a job there and can't stand to turn it down.

I have friends there and I visit a lot and I adore the place. Have a feeling living there full time will be somewhat different though! I'm so exicted yet bloody terrified at the same time.

How exciting! Do you know what area you'll be living in?