To ask, what is your 'vaguely achievable' dream life?

[RedTravellingSocks]

Not the crazy fantasy one you need to win the lottery to have. The one that is a bit more realistic, more or less, maybe, kinda, perhaps one day, with a bit of luck

Mine would be:

• live in a house with a view of the sea, and a dining kitchen, grow herbs and veg in the garden and have a wildflower patch with loads of bees and butterflies
• keep chickens
• have a dog that I can take on long walks
• work in a bookshop, preferably a small independent one (that also sold cake)
• train as a yoga teacher on the side and maybe teach a bit as well
• take every summer off and travel, as cheaply as possible, for a minimum of 2 months (someone would have to look after the dog and chickens I guess!)

Oh and I’d also like to be in a job that my BA and MA have helped me get, and be able to pay off my student debt. But mostly I’d like the job to really make a difference to people’s lives especially those who are underrepresented or suffering from inequality. That’s my goal in my career.

Have a house with a massive garden with a pond, wildflower meadow, woodland and secured high fences.

Keep chickens.

Have a baby.

Beat depression? Or is that too much fantasy?

1. To graduate with a first and get a job I love straight after.
2. Have a house with 3 decent sized bedrooms or 3 plus a box room, enough kitchen units, a garage would be nice too.
3. Upgrade my car after that.
4. Be able to afford a holiday every year.
5. Be a small size 12 again.
6. Laser eye surgery.
7. Get my teeth done.
8. Mummy make over - boob uplift and tummy tuck.

To own a small campervan and travel everywhere on my own, or maybe with a dog. Just freedom.

To have an orchard. To have a garden with climbing roses and loads of lavender. To have a mews in London and go to the theatre regularly

I would like to live somewhere with a mooring so I could go sailing from my garden. I would also like a dog and for my autistic son to stop waking me up at 4am everyday.

@RedTravellingSocks I acknowledge that Covid has been so terrible for so many: the loss of life, reduction in income, unemployment and the impact for mental health.

But for me, it’s taught me how little I need and how much I actually have. It’s definitely been a valuable lesson and something that will impact my choices in terms of my ‘ideal life’ moving forward.

I like the sound of your dream life!!!!

Except the chickens! I had chickens once for a while, never again, noisy, messy birds!!

To own a holiday home in our favourite Scottish Island.

Our mortgage is due to be paid off in 6 years so who knows!

I'd like to write the 2 novels I have in my head, have them be an astonishing Wolf Hall type success, and give up my current job to live on the royalties/adaption rights. I'd like to raise my second baby they way that feels intuitive to me (attachment/gentle) without the pressure of "the real world" to stress me out and with actual buy-in from my DP. I'd like to be able to afford a house big enough that we (DP, two kids and i) could each have our own bedroom/study, with a garden you can get a little bit lost in, and be able to afford a weekly cleaner, regular laundry service in the winter, and a monthly gardener.

I want to learn French and Italian, and to write my academic thesis on a really weird subject that it's impossible to get funding for. I'd like more time - to be with my kids, my partner, and still have time to be BY MYSELF rather than always feeling like I'm stealing that time from someone or something else that deserves it more.

Time. Basically I want a lot more time.

Ooh and when kids are grown up I want to be able to go on holiday on my own sometimes. Completely. On my own.

To do my PHD in History, teach remotely then live something like The Durrells in somewhere like Corfu (with sanitation and mod cons ) not much really

Things stopping me -

Mortgage
I'm an only child with aging mother
DS settled in school
Economic uncertainty
Brexit

Hi hum

Ooh i love this thread!

I would love to retire at 55, to a big house by the sea so there is enough room for all of my dc to come and stay whenever they wanted

Would also love to be effortlessly skinny but thats never gonna happen

Interesting that no women on this thread dream of power (political)

I am super lucky to have a nice home (it’s a Thin walled semi, not detached, but my mum always says you should have a few things left to wish for) a garden (the rabbits, deer and birds eat any veg I try to grow ) a herb plot (mint is taking over everything) and a dog (a mongrel lurcher) who just rolled in fox poo...

The countryside is full of mud and shit and wildlife Haha

But I love it really. In my dream life they would leave my veg alone

I am very lucky to have started on my dream life, it still feels unreal.

I moved to Portugal last year, live in a lovely little house in the countryside with a massive garden. This autumn I will start work on the vegetable plot and we will have chickens in a few weeks (I used to keep chickens years ago and miss them).

Next year we are going to build an outside kitchen with a bread / pizza oven.

The next phase of my dream is to start a little theatre company and spend the summers putting on outdoor plays.

Would like to be mortgage free by 50 (am 38 now), but we’ll see how everything else goes. Would also like to travel when the house and garden is finished.

I’m also working on my health and fitness, hoping to end the lifelong struggle with my weight.

Covid put a massive spanner in things but we’re scraping along. I’m sure there will be other spanners along the way but I’m glad to have finally started doing some of the things I’ve always talked about.

Oh @Pikachubaby, I forgot!

One day I’d like to have a crack at being an MEP. I am very into politics, but being a U.K. MP looks like a bloody nightmare.

I like how the EU parliament is just boring processes and listening quietly to translators through headphones before voting.

Yes, agree it's interesting @pikachubaby. If there are any lurkers out there who want to be PM, please do post! Although they do say that those who crave power are the ones least suited for it...

@WinterAndRoughWeather, that sounds amazing. Can I ask what prompted you to take the plunge?

Cross post! I do think that the current political shitshow will have put lots of people off, probably exactly the kind of people we need in politics. But yeah, political power - at least the party political kind - isn't on my list of wants. Maybe it should be...

I am too fond of the simple, laid-back, stress-free life though.

I want to get the long overdue work done on the house, including an attic mezzanine floor with skylight window, so that I can have a secret star gazing place between the roofs. Enough storage space, the shower room installed and the veranda at the back, to have tea on in the shade.
Buy that little piece of land and grow trees and wild flowers. Have a hut to sit in, listen to birdsong and brew tea.
Have a chalet by the sea, up to 50 miles away, to take the grandchildren paddling and sandcastle building, plus be able to make tea and snacks.
A van with sleeping and cooking facilities, so that I could go about the UK and Europe when I wanted to get away, and be able to make a pot of tea when I felt like a stop.
Strongly tea themed dreams, here. 😀

@RedTravellingSocks

Brexit! We were sick of what was happening in the U.K., and various other circumstances contrived to make it the best time to go. But brexit was the thing that really gave us the kick we needed.

Ah, of course! Good for you @WinterAndRoughWeather, I hope it works out beautifully for you

Can I just spend hours on end eating cake and reading books in a big armchair in your bookshop please OP? Perhaps with my dog curled up at my feet.

I don’t know what mine would be...just wanted to say what a lovely thread this is, OP! I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts.

I’ll think about mine

You certainly may, @Betty98. There will definitely be proper squishy armchairs. And water bowls for the dog. Maybe dog cushions, too.