My husband has a job opportunity in Carmarthan, Wales. It would mean moving from Stourbridge, a town on the outskirts of Birmingham. We’re country people at heart, from Hampshire and Worcestershire. We love the idea of being in the countryside, but we also want to have a nice, good sized town not too far away. We have 2 kids, aged 2 and 5, so it would be a big family move, school change etc etc. We’re just coming out of the really tough early years, so we want to also be able to socialise, go for some meals, mooch round the shops…
I’m also concerned about my job prospects… as a psychotherapist, I have a lovely private practice here but looking at the prices being charged locally they’re a lot less, and if I switched to working in the NHS, the problem is Wales’ mental health services are much less developed than in England so there aren’t as many job opportunities.
We had a visit to Carmarthan and I don’t want to slate it for anyone who loves it, but we weren’t into it. We also checked out Narbeth, which was gorgeous but small. Tenby was heaving with tourists. I’ve heard not great things about Swansea. So now I’m worried. Wales is gorgeous, the people are friendly, so surely I’m wrong to worry that all of west Wales isn’t right for us?!
AIBU to worry that it’s all too remote, that there aren’t any towns that are a compromise between tiny village and big city? Is there anywhere with the kind of demographic that would pay for private therapy? Is there anywhere within a reasonable driving commute of Carmarthan that would be a nice place to live? Thanks!