I split up with my long term partner recently. He is from Shropshire, and our plan for the entire time we were together was to move back to Shrewsbury/ the surrounding area (within about a 10-15 miles radius ideally although possibly further afield) once my DC were older/ living independently. I've spent years travelling back and forth to Shrewsbury, I'm a complete townie, I've never lived outside the M25 except for university, always in very urban areas. But I came to absolutely love Shropshire as a county, and felt far more at home there than I ever have in the town I live in now, despite being here for 20 years. Property prices, though rising, are also significantly cheaper than the area of London I currently live in, meaning I could sell my current house, give my DC some money and still have enough to buy a lovely home that's as nice as my current one but with the bonus of a big garden and lovely countryside views.
But as exDP and I are now over, there's no way I could move up there. So now I'm a bit lost. I don't particular like where I live, it's a standard commuter area of London. It's main advantage is proximity to London but as I don't work in London (mainly remote, I do need to travel to the office infrequently but can go to one of 3 different offices in Croydon, Liverpool or Birmingham so as long as I can get to those once a month I can live anywhere) that doesn't really benefit me.
So where do I go now? I don't need to move immediately, there's not a desperate rush but with exDP the plan was in 2-3 years, and tbh that was what was keeping me going whilst still living where I do.