To ask if anyone enjoyed growing up rurally?

[YellowRedwheels1]

I’ve been on MN long enough to know that all the threads about rural living mention how bad it is for teens and how they themselves really resented it etc.

However, I feel like myself and some of my friends must be anomalies then as I absolutely loved it and wouldn’t have wanted to have lived in a town or city.

I guess I’m worried as DC is 6 and currently loves the fact we live rurally, have a big garden for her to charge about in , she horse rides just down the road etc but I’m waiting for the inevitable resentment when she gets to her teenage years and for her to hate the countryside and spend all her adult life living in towns and cities due to being scarred from her time in the countryside!!

I never felt this way though, to be fair we did have a bus service in my village growing up, only 4 a day, one in the morning, one at lunchtime and then coming back one in morning one in evening to the nearest town and city so I wasn’t completely cut off in my teenage years.

Myself and my friends were involved in the YFC, rode horses etc and even now, a lot of them work in agriculture or live rurally. We just weren’t bothered by living in the countryside and it was almost a way of life for us?

These people all have normal jobs in the local towns and cities now that they commute for or a lot WFH, there’s a couple of drs who moved back and work at the local hospital, one is a university lecturer and again, works at the local university. Another a nurse, project manager in tech etc so it’s not like we’re all a load of unskilled/ qualified country bumpkins.

You just don’t ever see this side on MN, it’s nearly always how bad it is for teens and how living rurally is bad for them/ isolating.

Is there anyone else on here who grew up living rurally and enjoyed it?

Yes! And loved it - brought up in a house half a mile from the nearest road, almost on a peninsular, between a derelict canal and a small river, and everything, groceries, feed and hay for our pony, chickens, goats and sheep, everything had to be taken along a narrow path, between the two, on a wheelbarrow! We had a generator in the back shed to provide a fitful supply of electricity, until mains electricity was laid on in 1975, gas lights downstairs until then and paraffin lanterns upstairs. We were brought up on a diet of goats milk, dad kept bees (as I do now), we learned to grow vegetables, cut firewood, country crafts etc. Mum used to spin and knit the wool from our sheep, I learned to shoot at an early age, first with an air rifle and then, as soon as legally old enough, with shotguns and rifles, we swam in the river at the bottom of the garden, had a rowing boat and used to row up the river, have campfires, build dens in farmers' barns, tried to shoot rabbits with home made bows and arrows - very much a 'Just William' type childhood and adolescence.

I have followed suit and still live similarly - could never live in a town or city - the noise, crowds, traffic, light pollution at night, sirens, the concrete 'busyness' of it all is anathema to me and I would feel hemmed in, suffocated and like an animal in a cage.

My rural upbringing has given me a lifelong abiding love of wide open green spaces, animals, birds, insects, plants, tranquility, calm and being 'at one' with myself and I would have it no other way! Rural all the way for me.

From a tender age I was in love with dogs and horses so I loved it. I've spent most of my adult life living in semi-rural environments, a compromise which has allowed me to travel to/from work relatively quickly. I hate being in cities and large towns with the exception of Rome, which I love.

I loved it as a child, but have become a city loving adult. I’d prefer to live in a city. However I loved my rural childhood so much that when we decided to have a family we decided to move out of city and back to rural wales. The public transport is appalling. You have to travel far for culture and theatre etc. These negatives do not outweigh the benefits of freedom, strong sense of community, no school place competition, much more spacious home / garden and lower crime rates that rural living offers.

I resented being a teen living rurally. When you have no money it's horrible. My own DC doesn't believe me when I tell him I hung out in a phone box or the church lych gates when raining otherwise it was the rec.
I moved away as soon as I could.
I live in a small town now, still 'rural' as I couldn't cope with anything more, not streetwise, lol.
My own DS is in walking/biking distance of swimming pool, cinema, abundance of parks, gyms.

It made me learn to drive very early

I learnt to drive really quickly and then moved away to get married. The odd thing is I’ve now moved back to a rural location so I can keep an eye on my mum . My son wasn’t keen so he’s now moved in with his girlfriend 😂

I loved it. Looking back on it I'm grateful for it. My parents and extended family were (and still are if I'm home) great for giving lifts etc to town when needed. There was plenty of car pooling for sports etc which are great memories. The freedom and safety is something that as a parent I would love to have for my children. I enjoyed busy city life for a few years but never truly felt at home. Thankfully DH much more prefers the calmer pace of rural life now but it took him awhile to adjust. We are semi-rural which is the perfect mix for me.

I grew up in a village without a shop or even a bus route in walking distance. During the school holidays we hardly ever saw anyone but family. It was heaven, especially as I was slightly bullied at school and home was a peaceful, socially silent haven. Beautiful countryside, loads of pets, absolutely superb. Strong recommend.

DH and i both did and loved it. Chose to move out of london when having kids as wanted them to have that glorious country childhood.

We just moved rurally from a town 4 weeks ago and it's so good. We are spending so much more time outdoors, the kids are loving it and have mentioned getting a horse (oh lord!) so they are adapting well. When we viewed the house it was the neighbour showing us around and he made a point about how you can keep a better eye on your kids because they rely on you for lifts etc and for me...I agree.

I grew up very rurally. It was fine as a child but I did grow to resent it a bit as a teenager as had to rely on my parents for lifts. Public transport was very unreliable. I was always desperate to live in London (and now have done for the past 20 years!).

We lived rurally and I loved it , but my life pretty much revolved around horses although I did do a lot of night clubs and gigs in my teens but my parents were always keen to ferry us about and collect us at 2 am . If we hadn’t had our horses I can see how it would have been a bit dull though .

Meeee! I used to walk a mile to the bus stop and get the bus into town on Saturdays, but spent the rest of the time walking the dog, messing about building camps in the woods with my sister, splashing in streams. Idyllic!

My parents did do a lot of ferrying us about as we got older (the bus only really went to town, not friends' houses!).

I adored it. Idyllic childhood roaming the farm. Loads of fresh air, freedom and fun. Started to hate it around 14 but then discovered YFC and went on to have a cracking few years. Got the itch to move to London and lasted a few years before coming back.

Im a big fan and supporter of YFC. We’ve just had our county rally and it’s getting stronger and stronger every year. Seeing how much fun the teens were having on the floats and flour and water fight made me smile!

Can't really say I loved it or hated it, it was just what life was. Grew up on a farm as did most of my teenage friends as my friends were YFC friends and school was just the place I had to go to the rest of the time.

My entire social life existed around young farmers from the age of about 12 until I was not far off 30. Lifts were never a problem as my time was spent doing YFC competitions and meetings and got lifts from the seniors until I was old enough to drive myself. I didn't go out clubbing much - it was YFC dinner dances, rallies and socials and the hired bus would drop me off at the farm lane end and me and siblings would totter back up half a mile in heels in the pitch black.

Feels like ancient history now but I'm glad the young farmers movement remains strong and those opportunities I had are still there for those that want to get involved.

I’ll openly admit I have not personal experience of this but I will say that a solid 50% of women with major relationship / career / abuse / caring / other problems on mn have those problems exacerbated by the “I should mention I live rurally” trope. It literally makes my eyes roll out of my head.

I’m a city girl living in the country. I’ve slowed down to village life now. I have tweens: they know every kid in the village as they have all been to the small primary school together. They are constantly all at the park or each others houses. I sometimes ask if we can move to the city and they all say no! Village has 4 buses to the nearest city a day and a pub. It had a shop but it closed; they do say if they still had the shop it would literally be perfect

Absolutely hated it as a teen. Was so jealous of anybody who could get a bus somewhere or walk to friends or school. I dreamed of having a door number and being able to trick or treating on Halloween…

DH always said he wanted to live somewhere fairly isolated. It was an absolute hard no for me. I want my children to have some independence and I’m not prepared to do the 2am pick ups from town or a party that my Dad did for me.

Our compromise is a village on the outskirts of a beautiful market town. One bus an hour, proper school bus to the local secondary, shop and other people! It’s also not far or expensive in a taxi into town but we’ve got miles of fields and quiet lanes behind our house so feels more rural.

I do think it makes a difference if you are horsey or into young farmers though. They probably had better teen years but it absolutely wasn’t my thing

I loved it grew up with ponies and it was great. When I got older my parents were great taxi drivers too, they would do the 30 minute drive at 1 to 2 in the morning to pick me and friends up from clubbing. My kids are now growing up rurally and currently love it at 8 and 10
I am fully prepared to do late night taxis when they are older.

My feeling on this is that it’s fine if you “fit” but that a town or city gives you more opportunity to find friends on your wavelength if you don’t.

I grew up in the countryside but the last bus into town was 7.30 pm ....so definitely restricted socially. As soon as I could I passed my driving test and freedom lol. I now live in a small town but the countryside is only a few miles away so....

Hated it. It was utterly depressing having no freedom and relying on parents to drive me everywhere.

We live near a city and my daughter can go meet up with friends whenever she wants, walk to school etc.

It’s one thing to say you’re happy to drive kids everywhere, but in reality all you’re doing is trapping your child and denying them freedom. There’s no way I’d inflict that on a child. Plus having to drive everywhere is incredibly unhealthy instead of encouraging kids to walk more.

Loved it, but I had great parents who were always happy to host my friends and parties at our house and were also very accomodating taxis when i wanted to go out - would've probably been a different story without that.

I grew up in a city in Spain and moved to a small town in Scotland when I was a young teenager and absolutely hated it!
Maybe if I'd always lived somewhere small and peaceful I wouldn't have minded but everything was so far away, it was so boring and in hindsight the lack of diversity was difficult, I looked and sounded different in a way that I don't think I would have in a big city. I moved away for uni, have lived in cities ever since and have no intention of living somewhere rural again! I can see the appeal of living somewhere beautiful, and if you like nature and outdoors pursuits it's perfect...but it's not for me!