New to rural living and struggling to meet people

[townandcountrygirl]

I've recently moved to a rural location in Scotland with OH. We are from the south east, I have moved from London and OH is from a coastal town. When looking for a new home, we wanted to be outside of the city, but close to shops in either a village or town, as we didn't want noise and stress. We have ended up in a rural area, with no shops, public transport, etc. We have a few neighbours in surrounding houses but haven't met any of them yet - many are second homes.
I don't drive (relying on taxis for now) and although I agreed to this new adventure with a full heart and an open mind, I am worried about feeling isolated and I am wondering how to make new friends. OH travels for work (I do too, but spend a lot of time in the home office running my business remotely - easier for admin / emails / calls). Has anyone else gone from city to rural living successfully? Would love some ideas / advice for busting the loneliness issue when OH is away. I am introverted and love reading / my own company but even the most avid introvert needs a little social stimulation from time to time!

Go and knock on your neighbours door and say hi.

Join the WI, the church, the local tennis club - whatever there is going on locally get involved. Where is your local - go there tonight. I've never gone to a Scottish pub and not come out with a new friend.

Do you have plans to drive? That will make rural life rather hard.

Honestly, learn to drive ASAP!! Rural living is no fun when everything you want to do is not accessible by public transport. My nearest shop is 10 minutes drive away and anything social would be impossible without a car. Try an engage with neighbors, invite them round but making friends in rural locations can take time. Enjoy being somewhere new and chat to as many people as you can, find activities that you could join. See it all as a big adventure!

Could you give an idea of roughly where you are? I'm west coast of Scotland, alot of rural spots near by. All I would suggest is looking for a yoga class in your nearest town or something similar

I'm east coast, if you're near me in sure I could suggest something

Y y to learn to drive, and try out all and any activity.

Also - ever fancied a dog?

Join clubs.

Join the local FB group - it helps put faces to names and interests.

And yes, learn to drive.

Yes - I am quickly realising I need to drive, although time consuming and £££ - the main reason I don't drive is because I have always lived in Central London! In this case, it's not a quick fix, so I am going to have to rely on lifts from OH when he is around, utilising my time in the town wisely. I am in the lowlands! It's stunning and on the plus side, I am a lot more active than I ever was ;)

Aww that's a shame, I'm in the highlands, would have happily met for a coffee

Get involved at the local school, church or village hall. If you are not walking distance from anything like htis and you don;t drive, then really you need to move closer to a big village or learn to drive asap.

Meanwhile, online friendships are good. You can join online bookgroups and MN. And get a dog.Invite old friends to come and stay once a month. You'll soon be desperate for quiet again!

Would it be worth setting up a networking event for women in business to see if that helps draw in local and like minded people?

I don't even live rurally I'm in a coastal town but still couldn't survive without driving! Sorry I know that's not helpful but rural Scotland is so isolating without a car, I'd due a quick crash course if you could afford it. In the meantime get a mountain bike. I lived in rural Holland for a while and this is how I managed to get about

Invite them round this evening. Hogmanay is very informal in scotland. We got an invite to a neighbours just yesterday. Lastminute.com is fine on New Year's eve.

Hopefully they'll ask you round if tou don't have plans

I live rurally in Scotland's Central Belt, have done for more than 2 years, and have found it incredibly difficult to make friends, particularly as I'm becoming increasingly less mobile. I'm chatty with our only neighbours and friendly with a couple of my husband's friends' wives, but it's not the same. That kind of friendship is something I do miss.

I'm not sure why you agreed to a house in such an isolated area?

But anyway, start the driving lessons as soon as you can.

I lived in a rural coastal area for awhile and it was gorgeous but the nearest shop was a 30 minute drive and I was the only one who could drive as DH didn't. It got tiring to have to drive that much to do anything and the final straw was when I got seriously ill and it took the ambulance an hour to get there.

Bishalisa - fantastic idea, I have done this in London before and it has been very good for new friendship.

pissedonatrain - agreed to it because we viewed a ton of houses in the city and many were very small, had terrible parking or were in areas we didn't 'connect' with. We are from very quiet / beautiful historical towns in the South of England original and wanted to find something similar. Unfortunately, of the 5 properties we viewed on that one day, we had to choose one and proceed very fast (OH got relocated by job right before xmas and we had only specific dates to work with - very close to Xmas). The house itself is absolutely stunning, like something out of a movie, there are trade offs with living a little further out I suppose :-)

Driving lessons should be a priority. Consider doing a one or two week intensive course if you can afford it. It is a big initial outlay but will get you on the road much, much quicker.

Could you invite friends to come and stay with you when your husband is away? Lots of people would love to stay in a movie style house I'm sure.