DH lost his father last year and his mum is left in a farmhouse with 200 acres of land which are being rented. We had always planned to move up in the future and possibly start some additional family businesses such as a campsite. DH isn't happy in his current job and keen to get stuck into new projects. Now we have the very real option of moving up there this September. We'd be living in the other half of the farmhouse.
The thing that's holding us back is our ds's 13 and 16. In some ways it's a great time to move as the youngest has time to make new friends at school (though I'd have to drive him there, 10 minutes each way). But he's doing amazingly at the current school and is involved in loads of outside sports. Everything is on our doorstep here. But he is keen to move too as "it's exciting with new opportunities" and he wants to make new friends now rather than at 16, if we moved then.
Our eldest though would have a much more complicated, if impossible journey to college due to limited buses (if he's able to go - he's currently off school due to anxiety). He wants to make a 'new start' by moving and thinks it will help him. He could possibly do an apprenticeship instead of college, which might make it easier, but again we don't know if he'd even be able to manage that. If he couldn't do either, I worry the countryside would be very isolating for him and make his mental health even worse.
I know it's a daft time to move to the countryside. But if we didn't go now, we'd probably go up in 3 years when my youngest has finished his GCSEs. But is that an even worse time to move a teenager?
Any opinions or similar experiences welcome!