Relocating from London to...Devon?

[MBJ04]

Hi Mums, looking for some advice about where to move our family for a better quality of life. My husband and I have finally made the decision to leave our lives in London due to the fact that my husband has developed anxiety and depression due to work stresses and his health is not something I would like to risk for the sake of living in London (which neither of us particularly enjoy apart from having our friends and my family here). We almost moved to Vancouver Island a couple of years ago however the conversation with my MIL did not go well, and now we have our son perhaps it is selfish of us to take him so far away from family. My husband is an interior designer however is happy to try something new and pack it all in. We are a very outdoorsy young family and my husband loves surfing so we are looking perhaps in the Devon area. We've been to Croyde many times and love it however it's just too cut off for me. I'm a stay at home Mum so need to a little town with some shops, coffee shops, baby groups to go to and feel part of a community. I find even though I go to the same playgroups here in SE London every week with my son I rarely bump into the same people. Does anybody have any experience of leaving their lives in London for a simpler slower life? And any suggestions of places to look at? We're still in the early stages so any advice would be great. Sorry for the long post!

Me and dp moved from sw london to okehampton 3 years ago. We havent regretted it once.

Open spaces , clean air, less crime, much cheaper housing, friendly people.

We can be in exeter in 20 minutes if we want to go to a really lovely and lively big city, or we can be at the coast in half an hour either in Bude or Paignton (to name just two of many beaches).

We go cycling on the granite way which is a car free track stretching 12 miles across the amazing scenery of Dartmoor. We go out much more than we ever did in london as it is a lot less expensive to visit local attractions.

We have a waitrose, lidl and large co-op as well as local independent shops and farm shops. There is a fantastic community spirit in our town too.

We both found good jobs very easily. If you have skills there is plenty of work. The salary is lower than in london generally but being able to buy a 3 bedroom house for under 200k and the quality of life more than balances it out.

There are also lots of mums and toddlers groups and activities here, a very popular soft play centre, and a lovely big park with play areas. And plenty of coffee shops .

Wow that sounds exactly like what we are looking for!! Anything you miss now that you aren't Londoners anymore?

Nope there is absolutely nothing at all that we miss. I forgot to mention , no traffic jams at rush hour, no problems getting a doctors appointment , very little vandalism or litter.

I honestly cant think of a single thing.