Treechange or seachange

There comes a time in our lives when a lot of us are faced with this enticing and challenging decision. We are usually totally pissed off with the restrictions, noise and confusion of the city and urban areas. The arrogance and rudeness of our fellow citizens seem insurmountable, and we tend to drift into the nostalgic times of yesteryear when we actually knew the names of our neighbours, we knew if someone was in trouble and needed just a shoulder to cry on or even a simple cuppa and slice of cake.

It was a time when it was incomprehensible that an older neighbour could lie dead in their homes for weeks without anyone missing them, or children could be taken from the street because no one even knew they were playing outside.

It is a time that seems to be gone forever, although perhaps we are just looking at a past time through rose-tinted glasses and things were never really this good that our memories are creating our past life as we really wished it was.

It is so easy to convince ourselves that our magical wistful world truly still exists in either the countryside or near the ocean.

After all, we believe that the residents in these areas are more like us, less stressed, courteous and very inclusive.

So, we do the craziest thing we will ever do in our lives, sell up everything that we own in the city, break our attachments that we have made over a lifetime and drive off into the sunset and a glorious new life. Reality check folks, when you arrive at your new destination, you will soon find that your new neighbours are just like the ones you left behind.

In regional or country areas unless you were born there or went to school there, no matter how hard you try, you will never be fully accepted.

True, the real estate is cheaper, but the cost of daily living is much higher, petrol prices will leave you gasping, public transport is either extremely limited to daylight hours or non-existent.

The taxi charges just to go shopping will set you back about $60 for a round trip, and that is if you are in an area where they will come to in the first place.

Phone, tv and internet are intermittent, and you start to long for the more reliable services you left behind. While there may be a considerable number of restaurants and cafes, you will quickly notice that the diversity of choice you are used to is non-existent.

You will need to build a new circle of friends; this is much easier said than done. People are delightful and charming but very wary of newcomers.

If you enjoyed the huge range of arts, opera, live theatre, musicals in the city, you will find a very limited choice in your new home.

But, in all fairness, you may be the person who does not experience any of these issues, but manages to settle in straight away and quickly finds compatible friends and enjoys your dream lifestyle. I hope that you do.

I guess that what I am trying to say, perhaps badly, is that if you do have the great seachange or treechange dream, then don’t sell your city home, rent it out for six or twelve months and rent where you want to live, live your dream secure in the knowledge that at any time you can return to your old life with little upheaval and perhaps having learnt a few life lessons along the way.

Whichever way you decide to go, boots and all or cautiously, then good luck with it, because the saddest four words in the English language are “I should have tried it”.

What are you happy that you did? What are some things you still want to try?

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