Our plan has always been for me to quit working at a certain point, and we are getting close. At that time, we had planned to either move to Santa Barbara, Carmel (where H is from), or the Tahoe foothills (where I am from).
We were planning to start the process in either late spring of 2016 or late spring of 2017. But, a house has gone on the market in the town where I grew up, and we sort of fell in love. It's a huge log cabin, built less than 5 years ago with high ceilings and picture windows in the living room, big enough to put in a gym and theater in the basement, surrounded by oak trees on 20 acres with a creek, and a swimming hole. We would fence off an acre for the huskies, put in a pool and hot tub, clear a hill that we could use as a snow park to ski and snow board, put in a tennis/basketball court, etc. There's a lake less than 5 miles away where we could keep our boat. It would be close to my family. And, we could have more puppies. Lots and lots of puppies. As many as we wanted.
So, we are thinking about it. But, I'm scared. I thought my town was boring when I grew up there. I wouldn't be working full time anymore, and though I would try to work from home, it would definitely mean less working and I am not sure what I would do with all that free time. I would be an hour and a half from an airport, so I really would not be able to change my mind and go back to work. I would have to cook every meal since there's no delivery and H is a medicore cook (at best). There are no stores nearby. It is hot in the summer. Cold and snowy in winter (we are used to 70-80 degrees year round). We would be three hours from the ocean, and from SF (the closest real city). And, the scariest part is there would be no going back. My job isn't the sort that you can step away from and then return to. The housing market where we live now is expanding much faster than the maket where we would move, so it would be hard to get back into a house like the one we have now.
I would love to know if anyone has done anything like this, and especially, if anyone has done it and then regretted it.
Well, that's an exaggeration. H does cook, just now well, and we don't have kids so it's not like anyone cares what we eat. Also, my mom would come cook for us. But in my mind, I'm cooking every night.
Would you consider to become a breeder yourself? You guys are so passionate about the breed and it seems like an ideal location.
To actually answer your question, no, I have not, but I could see doing it if we fell in love with the house or town.
No, I don't think we would because I couldn't handle having to give up the puppies. I mean, we would breed our own girls for our own family, but not for profit or anything.
Would you consider to become a breeder yourself? You guys are so passionate about the breed and it seems like an ideal location.
To actually answer your question, no, I have not, but I could see doing it if we fell in love with the house or town.
No, I don't think we would because I couldn't handle having to give up the puppies. I mean, we would breed our own girls for our own family, but not for profit or anything.
I grew up in the country, and I love it. I love to be outdoors and really never struggle to entertain myself when I am able to be outside.
Working is important to me, though. I need a challenge. I would move to the country as you describe if I were still working. Working from home would be fine.
I haven't. We moved from large cities/metropolitan areas (but lived in the suburbs) to a small city (about 150K). It is the same size as another city 25 miles away, but these are The Big City for our area. It's as small as I'm willing to go at this point. Affordable, family friendly, and stuff to do, but not tons of options.
I'd consider it if it was the right small town, though I'd prefer for it to be at least big enough to house a Target. (Walmart will build anywhere.) I always say I'd like to live in a small town filled with the people I live near now. I'm jaded because of the area I grew up in, though. It's the overall mentality of the people that live there that keep me from wanting to move back. It's not the lack of good shopping or nice restaurants, it's that I want to be able to make it through a social gathering without biting my tongue about what is happening. Of course, that's not true of every town, but especially if you're not planning to work, it's important that you feel like you fit in with the people/lifestyle of the town as a whole. No gorgeous home on acreage could outweigh being surrounded by racist assholes for me!
I grew up in the country, and I love it. I love to be outdoors and really never struggle to entertain myself when I am able to be outside.
Working is important to me, though. I need a challenge. I would move to the country as you describe if I were still working. Working from home would be fine.
No department stores, no Apple Store, no clothing stores. The only gym is owned by the local church. There are grocery stores (but not Whole Foods or TJ's, just a country market and mini mart), gas stations, etc. there's a target 30 minutes away and a mall with a Nordstrom's 45 minutes away. Anything nicer is in San Francisco.
I haven't. We moved from large cities/metropolitan areas (but lived in the suburbs) to a small city (about 150K). It is the same size as another city 25 miles away, but these are The Big City for our area. It's as small as I'm willing to go at this point. Affordable, family friendly, and stuff to do, but not tons of options.
I'd consider it if it was the right small town, though I'd prefer for it to be at least big enough to house a Target. (Walmart will build anywhere.) I always say I'd like to live in a small town filled with the people I live near now. I'm jaded because of the area I grew up in, though. It's the overall mentality of the people that live there that keep me from wanting to move back. It's not the lack of good shopping or nice restaurants, it's that I want to be able to make it through a social gathering without biting my tongue about what is happening. Of course, that's not true of every town, but especially if you're not planning to work, it's important that you feel like you fit in with the people/lifestyle of the town as a whole. No gorgeous home on acreage could outweigh being surrounded by racist assholes for me!
I have a ton of family there, and most of my cousins are pretty liberal, so there are people we could hang out with. There's also a huge dog show community there, and though we don't see totally eye to eye, we are already friends with a lot of them.
That is something to consider. I, personally, could live without clothing or other stores nearby, but I would not be thrilled with having to drive a half an hour for groceries or only having crappy options.
I lived for a long time in a house that was about 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store. I loved living out there, but it is a giant pain in the ass if you run out of staple food items or TP or something.
Post by onesweetworld on Oct 29, 2015 22:12:07 GMT -5
I moved from a big city of 2 million people to a town in the country of about 600 and regretted it in the end. The first year or so was nice and relaxing and then relaxing became extreme boredom.
Post by cabbagecabbage on Oct 29, 2015 22:12:15 GMT -5
Yes, I could do this and might choose to. I did the smaller scale thing of leaving the corporate job and city to be SAHM in the burbs. But I never wanted a fast and flashy city life. I enjoyed it in my early twenties but I didn't seek it. I was in my suit and heels dreaming of a garden and space. I think you know if this is the type of life you want and if you don't actively *want* it, the answer is no. It's a really big change.
Post by captainobvious on Oct 29, 2015 22:15:42 GMT -5
I just moved back to the suburb I grew up in (our close enough) so it's not quite the same, but it's not that bad. We thought we'd be stuck unable to do anything without driving into the city but there's more up here than expected.
I moved from a big city of 2 million people to a town in the country of about 600 and regretted it in the end. The first year or so was nice and relaxing and then relaxing became extreme boredom.
Thanks. This is the feedback I was looking for. How does the story end? Did you stay there or move?
I have a ton of family there, and most of my cousins are pretty liberal, so there are people we could hang out with. There's also a huge dog show community there, and though we don't see totally eye to eye, we are already friends with a lot of them.
No need to totally see eye to eye, IMO, as long as everyone remembers that people believe certain things for a reason...and that reason makes sense to that person.
It sounds like my concerns wouldn't be an issue in your situation, so that would be good.
We have a local airport, but we're 2+ hours to a non-regional airport. It sucks, and it's expensive. We're less likely to take vacations now, simply because we frequently lose a day just getting to/from the airport and getting connecting flights. That or we're up before the crack of dawn or driving home at midnight because of flight times.
WIll you get lonely? That would be my main worry. There is the internet and amazon for non-food delivery and you could get a pied a terre in SF for your shopping/culture fixes. However, your day in day out life will be without peers, no kids, cousins are at work or with their own kids. Your work time would be solo. Then your breaks would be solo. You seem pretty social from everything we've seen here. I'm worried you'd feel isolated.
That is something to consider. I, personally, could live without clothing or other stores nearby, but I would not be thrilled with having to drive a half an hour for groceries or only having crappy options.
I lived for a long time in a house that was about 20 minutes from the nearest grocery store. I loved living out there, but it is a giant pain in the ass if you run out of staple food items or TP or something.
I hate driving in LA, so I honestly never go anywhere except work. I order everything online, even though there are tons of stores nearby. So, it wouldn't be that different. But, I also never have free time here. Maybe I would go out more if I did.
Target is 30 minutes away? Nope. I like solitude, but not that kind of solitude. Surely, you can find a happy medium. Privacy without being half an hour from civilization. (I'm sort of joking about the civilization thing. Sort of.)
WIll you get lonely? That would be my main worry. You could get a pied a terre in SF for your shopping/culture fixes but day in day out life without peers around, no kids, cousins are at work or with their own kids. Your work time would be solo. Then your breaks would be solo. You seem pretty social from everything we've seen here. I'm worried you'd feel isolated.
Well, I grew up there, so probably not. 80% of the people I grew up with are still there. Of course, some are grandmothers now, so I don't know how much we still have in common. This is a good point.
Having lived in the city for all of my adult life, the idea of the country does appeal to me. The country area we are considering, though, is about 45 mins outside of the city. 3 hours away from a city would be too much for me, and 1.5 hours from the airport would probably be a deal breaker.
Having lived in the city for all of my adult life, the idea of the country does appeal to me. The country area we are considering, though, is about 45 mins outside of the city. 3 hours away from a city would be too much for me, and 1.5 hours from the airport would probably be a deal breaker.
Its 45 minutes from a city (Sacramento). 3 hours from a "big" city (SF).
I moved from a big city of 2 million people to a town in the country of about 600 and regretted it in the end. The first year or so was nice and relaxing and then relaxing became extreme boredom.
Thanks. This is the feedback I was looking for. How does the story end? Did you stay there or move?
The story ended in 2012 when my H and I split up and I moved back to the city! I've been back here for 3 years and I'll never move to small town again. It's all nice in theory but that's why you should by a cottage/cabin instead. Somewhere you can escape to...but also escape from!I love arts & culture so small town living was no bueno. And I wasn't as far away as you would be. I'm not one for solitude but if that's your thing it could be good for you.
Post by 1confused1 on Oct 29, 2015 22:34:22 GMT -5
If I didn't have kids, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's actually my dream to do that when I'm older and the kids are out of the house.
If kids are in the picture or in your future picture, my answer would be no. If you didn't like growing up there, what would be different for your kid?
Thanks. This is the feedback I was looking for. How does the story end? Did you stay there or move?
The story ended in 2012 when my H and I split up and I moved back to the city! I've been back here for 3 years and I'll never move to small town again. It's all nice in theory but that's why you should by a cottage/cabin instead. Somewhere you can escape to...but also escape from!I love arts & culture so small town living was no bueno. And I wasn't as far away as you would be. I'm not one for solitude but if that's your thing it could be good for you.
We already have a cabin in a similarly sized town. But I'm sort of over working, and traffic in LA. And, most of all, we want Nika to have a litter of puppies and can't do it unless we move. TBH, it's mostly so Nika can have puppies.
If I didn't have kids, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's actually my dream to do that when I'm older and the kids are out of the house.
If kids are in the picture or in your future picture, my answer would be no. If you didn't like growing up there, what would be different for your kid?
With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that it was better to grow up board than a drug addict, which is the case for most of the people I know who grew up where we live.