The other side

As you would know, we have had a pretty rough trot the last 3 months now. Sickness turned into sickness rolled into time off work rolled into resigning from work…and that’s just me! Don’t get me started on poor Harper who has been the actual sick one 😉 It’s been a really stressful time for us all as individuals and as a family. There have been many fights, much screaming and at times it’s all just seemed too hard.

When we were driving home from the weekend away – the baby screaming in pain in the back seat, the toddler sad that she had to leave her friends and go home early and me sobbing, just sobbing at the injustice of it all…we got to thinking…is this worth it? Could we be doing anything different to make this all better? What can we do to try and turn this all around? And as we drove through the beautiful countryside that is the south coast of NSW I thought to myself “should we just pack it all up in the city and move to the country?” A simpler life. A better life – organic stuff, chooks, fresh country air?

I’m not sure how it would work in practice. I am a city gal through and through – but more importantly I am a family gal. I need my family near by. I need to be able to drop the kids off at either 2 of the 4 grandma’s house in under 15 minutes if I need to. I need to be able to have lunches with them. Laugh with them. Spend time with them. How would Rob work? Could we set up some sort of an office at home and could he work from afar? Could I cope with him going away for days a time when he needed to be in Sydney? Would I go BANANAS from all that fresh air? Would I actually, properly lose my mind from the loneliness and isolation? Or…would it be the best thing that we ever did? Could ever do? The best thing for the girls? For us as a couple? For all of us? What if we found something only 2 hours out of Sydney so we could head down or up whenever we wanted? What if we had something big enough so that we always had friends and family visiting us and staying for a weekend – would we actually see more of our friends and family than we do here? What if…what if…what if..?
Is the grass really greener over there on the other side?
Has anyone actually taken the plunge and made the big move to a seachange/treechange/mechange? Has it been the best or worst thing you have ever done? Or has the sleep deprivation actually made me crazy and think crazy, country thoughts?!
Would love to hear what YOU have to say on the matter.

Comments

  1. My Dearest.

    I live 4 hours away from my family, and it was a HARD decision to make. Granted, when we decided to move to our little town, I was already living THREE hours away (I was in Boston, they are all in New York), so it’s all relative but STILL 4 hours seems like a long far way away. And….I won’t lie, it is (and I won’t lie, sometimes I hate it). We’re also about an hour from Sweetie’s parents and one of his sisters, about an hour and a half from his other sister (aaaaaaaaaaaand, I’m sort of okay with THAT). So really, we have no family nearby.

    HOWEVER. We live in paradise. And we made the conscious decision to find a place to live that would make us happy every day and where we would just love to BE. We have wonderful friends nearby (all of whom we’ve met since moving to our little town), my family LOVES to come visit, so four hours ends up seeming like a lot less, and we’re just really really happy.

    If I could have everything I want in life, I’d pick my parents up and move them closer, and my sister and her guys too, but really, if I can’t live near them then this is the next best thing- to live in a wonderful little seaside town where the pace of life IS just a little slower. It’s pure happiness, and it suits us perfectly and I’m so very happy we ended up here.

    That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it 😉

  2. Morning Beth, I get ‘itchy feet’ ALL the time. (Mind you, I know you know it’s much easier when you don’t have any children) I moved from Port Stephens to Margaret River WA to Perth WA now I’m back to save and I would like to head off to Melbourne soon. When I was in Margaret River it wasn’t the perfect place for me to live at that stage in my life but for families? BLISS! Beware though, small town=Small Town Syndrome. But I guess you get a bit of that everywhere, right?

    If it doesn’t work out can’t you just move back? Why not? x

  3. I didn’t move to the country but we moved to ANOTHER country!

    I was 8 hrs away from family when we lived in Singapore for 2 years. Abigail was born there actually. So I had no support network from family.

    It IS a massive readjustment but I’m sure you could handle it.

    Family will always come and visit too. And Sydney isn’t that far away hun.

    Like Ashley said, you can always move home too.

    xx

  4. I know a LOVELY spot two hours North of Sydney… And you’ll have at least one fabulous friend here… Write up your pros and cons. Make sure you know what you absolutely love/need to live {good restaurants, cafes, parks…} and that you can get some of what you want/need in a treechange area. I worked out that we could get all of that here – and what we couldn’t get we could travel to Sydney for. You might also find that your needs change. Happy thinking!

  5. No thank you. No leaving me please when we have just returned. BUT I know what you could do. Move to our hood. I’ll mind the girls when you are losing your mind and need a night out.xxx

  6. I started thinking the same thoughts after we visited a girlfriend of mine who lives up in wine country. I hate Sydney, I hate the traffic, the rudeness, the rush … Yet I’m too scared to take the step!

    Good luck with your decision lovey, it’s a hard one x

  7. Hi Beth. Where ever you are its still just you, its just your surroundings that vary. There’s that old saying that you’re only ever as happy as your most miserable child. Kids love the country. When my kids are happy, I’m happy. I say- MAKE THE MOVE! if it doesn’t work out, just move back to Syds. x Good luck, that’s a huge decision! (but great blog material if you move…!)

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  1. […] 3 weeks ago now we drove away from a weekend away with friends wondering if any of this stress we were living was worth it. Harper’s constant illnesses. Daisy’s night […]

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