it's been six months since i moved from
london to a small village in rural
england
if you asked me 10 or who am i even
kidding two years ago i would have said
that i'm an incurable city girl who'd
never exchanged busy city life for a
quiet place in nature
and there i was a little over six months
ago searching for a place as far removed
from urban surroundings as possible
i wanted a change of pace a different
environment with more room to breathe
and faster landscapes to explore
this is my first ever experience in
rural living and perhaps i need to
mention this right away even though i
currently live in a village it's not as
remote as sun
there is a tiny high street a pub a
small grocery store and even a coffee
shop nearby
working shower and high-speed internet
so this might seem like not a big deal
to some
but i can only speak from my own
experience and to someone like me who
grew up in a city always surrounded by
all the conveniences one could dream of
within walking distance moving to a
village like mine is still pretty much a
big deal
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i've always been restless in my life i
spent 10 years in london and i managed
to move eight times within this period
it's interesting how even when living
pretty close to the center of the never
still and ever changing capital i always
needed more even though i love that city
and will forever consider it my home
i couldn't find peace there which is why
i needed to change my pace
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now both me and my husband work from
home so the physical location doesn't
really matter
it might not be sustainable for everyone
to make a move to a remote location
especially if you have to commute all
the time
with the rise of cottage core aesthetics
and this glamorized image of village
life it's so easy to jump on the
bandwagon without thinking but everyone
must assess their own situation and make
a move in researched and sustainable to
their own lifestyle way
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and i must add one can physically keep
running away as far as eyes can see but
you can never run away from yourself
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as long as you don't feel at peace with
who you are moving to a new location
will not create a lasting change
having been the city girl for my entire
life i wasn't quite prepared for what
rural life means
well to some people most of my
challenges will seem nonsensical i had
to learn and adapt on the go and frankly
six months on is still a process
there are a few things the good and the
bad that i wanted to share with you
and the first thing perhaps is the
distance
suddenly a 10 or 20 minute walk turned
into a 20 minute or even longer drive
and every convenience is now unreachable
without a car
public transport is rare and quite
inconvenienced also
living in london i never found the needs
to own a car
but now a car isn't just a thing that's
nice to have it's a necessity
there was always an abundance of choice
what to do and where to go in the city
and i could walk pretty much anywhere
there were three different large
supermarkets all 15 to 20 minutes
walking distance and walking there and
back while carrying bags of groceries
was not a big deal at all
there was a choice of many restaurants
many coffee shops dry cleaners banks
cinemas and any type of conveniences and
entertainment you can think of
all minutes away
now i have to plan my time more
carefully
there is no such thing anymore as going
out simply on a whim on a weekday
evening or shopping late on the weekend
and the only entertainment accessible on
the doorstep is the window through which
you can watch red kites hover above our
village
village live doesn't offer the same
abundance of choice and every
convenience is now a commitment
in fact a lot of things i knew and did
living in the city became quite
redundant now
even the small things like clothes you
wear
i love dressing up clothes and i don't
own many of them allow me to turn myself
into any character i want
especially now that i'm used to working
from home
closer a way of not just expressing
myself but also helping me feel a better
functioning human being
but living rural wearing pretty clothes
isn't always sensible
there are many unpaved roads around many
woodlands and riverside trails that are
completely made out of dirt especially
during wet and rainy winters like the
ones we get here in the south of england
clothes get dirty and worn out pretty
quickly
in fact i still haven't invested in
proper wellies or some sort of
countryside boots which would keep my
feet dry and be easy to wash after yet
another walk on the unpaved paths often
with cow and horse poops gathered along
the way
but no matter how many times i have to
wash my boots i'm beyond happy that i
get to walk these baths
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living in the countryside you notice
each season change more vividly autumn
the air smells different from winter and
now i can smell sprinkling air as
february reaches its peak the woodlands
and hedges are sprinkled wide with
snowdrops and new carpets of lush green
grass are now covering vast fields
i can go as far as eyes can see and
discover new paths and make them
familiar just like the city i once
walked and knew so well
things never stand still in nature and
never once i walked the same paths twice
as there was always something new
waiting for me
i never thought that i would teach
myself how to take care of plants of
nature of my own garden
sowing seeds or growing vegetables was
never an option in my city rental
apartments
now i have a tiny garden and i'm seeing
flowers shooting up from the ground and
pink buds plumping up on the cherry tree
i've planted radishes and lettuce and i
still have many other seeds to sew
i'm not an expert and moving to the
countryside didn't make me one but i'm
discovering countless new interests
which i never thought i'd be so immersed
in
and perhaps one of the biggest positive
changes i've been witnessing here is the
sense of community that a village life
has
i'll be honest with you as an introvert
and someone generally a bit socially
awkward a larger sense of community is
something i had to adapt to
in truth that didn't seem like that much
of a positive change as it does now
in london we never knew our neighbors
at most we would say hi but generally
neighbors avoided each other on the
street or in the halls of the apartment
building that was like a real introvert
heaven there
that's not the case in the village
and as a tighter knit community people
are generally more curious about each
other in fact i'm also one of the very
few foreigners who lives here
i wonder if i've already earned a
reputation of a strange foreign girl who
runs around through the fields with her
camera
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whether it's the people you know or
people you don't know everyone greets
each other on the countryside walks and
gives warm smiles to strangers
locally grown vegetables and fruits
local farm eggs honey flour and even
wine are all easily accessible and in
abundance here
one of my favorite things are the little
stalls village folk often set up on
their doorstep with homegrown plants and
veggies homemade jams and handmade
trinkets on sale
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there are many other little or big
inconveniences and i'm sure more will
come up in the coming seasons but they
really are minor in comparison to this
entire new world i've discovered after
settling in nature
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i noticed things with a newfound
sensitivity how everything becomes
brighter and greener after february rain
how huge and bright the starry sky is
which doesn't have to compete in
brightness with the city lights
how quiet an eerie life can be
unpolluted by the city noise
i've only spent two seasons in the
countryside so far and i'm yet to
witness what kind of change spring and
summer will bring
whether this decision to move to the
countryside was right or permanent i
can't say
i'm still learning and discovering so
much and trying to establish myself in
this newly found location
will it be my home who knows after all a
home isn't a place but what we have
within ourselves
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