Early-retirement wannabe

Marine_life

For what its worth.

We recently moved to Somerset which from my point of view is a nice midway point between being close to Devon and Cornwall for beach vacations, yet not too far from 'civilization' if you need it i.e. we are two hours (ish) by train from London although I typically fly (there is a direct flight between Exeter and London City) for work.

AnotherJoe

DancingBadger wrote: »

Relocation comes up quite frequently in our discussions these days. I've retired, but OH regards himself as semi-retired and therefore still needs to be within driving distance of west London - even if it is only once a month or so. :mad:

Why driving and not train if its just once a month?

DancingBadger

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Why driving and not train if its just once a month?

Two reasons:

1. He works in a 24/7 industry, often arriving or leaving at times when no trains are running. Leaving the building at 2330 hrs then spending the night on a station waiting for the first train of the next day isn't an option that appeals to him.

2. Assuming normal working hours, the journey by car is 1.5 hours door-to-door at most, but nearly four hours using public transport.

kidmugsy

DancingBadger wrote: »

we're thinking of moving in the next year or so, but where to go? The south-west is appealing, but it does get busy in the summer. Pembroke is nice, but a bit far out and inclined to attract a lot of rain. We don't want or need isolation, just need to be somewhere where there isn't a plethora of signs stating "Land Acquired for Development by Knock 'Em Up Quick Homes. More Land Needed".

The Eden valley just south of Carlisle might be attractive. Or even Carlisle itself or a little to its west. Or buy on the coast of Dumfries and Galloway and get up every morning to a southerly view over the Solway to the Lake District hills.

Southerly views over water give you a lot of lovely light in your life.

Or how about the rural parts of the West Midlands/Welsh Marches?

Or Norwich? I suspect that what you need is somewhere that doesn't have commutable train times to London.

I'd study maps like this carefully.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate

cfw1994

Must admit, I would struggle to move away when we retire: we have a LOT of friends where we live, & whilst I can see the value in downsizing and moving 'somewhere prettier', I think I would want to maintain the social life we have built up over the past 30 years!
I know a couple of couples who moved for the rural scenery, & regretted it....both moving back to be closer to family & friends.
I think a camper van and plan to travel more is my number 1 goal.

OldMusicGuy

Good news for us is we don't have many friends or a social life! We are quite homely folks and our small number of friends don't live anywhere near us. So we are quite looking forward to the move to start a new phase in our life as a retired couple.

atush

cfw1994 wrote: »

Must admit, I would struggle to move away when we retire: we have a LOT of friends where we live, & whilst I can see the value in downsizing and moving 'somewhere prettier', I think I would want to maintain the social life we have built up over the past 30 years!
I know a couple of couples who moved for the rural scenery, & regretted it....both moving back to be closer to family & friends.
I think a camper van and plan to travel more is my number 1 goal.

So just downsize where you are?

AnotherJoe

DancingBadger wrote: »

Two reasons:

1. He works in a 24/7 industry, often arriving or leaving at times when no trains are running. Leaving the building at 2330 hrs then spending the night on a station waiting for the first train of the next day isn't an option that appeals to him.


2. Assuming normal working hours, the journey by car is 1.5 hours door-to-door at most, but nearly four hours using public transport.

Then it depends what you mean by "driving distance of west london". After all, John O'Groats or Lands End are within "driving distance of west london" but I suspect he'd find the times unacceptable


If a drive into west london in normal commute hours is a requirement, thats going to give you a very restricted area unless he is prepared to drive for a very long time, assuming he has no control over the hours at which he turns up because it could easily take 90 minutes to drive 20 or 30 miles to West London, indeed you chose your current location very carefully to get a 90 minute drive in commute hours from the south coast since the same distance from other directions could easily double that time.

Maybe just stay put until he packs it in. Or decides that occasionally he'll train in and stay at a hotel 3 or 4 times a year if the job finishes really late or starts really early, unless you think 4-5-6 hour non stop driving at what, 60 plus is a good idea (to get to Pembrokeshire/SouthWest etc)?You are squaring a circle here. If a 4 hour train journey is unacceptable, then so presumably is a 4+ hour drive so the locatiosn you mentioned are a pipe dream?

JoeEngland

DancingBadger wrote: »

A bit self-pity with a political bias: apologies in advance, but I need to get this off my chest.

Relocation comes up quite frequently in our discussions these days. I've retired, but OH regards himself as semi-retired and therefore still needs to be within driving distance of west London - even if it is only once a month or so. :mad: The extra money is nice, but not essential.

Some would envy our location - on the south coast, house in quiet unadopted road, within walking distance of the marina where we keep a boat, easy access to the motorway network (although "smart" motorway conversion work has just started and, if it's anything like the roadworks at the top of the M3, will be a complete nightmare).

BUT, but...

The area where we live has lost its character and is no longer recognisable as a result of housing development. Local roads can't cope with increased traffic; the queues are horrendous - and apparently the Government has just imposed a requirement for more new houses, the effect of which will be compounded by a Housing Delivery Test which comes into effect in November. (At this point, people reading this will probably be thinking "diddums" as I would think a lot of areas in the over-crowded South East are affected by these new proposals.)

So the bottom line is we're thinking of moving in the next year or so, but where to go? The south-west is appealing, but it does get busy in the summer. Pembroke is nice, but a bit far out and inclined to attract a lot of rain. We don't want or need isolation, just need to be somewhere where there isn't a plethora of signs stating "Land Acquired for Development by Knock 'Em Up Quick Homes. More Land Needed".

Maybe Lincolnshire or Norfolk.

I sympathise with your housing situation. Since a new estate was built on the field next to where we live there's much more noise (especially from one family), people wandering past our house on what was previously a dead end, and what was once a semi-rural outlook is now dominated by large new houses. I can't wait to move in a few years and would be happy to have no neighbours within a mile, but sadly we can't afford a place which might have that kind of location.

DancingBadger

AnotherJoe wrote: »

If a 4 hour train journey is unacceptable, then so presumably is a 4+ hour drive so the locatiosn you mentioned are a pipe dream?

A four hour single train journey would be bad, but not as bad as the half-hour drive to the mainline station, two trains and a bus which the current commute by public transport would involve - not forgetting the arm-and-a-leg station parking charges.



Apologies, I worded my OP badly. Moving isn't an option until OH decides he's fully retired - hopefully in the next year or so.