"Never go back..."

Morata_

Afternoon all.

Just wondered people's experiences of moving back to an area, town or city that they previously lived before.

Did it live up to expectations, better or worse? Old friends easy to connect with or do you regret moving back somewhere based on how good it was when you were younger, or how a place was years ago

I've been advised, "never go back" but wondered is it as simple as that?

Thanks for reading, hope someone is able to share an experience of this situation.

NaughtiusMaximus

Morata_ wrote: »

Afternoon all.

Just wondered people's experiences of moving back to an area, town or city that they previously lived before.

Did it live up to expectations, better or worse? Old friends easy to connect with or do you regret moving back somewhere based on how good it was when you were younger, or how a place was years ago

I've been advised, "never go back" but wondered is it as simple as that?

Thanks for reading, hope someone is able to share an experience of this situation.

Depends on the reasons, if you're moving back because of happy memories of how things used to be you'll 99% of the time be disappointed IMO as you, the place and the people will all have changed. If on the other hand you're moving for work or family reasons (as I did 12 years ago) rather than nostalgia it'll probably be fine - again IMO.

ProDave

We moved from Oxfordshire to the Highlands. We visit once in a while and after 2 days the sheer amount of traffic on the roads has me wanting to get back to the Highlands. No I would never return to such an over priced over crowded area.

nickcc

Moved from Cornwall to Torquay as we found Cornwall too quiet, five years later moved back to Cornwall as Torquay to hectic. Originally from Birmingham so we know what busy can be even though we left in 1975.

walwyn1978

We went from York to London in our very early 20's for work and to live somewhere interesting for a while. Came back to Yorkshire 12 years later to be closer to family when we had our own children. We didn't move back to exactly where we were before, which is probably for the best as it's changed and all our friends live elsewhere now, but both in terms of our work now and our parents being able to be as involved as they want in our son's lives, rather than us being 200 miles away, it has worked really well.

cajef

Moved from Cornwall to East Anglia with my job fortunately my OH was in the civil service and could just transfer, although we had friends there we always intended to move back as we had family and more friends in Cornwall than there, finally move back after 19 years and wouldn't ever move away from here again.

Pumpkim

We are in the process of 'moving back' for family reasons. We've lived in our current city for the last 15 years but since having our son, the importance of having family close by has become more apparent. We still have lots of friends in our hometown so it makes sense for us to go back. I don't feel like it's a backwards step, we moved away because it suited us at that time in our life, we're moving back because life has moved on and priorities have changed. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

phoebe1989seb

Like ProDave, we've not actually moved back to an area but while my parents were still alive we did frequently go back to the south coast of England city where we'd lived till 2007 - at which point we'd moved to the Essex/Suffolk borders.

We had mixed feelings about returning permanently, as we had fond memories of DS growing up there and we'd sold a fabulous home, yet also felt it was too hectic/there was too much traffic etc.

After three and a half years in Essex we were ready to move again. Ideally at that point we would have moved back to the south coast to be closer to my parents but realised even if we could tolerate the bustle and noise, we could no longer afford the type of house we'd sold in 2007. Instead we moved to a tiny hamlet in rural Wiltshire, which of course was an even more extreme change of scene.

I didn't enjoy living there at all and after three years we moved again to a sprawling village on the edge of a more urban area but with countryside on the doorstep. It was only then that I realised that a) I missed living near the sea and b) what I'd hated about rural living was not the countryside itself, but the god awful A30 that bisected our hamlet. We spend far more time out in the countryside proper, than in the village centre!

As a result we're looking to move again to somewhere rural away from noisy roads.......and the sea not too far away

So we've done - city, suburbs, rural, large village and hopefully back to rural........

teddysmum

I was raised in an Edwardian terraced house and after marriage moved into a newly built semi, on the arterial road of our estate.


Some 30 years later, our son happened to rent the same design of terrace (but mirror image) in the same street and I was struck by how tiny the rooms were, how steep the stairs were and how short the heavily parked streets were.


No sentiment about my ex-home, which my parents sold , as the multiple owners since had completely changed the style of doors and windows, so it was quite unfamiliar.

t0rt0ise

My grandmother lived in London and I spent a lot of holiday time staying with her. Forty or so years later I moved here. Not quite the same part of London, I'm more central but I still love it. Miss some things like the funfair at Battersea Park but memories continue. I don't regret moving here at all.

Davesnave

Shakespeare got it right. Your previous home town, or area, should be viewed like a stage set. The set designer will have made changes; some of them quite drastic, and you won't necessarily see all as an improvement.

If you expect to be in the same play 20 or 40 years later, you'll also be disappointed. Each Act is an improvisation. Probably, only a few of the original cast will remain, and they won't be in the same role. All this will be disorientating for a while.

If you just go with the flow, things should work out fine. You'll soon find yourself acting confidently, without glancing at the prompt, or dwelling on past performances.

However, beware that scene where you drive alone along a familiar road, just listening to the radio and enjoying the sunny day. The surprising power of cheap, popular music may suddenly transport you into that parallel universe of the past, where you are young, fit and free to do whatever you like with your life.....

That can be a dangerous route to take. Your experience and skills, collected over the years, will probably get you through safely, but I can't guarantee it.