Don’t get me wrong, I love the city. I love the hustle and bustle, the fact that everything is within easy reach, and the fact that there’s always something to see and do. I like going to London, Bath, Bristol – the list could go on, for a visit, but I can safely say I would never live in any of these places. Why – because I’m just too much of a country girl. I dislike huge crowds. I hate public transport. And, I detest traffic jams. I wouldn’t cope living in a big city, I just wouldn’t.
What is it I love about living in the countryside? What’s so great about living in the middle of nowhere? Let me tell you.
The beach
Being a country girl born and bred, I grew up by the sea. I think when I was younger I took the beach for granted a bit, as I could go there whenever I wanted to. While I was away at university – living in a city I should add, I missed the beach. There was a lido and that was great, but it wasn’t the beach – no sand, salty water, or ice cream hut. I missed being able to sunbathe in the dunes, have beach BBQs with my friends, and spend any spare time I had walking along the seashore.
The fact that there’s green everywhere
I grew up in a house that looked out onto a stream, fields, and wood – as far as the eye could see there was green. In the summer, there were cows practically in my back garden – quite literally a stone’s throw away. There was a community wood outside my house where, come Autumn, I would pick blackberries, apples, pears, and apricots. I would spend my evenings playing in the stream with my friends, going for long country walks, and riding my bike – it was in almost all aspects a perfect childhood.
Having grown up in the countryside, I have always loved being outside. When I was at university, the view out my window was other houses. Where I live now, I have a hill and lots of trees outside my window. I can walk my puppy in the fields – he’s a year and a half but still a baby in my eyes, I can go for a picnic in the woods, I can sunbathe in the meadow – life is pretty damn good.
The city is just a short drive away
What I love about where I live is the fact that the city is just 20 minutes drive away. This means that I’ve got the best of both worlds – the countryside and the beach and the city just a short drive away. I can drive there or I can take the train. There’s a fantastic shopping centre, lots of restaurants and bars, various nightclubs, lots of hotels – basically, everything that you could ever want or need.
I love the countryside but I wouldn’t want to live somewhere totally isolated from city life. I like to be able to pop out for a coffee or hit the shops when I feel like it, so having a multicultural, vibrant city practically on my doorstep, is ideal. I actually live between two cities – one is 20 minutes away and the other is half an hour away, so I even have a choice of where I want to go.
Peace and quiet
While living in the city, I got my car broken into, rubbish tipped onto it, and lived in an areas where there were often crimes. At night it could be loud – on more than one occasion I was kept up by people screaming and shouting outside. Where I live now, on a quiet, residential country road, there’s never been anything like that. The most exciting thing to happen since we moved here was a power cut, and I love it.
The peace and quiet that we get here is amazing. We can let our cats out without worrying about there being a main road. We have a garden to relax and have BBQs in. Everyone is so friendly – all the neighbours say ‘hello’. It’s just a genuinely nice place to live.
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