Retiring by the sea

Wherever you retire to think long and hard about it. I know of many sad stories where people have moved to be nearer DC who decided to move after the parents got settled.
I have had a second home, in another part of the country, since 1994 but remain very much an outsider. We are called offcomers.

I love living by the sea and we have been here now for 30 years. I would advise that you choose very carefully. Friends moved to another seaside town and regretted it because it was a different world in the winter, as some restaurants and shops closed down in the off season. Public transport was dire so imagine if you get to the point where you couldn't drive any more and there are no buses after 6pm. I would not want to be too far from a hospital and would need to have shops, doctors, banks, other facilities nearby as we get older. If you are concerned about moving away from friends and family have you considered buying a caravan by the beach where you could spend time in the summer and return home in the winter? Best of both worlds? Good luck!

We lived close to the Dorset coast - near Studland - for many years and it was great in the winter. Big empty beaches for dog walking BUT in the summer it was horrendous. Queues of cars, if you wanted to get parking then you had to start off around 7.30, sometimes they even closed the road because they couldn't take any more traffic.

Then we moved to Switzerland - long way to the sea from there; and now we're in Shropshire - also pretty land-locked! We've just come back from Sicily where we rented a flat overlooking the sea, and it was lovely to hear the waves on the beach. I do miss living close to the sea, but I don't miss the chaos.

How I wish I did live near the sea in Retirement instead of the landlocked Midlands. Even more so today after speaking to my 2 granddaughters in Pembrokeshire who have been on the beach most of the day!

I was brought up by the sea, so never knew what it was like to be without a cold swim each year in the sea.
When we retired, after much searching, I found a place in Cornwall that I thought would suit us both. However by then our older son had bought a house in the midlands, so living in Cornwall was out of the question.
Now, not only have I lost my dear husband, also my mother is on her own and lives near here, near to where my son lives, but he is often away, also not far from my older brother, who is also often away. So this suits me better, where I can take the odd visit to the coast as the winters can be so miserable.

So really think hard about where you feel you would be happier.
i know of many who have gone to Spain but in the end return when age creeps up on them

We moved near the sea ...job rather than choice before retirement. Love being near the sea, but there is always the worry about damage to your property from coastal gales. It can be very idealistic thinking about walks along the front, beach trips etc but the reality is that winter gales particularly can give your property quite a battering and as you get older this can be quite frightening. Just another perspective to consider.
Now we have retired we have moved back from the coast about 4 miles inland and no longer have the fakes battering the garden and house...plus I can grow more in the garden without the salt winds. But we can easily get in the car and pop down to the coast for a good blow!

I live very close to the sea Bridgit I have an amazing view from upstairs and the beach is about 2 minutes walk from my front door. DH and I spend a lot of time walking on the beach collecting sea glass (all year around) and there is nothing to beat the sound of the waves when you are lying in bed.

On the down side...... We get fog and sea mist when it is gloriously sunny only 5 minutes away inland. The fog horn blasts all night long and the light from the nearby lighthouse flashes across the bedroom. In the summer people who won't pay to park in the car parks block the roads. The fairground is only a minute or two's walk away making it an expensive summer. "we will only have one ride each grandma, promise." Yeah right.