I am a widow and moved two months ago into a ground floor small flat from a 3 bed roomed semi with a large and lovely garden. The house is just bricks and mortar but I do miss my garden so much. However I have a very bad back and have cancer and knew that I needed to move from the top of a hill to somewhere more practical for me. I live alone and still miss my husband very much. He was a lovely man and my friend as well as my husband. What matters to me now is still being in control of my own life. This way it may not be what I would have chosen but at least I have been able to decide where and when I moved and what I took with me. So many people stay until they really cant manage and end up having to go where other people choose , due to illness or family pressures. It has been hard being without my piano etc.and I am still surrounded by boxes and chaos but we have to get some good things from this. Whilst the summer is here the unpacking can wait. I recommend the NGS the national garden scheme or we know it as the Yellow Book. You dont have to belong to anything and in your local library you should find the local county book or look up on line and it will give you a list of gardens to visit. Most are on a sunday, cost about a fiver to go and see a wonderful garden. The booklet gives you address and type of garden etc. Some sell plants - wonderful - some also do teas etc. You have the pleasure of looking at a lovely garden, may get ideas for your own and if you have a garden in your new place you can collect lovely plants well grown and it will give you ideas for your own place. The library is definitely the first port of call when I move as they have lists of all the addresses of many types of clubs etc so again gardening clubs in the locality , also hardy plant society is a great place to start. Always friendly people , as the name says hardy plants that are likely to thrive and a chance to again visit gardens and meet a group of people with similar interests. There are very few things that are good about being on your own but after years of suiting family needs and other people it is also good to just allow time to think what YOU enjoy and want and things you wont miss such as having to cook at set times and large meals. Now you can eat what you fancy when it suits you. if you cant sleep you can put the light on and read , what about the places you preferred but didnt get to? I have lived abroad and moved a lot and found that there were certain things that I needed , classical music, books to read, but also social things, so I have done quite a lot of volunteer jobs and I read on "talking newspaper for the blind" ,which I have done in various places, done hospital car for over 10 years - cant do it now as am 76 and covid problems. Whatever appeals to you the library will have the contacts list and is in itself a great place to browse and find new interests. I know that at the moment I am living in a tip but if you try and do it too quickly you put things in the wrong place and then only have to move it again. Be kind to yourself. If funds allow go out for lunch once a week and try lots of different places until you find the ones that suit you. Look around at parks national trust and rhs gardens etc. as if you were a visitor on holiday and learn about your new place. I am a singer and have been all my life so again I always look to see what choirs there are and go and listen to them and decide which one I want to join. Doing something like that allows you to meet many people without commiting yourself too much too early. Walk along your street and see what plants are growing in local gardens and learn what sort of soil you have and if you see people in the garden you can ask them about their plants and what type of soil it is. Accept that it will take a while to get settled in. Just try to find something to enjoy every day whether a good cup of coffee or something you have seen. Dont keep asking yourself if you have made a good choice or like your new home, just plod along day by day and take what pleasures you come across and then one day you will come in from shopping or a day out and it will seem you have come home. Oh the other thing I did mean to say is to look around and find somewhere like a moor or a seashore where you cannot be heard and then you will have somewhere to go and scream and shout and cry when you want to!!. I do, and often just knowing it is there I dont actually have to go there but when I need to I do and feel a lot better for it. I shout at the unfairness of life and swear sometimes and stamp about until I am exhausted and usually I do sleep better that night!! You may or not want to do that or you can just stay at home and write it all down and then enjoy ripping up the paper and burning it in the garden! Put your favourite chair in a good position near a window, put a good lamp nearby to read by and keep a little store of treats close by such as magazine, chocolate and your favourite perfume so that when the day is tough you have a little corner to hide in and recover. I wish you good luck and hope things will gradually improve. do let me know how things go.