Relocating after 30 years

Hope you will be very happy in Norwich!

Wishing you all the best for your future ?

Welcome Home!

Thank you everyone who commented for sharing your experience, including words of caution and positive stories of your own moves.
This has been so helpful as my husband and I made a list of everything we think is important in terms of area and house.
We have found a good house in a nice area, close to shops, pubs and hospitals ? and have spoken to all our AC who understand and support us. So hopefully a new lease of life!

I felt very guilty for moving from our London home of 28yrs 3 years ago to the country 2 1/2 hours away. One son was living with his girlfriend there but the other was still living with usome aged 27. Ďespite a year of telling him we were moving he didn't make arrangements and we had to make him homeless on thè day we moved. He sofa surfed for 3 months till he found a home. He is now married and looking for a larger house to buy. Best thing we ever did for him.! Both couples come for a weekend every 2-3 month or so and friènds and family stay too. If g c's come along we might want to move back but for now life is great as we have quality time now instead of quick visits. All you can do is take a deep breath and jump! Good luck

We moved from Surrey to Norfolk (5 miles out of Norwich) 9 years ago and still feel thrilled about living so close to real countryside and a wonderful city.
My daughter is here and son is in Scotland, I hated having to choose, but Norfolk won because we loved the wide open spaces. Even if sons/daughters are close by now, there’s no guarantee the won’t move away with jobs etc. so it’s really important to be where you feel happiest

Him m m! All I can offer is our situation; almost 14 years ago, and definitely not part of our long term retirement plan, we moved from a city to a relatively small market town, in order to support our daughter and 2 small grandchildren. Usual tale, husband left, but in this case went back to Mum! Instead of Mum saying ‘Get yourself back there boy and sort it’ her response was more ‘Oh, my boy, Mummys here, there, there!
All I can say is, ‘this was never part of our grand plan’, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! Because we’ve played such a huge part in our grandchildren ‘s lives we have the most amazing relationship with them and this is something that we can’t put a price on.
They too have benefited, they’re brilliant with my husband, their Grampa, who now has Vascular Dementia, so they have learnt skills that they may not be aware of.
Keep all of the lines of communication open , listen, digest before you comment, but more importantly, be there for their way , not yours.
From experience I would live anywhere and anyway if it meant having the wonderful relationship we have with our lovely grandchildren.
Think carefully!

In October we made a move identical almost to the one you describe , right down to location.

We left behind 2 daughters and their families including 4 grandchildren.

Best decision ever!!

We love the area, live in a village with a doctors, bakers, butchers etc. 25 mins to Norwich. Great value property compared from where we came from. We see less 30 min pop ins from our family , but in actual fact have seen them far more than when we lived 15 mins away. The trip is 1.45 hrs so very do able .

We are really enjoying our retirement and can’t recommend it too highly. You will need to make efforts to maintain relationships but for us it’s worked really well.

I also live near Norwich,it is a lovely city,plenty to do,and as others have said,near country and coast and broads.My older brother recently moved here from the Midlands
to be near to me(baby sister),as his wife died and did not fancy going nearer London where his son lives,,.He has really settled in,joined choirs,and has a few like minded friends,and he is 82,,so if the logistics work,go for it Happilyretired☺

After 15 house moves and insisting that this was going to be my final move, now, after 14 years were moving again - and like you very reluctantly. Our daughter lives in London -3 1/2 hours away and we see very little of her, so for all the right reasons we want to move. We live in an idyllic part of the country and in a lovely home and will have to move into something much smaller and probably find more money to do so as it is a North/South move!! Lots of sympathy and empathy for you. Hope it all goes well.

Norfolk is a very peaceful place to live, and houses are so much cheaper to buy there.
Also you have family there already.I would go for it, and tell your other son and partner to come and stay with you whenever they like.
Your other family are already a long way from you, but will surely come and visit.

Plus, if you grew up in Norwich you know the good and not so good areas. Although the city has grown considerably - and is growing still - that hasn’t changed!

Since I live ten miles north of Norwich and am born and bred I’m slightly biased, but I can say that DD1 and family who live the other side of Aylesbury love to come and stay. (They’re about a 3-4 hour drive away.). There’s plenty to do and the DGC and SiL love it. We see more of them since they moved further away.

Also, The Times had an article last week about how wonderful Norwich is - and how commutable! You may well find your son and partner follow you!

I think you should do what you want for your future as grown children cannot be relied on to stay where you are. DS didn’t think twice about working in New Zealand for a year, or taking a contract to work in Antarctica. He’s brought his family back to Norwich now, but I wouldn’t take bets on them staying for good. We have DD2 living close and they’re not likely to move, but you never know.

I think it depends on personal circumstances.
If you are a couple at the time of the move it is a very different story from being in a single state however that came about.
I think you have to view the situation with the knowledge that one or other of you could and likely will end up alone.
I am looking at moving away and I have already become a lone person. I also have NC AC and DGC so there is little point in me staying where I am less than happy. I just need to find the right place.

Think hard before making any decisions, and as others have said, think of the future too.We re- located four years ago to semi rural after 43 years in the same place, which I loved.We live only half an hours drive from our old location, so I am easily able to drive to see my old friends and neighbours, as we havent got to know many people here, I think maybe it is because everyone in this little community is much younger than we are,and its hard to get to know them, they are working, then busy when they get home, also in this Country it is winter for six months and nobody stands about talking.
Think twice Happilyretired123

Why not rent for a year ( and rent out your own property to cover the costs) to see if your vision of living in Norwich works out. You will experience the logistics of visiting family and how often they bother to come to you as well and will have plenty of time to find the exact area which suits you best

I've moved away and back - twice! We moved back finally for all the reasons mentioned above- closeness to facilities, support networks, hospitals, family etc etc. The way you feel now & things you can do often aren't the same 10 years on. Priorities & practicalities change.
We were cautious and able to rent out, rather than sell our home, and I'm grateful for that now we're more dependent on having good NHS services nearby. Also we were able to have a wonderful time away while we were fit enough to enjoy new places & experiences, but still had our old place to come back to. Good luck with whatever you decide.

It is always going to be hard to move away from family ,however I have 3 grown up family all have moved away, they all have phones etc but only make contact when they want something? have spoken to many parents who are in the same boat it seems as though this generation are different to our generation. have a brother in his early 70.s has had bowel cancer and a number of ops his family all in the 40 .s similar situation don't visit or phone unless ?? I would suggest you do whats right for you , your health seems good so why not enjoy a new lease of life, if they want to visit they will as time allows your new life begins now

Meant to say, our lives do not revolve around the family.( we do love them! )

We moved 60 miles four years ago after living in the same place for over 30 years. We are now 10 minutes drive from daughter who pops in to our small town from her village quite often and may drop by. Occasionally granddaughter gets off the school bus near us and comes for tea or I might be asked to collect grandson from his village school if daughter is out, but we don’t see a huge amount of them and I am aware they might move away once grandchildren have left school.
My son lives 25 mins away and occasionally we manage to get together.
My husband’s adult children live miles away, but he visits, usually on his own, for various reasons.
Mostly our lives do not re love around the family. We have our own interests and commitments, church, garden, choirs, voluntary work, days out, so we keep busy.
We chose where we now live for its amenities, shops within walking distance, good bus, train and road connections, library, doctors etc all easy access. We are not likely to get snowed in or flooded.
All these factors weighed heavily in our decision and we have no regrets, hope this helps.

We moved from a major city to a small country town 2 years ago and so far the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Our cost of living has gone down, as all our expenses for the house, utility bills, insurance are lower here, which does make a difference.

Our son and daughter-in-law are like all "young" people (they are in their late thirties and mid-forties) busy, so yes, we see less of them than we would if we were still in the same city, but even there we wouldn't see them all that much any way.

Later, this house and garden may become too much, but if so as property prices are rising again here, we should be able to sell at a profit and buy something more suited to our old age if that becomes necessary.

I would say, move if you want to go back to your roots. There are no way of knowing whether you children remain where they are living right now. Their generation is much more mobile than we were.

If you are not far from the coast you will probably find the family will want to visit. Would there be somewhere for them to sleep for a week or so?
If you are moving to a cheaper area, it will be difficult to move back as the property value will obviously not increase at the same rate but it will not be impossible and you should not assume that you would not be able to move again should your circumstances change, particularly if you are left on your own. It is not that unusually for people to move in their 80s.
Personally, I think that I would go but it is such a personal choice that that is not particularly relevant.
Have you been to stay in that area for longer than a week recently? If you can afford to go and stay for a month, I would do that maybe at a gloomy time of year and see how you feel.

I moved from London to Suffolk 6 years ago. Never regretted it. And now my daughter and family have moved here too. I have made new friends, new job and much more active !

We moved from a busy city to a small town. It has been wonderful, it was a relief to downsize, we love the area where we've moved, there's lots to do and we feel rejuvenated.
It hasn't been entirely a success on the family front because two of our three have now moved themselves and our now located in London, on the South Coast and in Liverpool so we have to take life as it comes! Thank goodness for Skype, Facebook, etc which means we feel closer than ever as a family even if the face to face is strung out! You have to think what's right for you.

We haven’t relocated but my sister and BIL moved to Norwich about five years ago. They went to university there. They absolutely love it. There is lots to do with the arts and a huge swimming pool at the university. They have a very small sailing boat on The Broads. They have never been happier.