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Have you always lived in the same town/city?

(56 Posts)
Polarbear2 Sat 08-May-21 10:16:07

I’ve always lived in the same city but occasionally get the feeling I should try living somewhere else? I’ve felt this much more lately. I feel I’m perhaps missing something?? I once had this conversation with a guy who had lived all around the world. He said it’s not all it seems and ‘you always take yourself with you’. Thoughts/experiences??

Greyduster Sat 08-May-21 14:09:02

I left home at seventeen and have lived in five different foreign countries and assorted places in this country. I ended up back almost on my old doorstep, for practical reasons, and have not felt inclined to leave since.

MerylStreep Sat 08-May-21 14:11:38

Oh no, not for me.
From leaving home at 20, living in bed sits, flat shares ( in around southeast London) to moving to Southend, getting married ( 10 yrs)
Buying and living on our first boat for 5 years then second one for 15 yrs. This boat we spent a year on the french canals and rivers through to the Mediterranean.
Time for change so we went into property for 5 yrs.
Got that sorted so decided to move to Bulgaria.
While there we went to Germany to buy motohome to travel round Europe.
Finally we we settled in Southend which I always think of as my home town.
We still have conversations about doing something new ?

Newatthis Sat 08-May-21 14:12:53

15 house moves - different town, different countries - exhausting, stressful but loved it all.

Judy54 Sat 08-May-21 14:16:34

We moved from town to a village and absolutely love it. We enjoy what it and the other surrounding villages have to offer and we are not to far from a town, so it is the best of both worlds for us. Not for everyone but it is right for us.

Blossoming Sat 08-May-21 14:18:29

No, I haven’t always lived in the same country either.

M0nica Sat 08-May-21 15:12:35

By the time I was 21 I had lived in 11 different locations including 2 in South Asia and 2 in Europe. The number of homes we lived in was about 21.

From 21 I have been solidly based in London and the SE, DH and I spent roughly 5 years in each of our first three homes, moving 5 or 10 miles in one direction or another. We stayed 15 years in our 4 house then moved about 30 miles to our current home where we have been for 25 years. In fact I have gone a complete circle and returned to a place I lived in in my early teens.

Another with a father in the army.

BlueSapphire Sat 08-May-21 15:28:45

Born and bred in Wiltshire, went away to college at 18 and never really went back to live.
Two years in London, nearly three years in Singapore, then Northampton, where I've been ever since apart from two foreign postings of three years in Cyprus and Australia.

Serendipity22 Sat 08-May-21 17:05:11

Well, I am back where I belong, in my childhood home. It's in a village, a village I obviously grew up in, its 'Home' its 'Me', the only negative thing is that in order for me to be back here, my mum is no longer here.

The only time I will leave here is when I am in my box.... smile

Chardy Sat 08-May-21 17:09:45

Another who went off to college at 18 and never went back. Eight counties, (north, midlands & south), have lived in town centres, out in the sticks, on estates (big and very tiny) but never outside England, never in centre of a city.

ginny Sat 08-May-21 17:43:35

3 homes with my parents, North London and two in Hertfordshire.
Have now lived in the same small town since we married 45 years ago. The town has grown and we have had two houses. We have been in our present home for 38 years . We have our market town, 3 large towns within 15 miles and lots of countryside within easy driving and walking distance. Perfectly happy living here. The only thing that would improve it would be to move the coast nearer.

Lin52 Sat 08-May-21 17:49:41

This is the longest I’ve lived in one place, as ex was in the RAF lived in Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, Germany , back to Bucks, then on separation back to my home town, then moved to next town to be nearer to work. Been here for last 20 years, oh apart from moving to East Sussex to help daughter and SIL in their shop, had a beautiful 500 year old cottage, loved it there, but they sold up and were on the move so back I came. We won’t go into the state the tenant had left my house in, ?.

BBbevan Sat 08-May-21 17:50:33

I was born and lived in Wales until I was 10. Then we moved to a town north of London. I lived there with DH and our children until 5 years ago. Then we moved to S W.Wales for two reasons. To be near DD and because where we then lived was becoming so built up it was awful

CanadianGran Sat 08-May-21 18:32:13

I have lived only in two places other than a short stint in a city near my home town when I finished school.

Born in Ontario Canada small town, but early 80's recession and no job prospects led to a lark visit of a town in BC where a few acquaintances found work. Within weeks I had steady employment, and within months met my DH. I have been here since! Funny how there are quite a few people here that came for a month, stayed for a lifetime.

Do I feel I have missed out? Maybe. The trouble is I have DH who is 3rd generation here and sees no reason to ever leave. We have 2 of 3 grown children, and 2 grandchildren here as well.

I find comfort in walking my neighbourhood and chatting with people I know, recognizing the grocery and bank clerks, bumping into my children's teachers, etc. I think you could feel very lonely in a city where you knew no one.

While I wouldn't want to be a world wanderer since I feel you would never have roots, I do have daydreams of living in a french village for a year. Maybe I could take a gap year when I retire.

NotAGran55 Sat 08-May-21 18:44:20

9 different homes for me , all in the same county . Over the years I have moved from east to west to live in properties that are more affordable or for the children’s schooling. My current house would cost 50% more in the first village that I lived in with my parents .
I would love to move once more to Windsor or Oxford within walking distance to the railway to London but it won’t happen.

Grannyboots1 Sat 08-May-21 19:31:58

I was born in Malta, then Scarborough, Malta, Cornwall, Malta, Winchester, and finally Bedford where I have lived for 53 years. My father worked for the Admiralty. We ended up a very close family of five, but missed out on close relationships with grandparents etc.

MissChateline Sat 08-May-21 19:45:30

I spent a few years in Malta from 1959 to 1962 as my dad was in the RAF. 13 primary schools and 2 boarding schools (I kept getting expelled) . Lived all over the UK including Scottish islands. Love travelling and setting up home in different places. But now been in the small town where i now live for 16 years and love it. But also enjoy our second home in the Canary Islands whenever we can get there.

Doodledog Sat 08-May-21 19:51:25

My stepfather lived in the same house all his life - over 80 years. He was born there (literally), lived there as a child, when he married, his wife lived there with him (I'm not sure what had happened to his parents at this point), then she died and he stayed put. Years later he met my mum, who was a widow, and they each kept their own addresses.

He died in hospital, but was still living in the house until he was taken in.

janeainsworth Sat 08-May-21 19:58:07

I’ve lived in 5 different places including 11 years in Hongkong, which was magical.
The only place where I was unhappy because of where I lived was a village in Cumbria.
I still have a soft spot for Stockport where I grew up & sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I’d stayed there. I found moving & getting to know people all over again quite difficult.
I’ve lived in Northumberland for more than 30 years, but it doesn’t feel like home.
I agree with your friend Polarbear.

M0nica Sat 08-May-21 20:00:41

*Doodledog, my FiL did much the same. He was born elsewhere but his mother died when he was six weeks old and he and his sister went to live with a paternal aunt and uncle,

They inherited half the house each when his surrogate parents died just before he got married so he bought his sister out and stayed put with wife and later, son. In his case he died in the house when he was 77.

valdali Sat 08-May-21 20:40:20

I left home at 18 for college. Although I had a wonderful childhood I did come to find the village where I grew up a bit suffocating. I had many great aunts and uncles,aunts & uncles, 23 cousins & various second cousins most of whom lived in our villages & in the county town. Private Eyes were certainly not needed in our family to find out what anyone was up to!
It's different now & I do dream of moving back. I do like to move or change my job every few years; failing that, a good holiday gets me out of my rut.

annodomini Sat 08-May-21 20:57:36

From a small town in the West of Scotland where I was born, I left for university on the East coast. At the same time my parents moved to the middle of Scotland. I lived with them while I did my post-grad teacher training, commuting to Edinburgh each day. Moved to Dundee for my first job and lived in three different lodgings. Five years in Kenya, initially on the compound of a girls's school and after we married, we had a house on his compound. Home then, to five months in Devon, followed by Nottingham, Leicestershire and Norfolk, while the boys grew into teenagers. North to Bramhall in Greater Manchester and now I live on my own in Cheshire.

Jaxjacky Sat 08-May-21 21:18:08

As an adult I’ve always lived in Hampshire, ten moves, no more planned.

Lillie Sat 08-May-21 21:38:57

It was work that took us to live in different places, but home is where our children grew up and I am back there.

Framilode Sat 08-May-21 21:39:25

I was born in Lancashire, lived in Uganda then went to school in Wales. After that Berkshire, Hampshire, Lancashire again, Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Spain and eventually Oxfordshire where we are now. Enough moving I think.

hollysteers Sun 09-May-21 15:38:54

I grew up inner city but married and moved to this seaside town 20 miles away. Didn’t like it for years, but husband born here and it was excellent for the children growing up. I would have liked to have lived in London for a long spell. I gave up my country caravan a year ago as site is being developed.
Now widowed, I doubt will move, but travelling is very important to me and that’s been one of the hardest things about lockdown, my itchy feet are itchier.
As I don’t enjoy driving, I’d like to meet a campervan man (or woman)?