Would you move to the country?

Everyone thinks they can carry on as they are-driving, climbing stairs etc and they will have time to make changes. Sometimes, sadly, enormous changes happen suddenly without notice. No longer driving can pose a problem. OP, Sue (?), said she wouldn’t want to stop driving-let’s hope she (or others round her) have the sense to stop when it’s no longer safe. You may think you’re still safe. DH had an assessment recently by Institute of Advanced Motorists so we know he’s safe (for now). I know my limits too.

Newquay

I agree, the last few years I’ve had more difficulty with night driving, and to be honest, I’m not as confident as I was.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop driving as long as I’m able, but if I had to stop, I’d feel very isolated living here. The town beckons.

Don’t leave decisions til it’s a crisis IMHO when you’re rushed into things. If you make decisions now with an eye on the future you can still be “in control”.
We know we/whoever is left can live here easily on the ground floor.
We have good shops/cash machine at the end of our flat road where the bus stop and GP is too so, hopefully, we can see our days out here. Our DD1 lives nearby but is self employed so couldn’t be involved in care; DD2 lives 3 hours away so we need to be as “self sufficient” as possible.

Thank you all for your replies and for sharing your experiences. I am aware as someone said in their post that the grass always seems greener etc. An isolated hamlet wouldn’t suit me now let alone as I get older. I find it difficult to meet new people & am not a fan of change, so a move is looking increasingly unlikely as I have always felt it would be impractical. We would be able to manage in a village now but who knows what the future holds & I wouldn’t want to move now & have to move again in 10 years time. Thinking about moving has forced us to think about the positives of where we currently live - there are many.
Newquay, I stated that I currently drive, I am aware that this will not always be the case, our current property is manageable without a car, we have several older neighbours who manage without cars.
Thank you again for your replies.

DH was suspended from driving for three months because of a medical condition, dealt with and now driving again. It enabled us to see how we would cope if in that position permanently. It was quite reassuring. Some of our activities would need to be curtailed because they were some distance away, but generally we managed.

However, when discussing what we would do if his condition proved not controllable and his licence was with drawn, we were able to have a dry run of the plan we already have for such a problem - moving into a town with most things on the doorstep.

The time scale would be governed by how long it took us to find a buyer for our house. But our house has always been well maintained, so preparation for sale would be easy and I am a chucker-out not a hoarder, so moving would not be too difficult and we also would only want to downsize the garden and be nearer amenities, so there would be no problem of downsizing the house. A RightMove search showed a number of houses that met our requirements in the towns we would consider moving to, at a price we were happy with.

We have moved 4 times already, plus helping children negotiate their own moves, so we know the perils and pitfalls. In fact, as a paper exercise it was very re-assuring.

I just want to warn against over caution. Several people we've known did the sensible thing by moving house and downsized too soon to places where they were lonely and unhappy. I know you have mentioned the grass can seem greener already.

Another friend, when she retired, bought a campervan and drove all over Europe with a female friend. She had a wonderful time and got her lust for adventure out of her system.

I still believe if you want an adventure then you are not too old and if you really dislike the place you are in, you should move to somewhere a little quieter.

As you age your lifestyle naturally changes anyway.

No. I've lived in a village - horribly boring, few amenities, limited cultural activities, public transport erratic, lack of diversity. Never again.

I would urge anyone thinking of moving to remember GP's don't seem to do housecalls now however ill a person may be. Make sure you can get to GP if you need to. You can shop online and even get prescriptions posted out to you but you have to go to GP. Living where you can get a tradesperson to do jobs around house is alsomimportant as you get older. Just trying to be practical. When I wss much yiunger i have lived at back of beyond where even postman left mail 1 mike away at end of track but i would not do this now.

We are both originally from inner London. We, like a lot of big city dwellers, had that dream of moving to the countryside to a little cottage with roses round the door and no neighbours, peace and quiet. However, some friends of ours did us an enormous favour when our house purchase fell through and said we could stay in their cottage in rural Oxfordshire whilst we looked for another house and furniture was in storage. We went stir crazy within the first month! After another month we made the very sensible decision not to move somewhere which was isolated. Bought a lovely little house in Exeter right near the River Exe and the Quay. 20 mins walk into town, local pubs, shops and clubs and loads of transport. Best decision we ever made. Even then, it took us quite a while to settle and make a new circle of friends, but after 8 years, I would never ever return to London or indeed a small hamlet in the country. Each to their own.

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Reported Mike please go away and try a dating site. ?

Maw, I think he is posting on every thread. I reported him too.

Our village had a school and buses, the school closed and the bus service was also stopped, it’s over 3 miles to our nearest shop and the route into the nearest towns, although the chemist delivers and the shopping is online, it feels that we need to move soon.

DH loves it here, it’s peaceful but handy for the main roads to the city, and we have no stairs so fairly future proof.

The doctors would laugh at you if you asked them to call and the cost of taxis is astonishing, if you can get someone to come out.

All the time he can drive it’s no problem.if it was up to me , I’d move into the market town.

Living in the countryside is not an unsustainable choice as long as you plan carefully. Online shopping is convenient if you have good internet connection, and that you accept that there maybe no local shops, sometimes not even a pub, and healthcare can be some distance away.
I lived in the countryside when my children were young but gradually overtime we lost our shop, our bus service was drastically reduced and our medical centre closed.
Now I live close to town, bus stop round the corner with a 10 minute service to town. I currently can and do drive but realise that I may not always be able to, or even want to drive in the future.
You could rent for awhile in your chosen part of the countryside and then see how it works for you now, and assessed how it will work in the future.