Leaving

When my ex husband left me over 20 years ago, I had to sell the family home that we had lived in for about 15 years. I was so upset but actually found that I wasn’t leaving all my memories behind, I took them with me. Once I’d left I didn’t miss my old home at all, I just concentrated on my new life. My present partner and I moved 2 years ago from a house we’d lived in for about 18 years and it’s been great fun getting this house how we want it, again concentrating on the present not the past.

I was 2 weeks old when I moved into our family home, there had only been our family who had ever lived in it. My mum left it to my sister and I so I gave her money in exchange for her half after I left my ex. A lovely new start or so I thought.
My neighbours had their house like party central most weekends, now these guys were in their 60s, not teenagers. Music pumped, drink flowed and then the singing commenced. I worked Sat & Sundays and I was totally exhausted in work. Plus their dog howled every time they went out, it was dreadful.
I decided to move, it broke my heart at the thought of it, but it was either that or my health.
The day I closed the door of that house I was so upset, but my memories moved with me and I love where I am now. I got myself a detached bungalow with the loveliest neighbours around me. I know I definitely did the right thing, it's a new chapter of memories now.
The icing on the cake is that the couple who bought my old house have rowdy screaming kids, a couple of dogs and the noise is supposed to be horrendous from it so an old neighbour told me. What comes around goes around....
Good luck with your new home and I hope you have lots of happiness in it

It was the best thing we ever did.
We brought our family up in our previous house and had happy memories and sad ones too.
We were moving to live in an 8 birth caravan while we converted and extended a stable in an orchard for our new home. A big change from a spacious four bedroomed bungalow. I was determined not to cry as we drove away from our old home.
Actually we loved being here from the moment we arrived. Our house is designed specifically for two people and is quite lovely. The garden gives us enormous pleasure. I have two green houses and a potting shed. My husband has an office in the garden. We are tucked away and very private and not overlooked due to a high brick wall down one boundary and high fences and trees and a long drive with tall solid gates part way down the drive. Our neighbours are wonderful. There is a newsagent/food shop/off-licence across the road from the bottom of our drive. The owner is lovely and if my husband is more than half an hour late collecting the morning paper he rings to make sure we are o.k. He has become a good friend. If we go on holiday he has keys to our house and collects the mail and puts it on the dining table as do our new next door neighbours.Lovely people too.
We are both fit and well just older than our neighbours. There is also a village facebook site and it is wonderful to see the generosity of people happy to help each other out with almost anything. We have treated moving here as a great adventure. I don't miss anything about our previous home. It is strange that our children both married with their own houses and families refer to this place as home, yet they have never lived here. I guess 'Home is where the heart is'.

We did it when DH retired. It has been a positive experience.
We were missing the family who had left home the house was too big and the dining room was never used.
This house is ours just big enough for visitors but much easier to clean.
The neighbours are friendly and we soon felt part of the community, we joined village clubs and coffee mornings preCovid.
We now have beautiful new places to explore within a short distance. Small walks, long hikes are on the doorstep.
It also gave the positive side of getting rid of a lot of possessions that were just gathering dust.
This feels like our home, not the family home we had and the family enjoy visiting us. Good Luck

Bluefox. We moved house November 2020 over 100 miles to an area we didn't know very well. Nearer to our son and his family.
Haven't missed out old home of 22 years at all. Thought it would take time to get used to a bungalow after a house. But we love our new home. Despite missing a few family and friends.
Had lived in that area all of our lives.
Look forward to your new home. Good times ahead!

We moved from the place and house we had for 30 years. I really enjoyed doing up the new house in lockdown and now am very happy with lovely neighbours and a friendly new community. No regrets at all!

This thread has come at such a useful time as we are in the process of downsizing to live in a granny annexe next door to daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Moments of panic vie with those of excitement. Husband and I both go up and down in mood and at time the whole thing seems so daunting. Your posts have really helped. Thank you everyone.

We moved last week from our home of 40 yrs into a bungalow we have built in our garden. We sold the original house to our daughter and son in law. While we built the new house we rented a tiny place so we had to declutter big time which has been a huge bonus now we are unpacking what remains. My biggest problem is trying to ditch zillions of photoalbums from my husbands family. Also box after box of books. OH has not even missed any of them but now refuses to part with them. suggestions welcome!!

Granarchist

We moved last week from our home of 40 yrs into a bungalow we have built in our garden. We sold the original house to our daughter and son in law. While we built the new house we rented a tiny place so we had to declutter big time which has been a huge bonus now we are unpacking what remains. My biggest problem is trying to ditch zillions of photoalbums from my husbands family. Also box after box of books. OH has not even missed any of them but now refuses to part with them. suggestions welcome!!

We've moved from a 5 storey house to a maisonette a quarter the size. We did get rid of quite a lot of "stuff" including books and big furniture beforehand, but still have a lot of china, books, and kitchen paraphernalia which has since been stored in boxes, spare rooms and the garage.
Now our renovation work is due in a month so we have to clear the flat and it is actually much easier than it was the first time. My children can take what they want, crockery is going to a local clubroom and charity shops are open again. We even have a place locally where books can be left to find a new home. There's still going to be more than we need but once the place is modernised and I can see how much space we actually have then we will HAVE to get rid of the rest. I think that this pressure will help, expecially since some of our original removal boxes have never been unpacked so obviously not missed.

I struggled when we moved from our home where we had our DS X 2, it gets easier but it's like leaving a piece of you behind. Good luck in your new home ?

Thank you everyone, I’m glad you all seem so positive about your moves, I hope my poor husband will eventually feel the same.