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Why I Have To Leave The South
Well it is time for the follow-up for my thread of some 7 years ago where, being sick of being considerably underemployed and underpaid, I decided to pack up and head down South for a better life. And I succeeded. Funny how things at some point go full circle.
The first 4 years with my employer at the time were slow. A steady income but nothing that great. But as you know, about 2.5 years in, I was seconded onto the SAP ERP implementation. After that I had a change of job, things snowballed from there and hence I am where I am now...a freelance consultant with a serious amount of good experience (look at my other redundancy thread). It has put me in an amazing position. But at the same time, cuts any actual tie to an area other than having good transport connections. Which leaves me free to go where I please.
Now there are push factors and pull factors.
London is a great place, I don't think there is anywhere quite like it on the planet. But for me it is a monumental pain in the arse as well. Too damn expensive for a start and I find it too pretentious (you can take the man out of Hull but you cannot take Hull out of the man
) and I can't afford to live in anywhere but the sticks without really stretching myself financially. And trying to get around the place just drives me mental. And I find a lot of the people very "difficult", I'll be honest. Not very friendly, completely self absorbed. The other night I fell over quite hard on the tube...no harm done to me. Not one person asked if I was OK, not one. Even though I had a laugh about it with a friend who was sat next to me, again, no one even seemed to crack a smile. And I think the people around you comprise a massive part of the environment. And hence London probably pisses me off more than I like it. There are positives - you can be who you want to be, no one bothers you and it is pretty safe (area depending of course) and it is a beautiful place.
And the pull factors. Distance from my family. I have a very busy life and getting too and from Hull from London is a pain in the backside...I live closer to Paris than Hull (I know which I would rather visit in an ideal world, but that's not the point). And my parents aren't getting any younger and my mother has been diagnosed as terminally ill at the end of last year (long prognosis and a relatively unagonising disease, but still, devastating) and it would be great to see much more of them, as well as my sister and nephew. And the cost of living, much cheaper relatively. I could afford to buy half of Hull from what I can tell, but still, I could not stomach returning to that damn city.
So I have gone back to my plan from about 10 years ago to move to Manchester. I've always been a big fan of this place but it was always more pragmatic for me to move to London...and it has been a decision that has served me very well. I much prefer the vibe and environment of the place and the people and always have a good night out, far better than in London.
So the decision has been made. Actually I am in a very advanced stage of this decision as I will be moving (if my offer on a place is accepted for rent or negotiated to my success) in about 10 days time. It's quite funny, I will actually be paying more in rent than I am paying in London (although I have been quite lucky with this as my rent has hardly gone up for 6 years - I should be paying far more) but I do get a far nicer place, a much bigger flat a few minutes walk from the city centre and the main train station.
Great thing is that it is only 2 hours on the train between Manchester and London so it does make popping down for the weekend or for the day to visit friends very easy, and I think I would rather enjoy London this way at arms length rather than be pissed off with living in the place.
So wish me luck
The first 4 years with my employer at the time were slow. A steady income but nothing that great. But as you know, about 2.5 years in, I was seconded onto the SAP ERP implementation. After that I had a change of job, things snowballed from there and hence I am where I am now...a freelance consultant with a serious amount of good experience (look at my other redundancy thread). It has put me in an amazing position. But at the same time, cuts any actual tie to an area other than having good transport connections. Which leaves me free to go where I please.
Now there are push factors and pull factors.
London is a great place, I don't think there is anywhere quite like it on the planet. But for me it is a monumental pain in the arse as well. Too damn expensive for a start and I find it too pretentious (you can take the man out of Hull but you cannot take Hull out of the man
) and I can't afford to live in anywhere but the sticks without really stretching myself financially. And trying to get around the place just drives me mental. And I find a lot of the people very "difficult", I'll be honest. Not very friendly, completely self absorbed. The other night I fell over quite hard on the tube...no harm done to me. Not one person asked if I was OK, not one. Even though I had a laugh about it with a friend who was sat next to me, again, no one even seemed to crack a smile. And I think the people around you comprise a massive part of the environment. And hence London probably pisses me off more than I like it. There are positives - you can be who you want to be, no one bothers you and it is pretty safe (area depending of course) and it is a beautiful place.And the pull factors. Distance from my family. I have a very busy life and getting too and from Hull from London is a pain in the backside...I live closer to Paris than Hull (I know which I would rather visit in an ideal world, but that's not the point). And my parents aren't getting any younger and my mother has been diagnosed as terminally ill at the end of last year (long prognosis and a relatively unagonising disease, but still, devastating) and it would be great to see much more of them, as well as my sister and nephew. And the cost of living, much cheaper relatively. I could afford to buy half of Hull from what I can tell, but still, I could not stomach returning to that damn city.
So I have gone back to my plan from about 10 years ago to move to Manchester. I've always been a big fan of this place but it was always more pragmatic for me to move to London...and it has been a decision that has served me very well. I much prefer the vibe and environment of the place and the people and always have a good night out, far better than in London.
So the decision has been made. Actually I am in a very advanced stage of this decision as I will be moving (if my offer on a place is accepted for rent or negotiated to my success) in about 10 days time. It's quite funny, I will actually be paying more in rent than I am paying in London (although I have been quite lucky with this as my rent has hardly gone up for 6 years - I should be paying far more) but I do get a far nicer place, a much bigger flat a few minutes walk from the city centre and the main train station.
Great thing is that it is only 2 hours on the train between Manchester and London so it does make popping down for the weekend or for the day to visit friends very easy, and I think I would rather enjoy London this way at arms length rather than be pissed off with living in the place.
So wish me luck
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