Thanks for this, Laura, and to Anne for the link! I (flipped10 years ago, at age 55) really enjoyed hearing about both your stories. There was lots that resonated.
Thank you for taking the time to listen and to share your thoughts. Really glad it resonated with you. And I'd love to hear more about how you flipped your own life? I noted you live in Brittany now? What is life like there? Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Laura, my ‘flip’ was about a slower and quieter life in the country - less money, more time to write, read, garden, notice things. From a completely urban environment in Liverpool (our street didn’t have trees or grass, none of the houses had gardens) to being surrounded by nature and wildlife. We were fortunate to have a tiny holiday cottage in Brittany already, which we loved but couldn’t afford to live in. There was a lot of luck involved in what happened. Like Anne, I started thinking about how a move might work some years before doing it. I made a spreadsheet and ran the numbers over and over again, ‘IF we let our current house AND bought an old camper van AND rented the cottage to summer visitors while living in the van AND didn’t take any foreign holidays…’ etc. It felt proactive, but the sums didn’t add up, even after the kids had left home and my older husband reached state pension age. We were trapped, until something happened that sounds prosaic but felt miraculous at the time - my employer, a local council, started offering voluntary redundancy and early retirement to reduce the workforce, just as I hit the magic age of 55. That meant we could just (barely) afford to make our move to Brittany. We had no doubts, there was no should-we-shouldn’t-we. Ten years on, no regrets (rien de rien). I’ve written a lot of stories and had some published. Done writing courses with fabulous teachers. Made jewellery and decorations from seaglass collected on local beaches. We’ve spent summer months as campervan nomads. My husband reads Latin and listens to vinyl records. I speak French, not well but better than before. I grow vegetables inexpertly, and make constant use of Plantnet (plant ID) and Merlin (birdsong ID). We go to England often, and help with the grandchildren. We’re getting old, but that’s another story!
Thanks for this, Laura, and to Anne for the link! I (flipped10 years ago, at age 55) really enjoyed hearing about both your stories. There was lots that resonated.
Thank you for taking the time to listen and to share your thoughts. Really glad it resonated with you. And I'd love to hear more about how you flipped your own life? I noted you live in Brittany now? What is life like there? Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Laura, my ‘flip’ was about a slower and quieter life in the country - less money, more time to write, read, garden, notice things. From a completely urban environment in Liverpool (our street didn’t have trees or grass, none of the houses had gardens) to being surrounded by nature and wildlife. We were fortunate to have a tiny holiday cottage in Brittany already, which we loved but couldn’t afford to live in. There was a lot of luck involved in what happened. Like Anne, I started thinking about how a move might work some years before doing it. I made a spreadsheet and ran the numbers over and over again, ‘IF we let our current house AND bought an old camper van AND rented the cottage to summer visitors while living in the van AND didn’t take any foreign holidays…’ etc. It felt proactive, but the sums didn’t add up, even after the kids had left home and my older husband reached state pension age. We were trapped, until something happened that sounds prosaic but felt miraculous at the time - my employer, a local council, started offering voluntary redundancy and early retirement to reduce the workforce, just as I hit the magic age of 55. That meant we could just (barely) afford to make our move to Brittany. We had no doubts, there was no should-we-shouldn’t-we. Ten years on, no regrets (rien de rien). I’ve written a lot of stories and had some published. Done writing courses with fabulous teachers. Made jewellery and decorations from seaglass collected on local beaches. We’ve spent summer months as campervan nomads. My husband reads Latin and listens to vinyl records. I speak French, not well but better than before. I grow vegetables inexpertly, and make constant use of Plantnet (plant ID) and Merlin (birdsong ID). We go to England often, and help with the grandchildren. We’re getting old, but that’s another story!