A house, a home. A life?
House hunting for us has never been like this. It’s always been a relatively short term decision, more about what we can do to a house than what a house can do for us.
This time we’re looking for our forever home, somewhere for the children to grow up. Somewhere to actually spend winter. If it needs work, it can be a long term project. If it has any deeper flaws, we’re stuck with them.
As it turns out we’re not just searching for the right number of bedrooms, or a good sized garden (although these are obviously important). We’re trying to decide how we want to live our lives and what the rest of our kids’ childhood might look like. We’re searching within ourselves, just as hard as we’re scouring the country. Do we even go here?
What’s more important to us?
- Do we want to walk everywhere, or perhaps bicycle? Are we happy with a long drive for groceries?
- Will we be swimmers or hikers on long summer days?
- Is the house going to be our project, or will we have time to pursue others?
- Do we want the view of wide open spaces, or the shade of trees and sound of birdsong?
- Can we get used to the noise of a nearby motorway?
It’s a definitive no on the last one.
As we see more houses, we’re closer to answering the rest of these questions (and many more) but they remain big questions. Fingers crossed we get them right.
