Would you give up and run?

[NobleLord]

With all the doom and gloom about the global economic slowdown, unemployment, rising taxes, recession, etc, would you ever cut and run and 'step out' of the real world for something totally different?

I work in the internet business, have been in and around IT for 15 years and am in a reasonably senior and pressured job. Still, I'm feeling the pinch and, thanks to a misspent youth buying too many cars and toys, I don't have enough cash tucked away to retire and continue living the lifestyle I do now. If everything went tits up for me now, I would give serious thought to breaking away from society as I know it. First step would be to sell everything I have, second step would be more difficult with more choices. Maybe buy a narrow boat and become a roaming hippy growing my own food and being as self-sufficient as possible. May even but a derelict barn in somewhere like France and try and turn it into a home complete with own veg garden and a bit of livestock.

I'd need to do something to keep me busy, but the change in lifestyle would be total and dramatic.

I have a wife and a 5 year old daughter. My wife would be up for doing something like this, but I'd need to consider my daughters future and how to provide a decent level of education. I know some people educate their children at home.

So, would you consider doing something like this?

NL

[scotal]

How are you going to grow your own food on a narrow boat?

[carmonk]

Being neither brainwashed nor tied down by commitments I would answer, Certainly!

[cslgirl]

Why not? You could always be thinking "what if". I am a great believer in "you only have one life" - live it as you want ! Sounds like a really cool thing to do - it may work out, it may not, but at least you would have tried it!!

[Hedders]

scotal said:

How are you going to grow your own food on a narrow boat?

You would need a permanent mooring with a little bit of land, if you go out into the sticks you could buy something pretty cheaply i would imagine.

[bkay88]

Yes, in my position, absolutely.

However, I'd give serious thought to your daughter's needs in this.

[NobleLord]

scotal said:

How are you going to grow your own food on a narrow boat?

I saw one on the canal in Paddington recently with dozens of grow bags on the roof. Everything you can imagine was sprouting!

Livestock would be a struggle mind you, unless I bought a small plot of land near the canal and kept within a couple of days travel so I could look after them if needs be.

NL

[Adenauer]

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

[bkay88]

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

I trust that Adenau being so close to the 'Ring had no influence on the decision to move there

[Yugguy]

It sounds lovely but I would imagine is a lot harder in reality - tragically the Good Life was just a TV show.

Felicity Kendal in it though, YES PLEASE!

[thehawk]

NobleLord said:

scotal said:

How are you going to grow your own food on a narrow boat?

I saw one on the canal in Paddington recently with dozens of grow bags on the roof. Everything you can imagine was sprouting!

Livestock would be a struggle mind you, unless I bought a small plot of land near the canal and kept within a couple of days travel so I could look after them if needs be.

NL

And those canal boats in Paddington are probably worth more than most peoples houses.

[Adenauer]

Having just re-read your post, if you just want to be a couple of hippies, ignore my previous post

[Adenauer]

bkay88 said:

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

I trust that Adenau being so close to the 'Ring had no influence on the decision to move there

None what so ever, oh no, no way Jose, Adenau is the centre of Europe

[chris watton]

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

Sounds exactly the same as our experience, especially regarding the kids and wife!

[NobleLord]

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

That's a valid point. The thing is, I work away from home all week and my wife stays at home in the sticks and doesn't work. She looks after our daughter and rides her horses when she has time. We have quite a large house with a few acres, so she keeps very busy growing stuff, keeping the house looking good, doing the garden, etc. She's not the most sociable girl and prefers to stick with the occasional get together with her few close friends. Other than that, she's happiest in her own company or messing about with the horses.

If we did 'cut and run' I'd be there all the time, so (I hope!) she'd be happier

NL

[10 Pence Short]

chris watton said:

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

Sounds exactly the same as our experience, especially regarding the kids and wife!

Yup, that's a good description of what happened in our case, too.

My brother and sister of primary school age picked up French very quickly in the French speaking primary school they attended in Belgium. My mother ended up bored stiff.

[Slagathore]

NobleLord said:

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

That's a valid point. The thing is, I work away from home all week and my wife stays at home in the sticks and doesn't work. She looks after our daughter and rides her horses when she has time. We have quite a large house with a few acres, so she keeps very busy growing stuff, keeping the house looking good, doing the garden, etc. She's not the most sociable girl and prefers to stick with the occasional get together with her few close friends. Other than that, she's happiest in her own company or messing about with the horses.

If we did 'cut and run' I'd be there all the time, so (I hope!) she'd be happier

NL

You could grow veg and stuff at your current house, and get some livestock, sounds like there is enough space.

I'd say the quality of your daughters life is the main concern.

[Adenauer]

NobleLord said:

Adenauer said:

I would suggest that the biggest upheaval would be for your wife, not your daughter. When I moved to Germany my daughters were 1 & 3, both were put straight into German Kindergarten and both picked up the language and made new friends very quickly. They now attend German school like any other German kids but are also fluent in English.

Your wife on the other hand will find it more difficult to make new girly friends and will get frustrated by daily chores such as the shopping. She'll also get lonely and bored, but given time she'll overcome all of that. That what happened to us anyway. Would we do it again? 100% we would

That's a valid point. The thing is, I work away from home all week and my wife stays at home in the sticks and doesn't work. She looks after our daughter and rides her horses when she has time. We have quite a large house with a few acres, so she keeps very busy growing stuff, keeping the house looking good, doing the garden, etc. She's not the most sociable girl and prefers to stick with the occasional get together with her few close friends. Other than that, she's happiest in her own company or messing about with the horses.

If we did 'cut and run' I'd be there all the time, so (I hope!) she'd be happier

NL

With the greatest respect, oh Noble one, she might just get a bit niggled after a while if you're around all the time and previously weren't?

It's also the simple "what if" scenario that's important to consider, you're away for the day, she's on her own, how does she call Piere le Plum and tell him that a pipe has burst and needs to be fixed, pronto? Especially if it's rural France you're thinking of, they don't speak English as readily as the Parisians do!


It makes le' her indoors feel a bit insecure

Edited by Adenauer on Tuesday 9th December 12:34

[Tony*T3]

A very good mate of mine bought a canal boat recently.

A few weeks ago he slipped and fell whilst coming back from walking the dog.

He hit his head on the boat, knocking himself unconscious.

They pulled his body out 4 hours later.

Stick to solid ground mate.

RIP Malc.

[patmahe]

I've thought about this too, I think most people have. It is a matter of getting up the courage to actually go for it.

My dream involves selling everything I own, paying off any debts I have and starting all over again somewhere new. With the money I'd have left I could train to do something new (in IT at the minute and I hate it), move to somewhere with a more agreeable climate and a more layed back, less material object focused culture, where people actually give a damn about each other.

I've done the whole flash sports car thing and as much fun as they are, they cannot make you happy. But they did teach me one thing, you don't need it, any of it to be happy. You need to find contentment, whatever life fits you thats what you need to go for. Don't believe the ads that tell you you need this or that, no-one knows what you need but you. Of course you have to be realistic, some elements of life are unavoidable, you will always have bills to pay etc...but if you could manage to find a job you love, paying a reasonable wage (enough to cover bills and a little aside each month) then why would you want more? and if you did want more, at what point would you be satisfied?

I'm hoping over Christmas to sit down and plan my way out of where I am in life, I don't want to be back here in 12 months, still sick of my job etc... life is way too short. I don't care what it takes I'm getting out.