People often ask us if we have any regrets about moving out here and starting the B&B. The short answer is always ‘absolutely not’ but I thought I’d reflect on that a little more this week.
We don’t see our family as often as we did. We’ve missed some ad-hoc birthday celebrations and not been there for the hugs and moral support as people have been through the ups and downs of life for the last year. Both Tom and I have had to make short, unexpected trips back to England for family matters but being just 20 minutes from Bergerac airport with low-cost flights to Stansted and East Midlands, it is quite an easy trip. With WhatsApp, everyone getting on with their busy lives anyway, and having people to stay with us here… on balance I have no regrets on this so far.
Our income is a lot less than it was. Over the years we have taken expensive foreign holidays, eaten in some top restaurants, had weekends away, London theatre trips etc. We can’t afford that lifestyle anymore. I used to put money into savings every month and I can’t afford to do that anymore. But now we are living in a lovely holiday destination with our own pool and long hot summers. The B&B income allows us to eat out at some brilliant very good value restaurants. We have booked some ‘winter sunshine’ and whilst I’m no longer saving, I am not eating into my savings. Ask our friends and family back in the UK and they say our life is one long holiday now anyway! No regrets so far…
I’ve had a challenging and fulfilling career. For the most part I really enjoyed my jobs. I got to travel, I was always learning new ‘stuff’, meeting new people, challenging myself etc. But I was often working ~50 hours per week with 6 weeks holiday a year. I certainly wasn’t ready to retire – I would go crazy. But now instead of spending my mornings on trains, conference calls and emails earning money for someone else. I spend it serving guests, keeping the house and garden clean and tidy and earning money for us and I often have the afternoon to myself. I am still being challenged every day, meeting lots of new people and learning new ‘stuff’. Oh yeah and I get 5 months holiday a year! No regrets there.
I do get nostalgic for the things in the UK I loved… hiking in the Lake District, running along the North Norfolkand Suffolk coasts, a pint of Adnams in the beer garden at the Waldringfield Maybush, Pin Mill Butt and Oyster, Southwold Harbour Inn etc., Popping into London for a night out / weekend. An all-day brunch at the Whistlestop Café in Woodbridge. A beer and curry evening with friends from work… These have been replaced by some equally great R&R activities here and I can always go back to do them in the UK again so, no regrets, but these have been the sort of things that I think about most often…wouldn’t it be great to…
I could ramble on (even more…) but having reflected on the question a little more today: yes, there are places and things I miss, people I would like to spend more time with, but do I have any regrets ? Absolutely not.
With August coming to a close and the pace of life starting to slow a little here, I’m going to switch to monthly updates to my Blog.