Ten things that will surprise you when you move to the country

Firstly, welcome and thanks for coming on this blogging adventure with me.

As an ex-city slicker, life in the country really does seem to bring a new adventure every day.

I spent the good part of my adult life living five minutes from three supermarkets with mail delivered to my door and free to air TV – let’s just say there are A LOT of learnings and adjustments.

I’m writing this blog to share the good, bad, ugly and ultimately funny things that happen when you move to the middle of nowhere after living in the city. So let’s start with some good!

Here are ten things that came as a pleasant surprise when I moved to the country:

1. You’ll be excited by every wild animal you see in the first few years. The locals have assured me you get used to them eventually but you will still give your regular visitors a name (Kellis the swamp wallaby says hi).

2. If you didn’t before, you’ll now REALLY care about the weather given your next hot shower depends on it.

3. You’ll realise there’s a city walking pace and a country walking pace, and you’ll stand out like a sore thumb as you speed walk down the main street until you adjust.

4. You’ll change your concept of distance and time. Everything and everyone is ‘just down the road’. Sure, just down the road is usually a minimum 40 minutes travel time but car trips are also so much nicer when there’s no traffic and green rolling hills as your backdrop.

5. You’ll forget what a car horn and road rage sound like. It probably helps that my local town only has five sets of traffic lights, but people in the country actually stop to let people in and out and usually give a friendly wave as they do.

6. You’ll remember people are inherently lovely creatures when they’re not under stress. Big country towns are one of the most thoughtful and friendly places on earth- the coffee shop barista knows your name & order after three visits five weeks apart.

7. You’ll slow down. There’s no such thing as ducking into a shop for something quick – most interactions start with a two-minute chat about the weather followed by a pleasant discussion about whatever it is you’re purchasing.

8. You’ll sleep more. 9pm is your new bedtime in winter after a cosy evening sitting by the fire drinking a glass of wine.

9. You’ll be able to legitimately use The Castle’s “How’s the serenity?” line every day. When you live on a country block, you don’t have to deal with anyone else’s noise, and you can make as much noise as you like without impacting someone else.

10. You’ll discover your inner Scout. When you live in the country, and something goes wrong (as it invariably does!) you learn to fix it yourself. My current list of new skills includes chainsawing fallen trees without damaging my own limbs, hooking up the house power to my electric car during an extended power outage and driving a tractor!

So this is the start of The Tree Changers story.

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