Our first trip to Devon

This weekend felt like a huge milestone in our Wildventure – Our first trip down to Devon since making our decision. If you haven’t read about our big decision, click here. 

Before I tell you how amazing our weekend was, I must admit something, promise not to judge. On Thursday evening, I got cold feet. I phoned my dad while Matt was packing the car, sobbing and filled with nerves: “I can’t go! I can’t move to Devon!” I got caught up in one of my usual anxiety filled ‘what if’ thinking patterns. . .  What if I don’t like Devon? What if I ruin Matt’s dream? What if Matt doesn’t like it? Eventually my dad convinced me to just go and see; no ties, no big decisions, just a family camping trip to Devon.

Our first family camping trip

 I’m so pleased to report, Devon was everything we were hoping it would be! It’s not just the long views of green and yellow fields or the clear view of the stars at night, it’s the slower pace of life, the winding country roads and the pit stops for homemade local goodies advertised on people’s gardens. We were camping at a family member’s farm, and what struck Matt most was how quiet it was. The sound of the birds, nearby lambs and streams was just gorgeous, especially without the background noise of a duel carriageway or a passing army chinook that we often get here. 

Somehow, I hadn’t quite appreciated how much family we have in Devon. As well as Matt’s cousin who we were staying with, Matt also has an Auntie and Uncle and two other cousins and their families living down there. We spent a lot of time with them this weekend, and we just felt so at home and welcome. We absolutely would not be on our own, our Devon family’s doors would always be open for us and already are, with offers of places to stay whilst house hunting. (Blog post about how fantastic our camping weekend with family was to follow.)

This weekend has cemented that moving to Devon is definitely the right decision for our family and we can’t wait. In fact, we even viewed one property whilst we were down there.

Checking out the local estate agents

The house we viewed was an old farm workers cottage in the middle of the countryside, the closest shop was 25 minutes away! Although the house itself filled us with joy, with us whispering to each other “We can actually afford a house like this?!”, the land that came with the property was just a bit too small and oddly configured. Due to the nature of a farm cottage, you would have to get on very well with the residents of the four other cottages, and we just felt that was too much of a risk for such a big move.

The farm cottage we viewed was gorgeous 

We now know that although we still want to move to the countryside, we’d like to be in a village or have a village or town close by, rather than be completely rural and remote. We also now know that due to Matt needing to travel back to Winchester regularly to collect Abi, we need to be living in East or South Devon for ease of access to the M5.

Our Wildventure is certainly still on, no more cold feet, and we have a more clear idea of what we are looking for. What a brilliant start to our journey!

Do you live in the countryside? If so, what are the positive and negatives that stand out to you? Let me know in the comments below.  

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