by nvmof3 » Mon Jul 05, 2021 1:24 pm
I think SouthLondonDaddy's view is interesting, and it is clear from it that it comes from the perspective of someone who has not made the move. It is good to hear both sides of the debate of course, but it sounds like you have made your decision to move and are just trying to work out where to.
As someone who has made the move, I just wanted to address a couple of the matters raised, to reassure you.
The commute from where I live (Haslemere) is billed as 45-50 mins. In reality it is around 1 hour door to door. It is pretty reliable. In my experience, the number of trains per hour is more important than the duration of the train journey. Train journeys are a brilliant time to catch up on emails and plan the day ahead, so a long journey is useful time, and many tend to watch box sets or read on the journey home, which is also time I didn't really have in London. Having fewer trains per hour is stressful as if you miss the train due to leaving work 5 minutes late (why do people always want to ask you something when you stand up to put your coat on??) then you want to know that there will be another train shortly afterwards. THe commute is really not an issue at all. In any case, it isn't much longer than travelling from Nappy Valley to central London, and at least I am sitting with a laptop, rather than standing on the Northern Line with my nose in someone's armpit.
My kids are teens now and are very adept at using the train too to travel around to visit friends in other towns/cities or going up to the city for some fun. Tbh, I'm happier that that city is usually Guildford, not London, and they don't seem to have the pull to London much....yet.
The comment about "English white" is nonsense as far as I am aware. Anywhere within commuting distance of London is pretty cosmopolitan and full of people who have moved out of London who are very welcoming of new people from all walks of life.
I think SouthLondonDaddy's view is interesting, and it is clear from it that it comes from the perspective of someone who has not made the move. It is good to hear both sides of the debate of course, but it sounds like you have made your decision to move and are just trying to work out where to.
As someone who has made the move, I just wanted to address a couple of the matters raised, to reassure you.
The commute from where I live (Haslemere) is billed as 45-50 mins. In reality it is around 1 hour door to door. It is pretty reliable. In my experience, the number of trains per hour is more important than the duration of the train journey. Train journeys are a brilliant time to catch up on emails and plan the day ahead, so a long journey is useful time, and many tend to watch box sets or read on the journey home, which is also time I didn't really have in London. Having fewer trains per hour is stressful as if you miss the train due to leaving work 5 minutes late (why do people always want to ask you something when you stand up to put your coat on??) then you want to know that there will be another train shortly afterwards. THe commute is really not an issue at all. In any case, it isn't much longer than travelling from Nappy Valley to central London, and at least I am sitting with a laptop, rather than standing on the Northern Line with my nose in someone's armpit.
My kids are teens now and are very adept at using the train too to travel around to visit friends in other towns/cities or going up to the city for some fun. Tbh, I'm happier that that city is usually Guildford, not London, and they don't seem to have the pull to London much....yet.
The comment about "English white" is nonsense as far as I am aware. Anywhere within commuting distance of London is pretty cosmopolitan and full of people who have moved out of London who are very welcoming of new people from all walks of life.
