The pandemic has been hard for all of us, but it brings a unique opportunity as it’s forced us all to look at our lives differently and find new ways of doing all the things we used to do. Work, socialising, exercise, school, they are all different. But by changing everything, has COVID given us more reasons to relocate?
You can work from anywhere
COVID saw an end to pointless meetings, commuting, and feeling like you need to be in the office to be successful in your job. It allowed us to find new ways of working that gave us back that work-life balance. Meetings could be done online, work can still happen remotely and you could save so much time not sitting on a train each day.
A report by the ONS claimed that one in ten city dwellers who were working from home in the first lockdown were planning to move to rural areas of the coast. The report went on to say that, of the people they surveyed, 29% planned to remain working from home after the pandemic, all or part of the time.
COVID has helped many people see that their dreams of relocating could become a reality.
Your social life has changed, so why not your location?
Cities might feel like they have lost some of their magic. What’s the point in being in the city centre, to be close to everything, when everything is closed? Theatres, cafes, restaurants, bars, gyms. All the reasons you wanted to be in the city have suddenly vanished, so what is there is do? Step outside into the great outdoors and suddenly you dream of being able to do that near the coast rather than a high-rise, concrete jungle.
You want more
When everything is taken from us we are able to consider what’s most important. More time with the family, more space in your home, more space outside, less commuting, less time working. Instead of spending hours a day commuting, only to sit at your desk for 8 hours and being too exhausted when you get home to do anything with the family, you want to be able to work from home, hit the beach for dog walks, bikes ride to the local pub for a meal and catch up with friends over a coffee on a weekend. COVID has reminded us that we can have more.
You might have thought about relocating before, but there have always been reasons to not. It’s not the right time, it’s too hard, how would you juggle work and the move. COVID has given many city dwellers even more reasons to relocate to the coast.