So last month I shared with you my decision to leave London and move back to Bath. Well I have been back here a few days now and I wanted to write about the experience and how it feels to come home after a long period away.
Leaving London was a lot harder than I imagined. The day I left felt weird and bizarre. I knew I would never live in my house again. I knew that it was most probably the last day I would live in the capital, at least for the foreseeable future. And although I was 100% certain it was what I wanted, I felt inexplicably sad packing up my things and loading the car. When I had left Bath five years prior, it had been with such hope and excitement for my future and it was sad to realise that all those plans had never and would never come into fruition. This weird feeling continued until the drive out of London and I realised that although things hadn’t worked out, my time in London had been exactly what I needed and had lasted exactly the time I needed. I have been changed for good because of all the things I have experienced over the past five years and I’m returning to Bath a different person. As I left London and drove closer and closer to the West Country, the sun was setting making the sky look beautiful and I couldn’t help but think how it mirrored the way I was feeling perfectly.
I am temporarily living at my Gran’s house. My gran and mum live in the same street in a beautiful village just on the outskirts of Bath. My Gran has been in the village since she was 16, my Mum and her siblings grew up here and then 20 years later so did I. I went to the same primary school as my Mum and my baby sister will start there in September. I worked in the village shop for six years before leaving for university. I know this sounds so small-townesque but things like this are why I wanted to move back. My village isn’t just where I spent my childhood and my early adulthood, it is part of my identity, part of my family history, it is so ingrained in me I couldn’t change it even if I wanted to. If you haven’t been to Bath, or even if you have, you probably wouldn’t know that the city is rumoured to be located in a (inactive) volcano crater and surrounded by hills (although I just googled this and I cannot find any source for this?! I am positive that I was told this as a child!). My village is situated right on the eastern edge of Bath, in every direction you can see rolling green hills. Waking up to these views everyday, being able to step outside and be immediately immersed in countryside is wonderful. On my first full day back, we went to one the local pubs in the village and had a beautiful meal and drinks outside by the river. I will never take this for granted again.
My puppy Pip is the complete opposite of me; being raised as a city dog she absolutely hates the countryside but she is getting used to it. I took her for a walk up to our local woods and she kept pulling to go back. Silly puppy. One of my favourite moments of being home so far was sitting with Pip at the top of a hill overlooking the village and across to the other neighbouring villages. Moving was, as expected, exhausting emotionally and physically and I spent Friday and Saturday feeling quite poorly. Alongside this the weather was quite grey but the views from around the village were still stunning.
Today the weather perked right up; glorious sunshine and blue skies called for a dog walk along the canal followed by a roast. My perfect Sunday. If you ignore the fact I stood on a thorn and it went so deep into my foot that it took an hour and half to get out! There are no filters on the pictures below to show you how beautiful the day was.
Tomorrow I start a new job and I’m understandably nervous after so long out of work. But I am sure it will be fine. I was also offered a manager position at my village shop where I worked previously. I’m seriously considering taking it as I feel it would be good for my mental health to be surrounded by my old work family and customers. But for now, I am just settling back into Bath life 🙂
“I have been changed for good” xxxxx