My big news of recent months is that I’ve escaped to the country! I’ve spent my entire life living in various parts of Sydney and have tried to leave many times. This time, I’ve succeeded and moved to the Mittagong area of the Southern Highlands. There’s a family connection nearby and it’s not too far from Sydney.

Having spent a couple of years working from home and dealing with Sydney traffic which has worsened over the years, I was even keener to leave. I put my flat on the market last year and following some negotiation was able to sell it to my tenant. I had moved out several years earlier to live with my partner and their kids. We’d been keeping an eye on the market down south and were able to buy a place within our budget when the right one popped up.

It’s a bigger place than we’re used to but with a decent garden and a bunch of hedges…well kept and shaped hedges are rather common and there’s something of a Scottish/English feel to the area. We have multiple fruit trees as well. The first time we entered the property we felt calm and at ease…and that remains the case a few months later.

Distance-wise it’s about an hour and 20 minutes drive from Sydney by car, or around 2 hours 20 minutes on the train to work. I can shorten that travel time by around 20-30 minutes if I drive to Macarthur and get a train from there – that also means I’m not dependent on the infrequency of the Southern Highlands trains which run about once an hour. I’m sorta hoping that covid-related working from home continues so I don’t have to commute too often. I am currently going into the office 1-2 days per week. The worst case is that I return to the office fulltime which will hurt a little but is manageable. I love my job too much to give it up.