A Change in Perspective

I don’t usually write these sort of posts but I felt that this was something that I wanted to share. There is so much pressure placed on those of us in our late twenties. When will you get married, buy a house, have kids? But actually, what if I don’t want to do any of those things just yet? What if I actually want to spend the money that I work hard for each month on actually living?

Hands up, I’ll confess that I’m awful at saving. But that’s not the only reason why I don’t want to start saving for a house. I love the idea of owning somewhere, and I always get an pang of regret that I don’t when I go to somewhere a friend owns. I then usually get home, get on Rightmove and look at what I could get. The answer is always the same. Not much. Or at least not much in the area that I would like to live.

The boy and I have discussed this many times and always come back to the same conclusion. We love Fulham. And for us, this is where we want to live. For two people in their twenties it has everything that we want – good bars, restaurants, shops, parks, links to central London. Which led us to think, lets use our twenties for living, rather than feeling pressure to save or buy a house in an area that right now, we don’t want to live in. When we’re older and we have kids, a house in the suburbs would be the dream. But it’s not the dream right now.

So, rather than setting aside a hefty chunk of money each month for a house, we’re going to start spending to see more of the world. We’re not going to quit our jobs and go on some mammoth round the world tour. No, we’re going to start local and see as much of Europe as possible. So many people from Australia or New Zealand come over and use their weekends for travel and that’s what we’re going to do. There is so much culture on our doorstep that we’ve never considered exploring, but that’s all going to change. Admittedly, Brexit may be about to screw us over here, but even more reason to do it now!

By having no plan or agenda apart from to explore, it means that we can be totally flexible and cheap in our plans. And that leads to an even greater adventure. Before the end of the year, we’ve planned trips to Oslo, Gothenburg and Stockholm. All for about £200 each (for each trip) for flights and accommodation. We’ll get to explore new countries, new foods (and wine, obvs!), new cultures and make the most of being young with no dependencies. And then, when we’re in London, we’ll make the most out of living there.

So it’s not owning a house, but it’s our own adventure and I’m super excited to see where we end up. And then, in ten years time when we’re sitting in our own house in Surrey or wherever, with kids and dogs running about, we’ll be able to look back and know we did what was right for us.

Sammy x