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Calypso Rose 19/09/2016
Photo Credit: Gusbourne Wine Estate in Kent
Im a born-and-bred Londoner, Earls Court through to Hackney.
I’m happiest pounding pavements, Kings Cross is my spiritual home, London Fields gives me energy.
But a few years ago, we made a shift—parting ways (part-time) with our much loved canal boat and our London life and moving to the coast. But only on the promise
that we did the reverse commute!
What's the reverse commute? London on weekends and the
coast in the week. The opposite of what everyone else does. There's a lot of moving
around.
Living by the seaside is idyllic.
But it took me a solid two years to really settle into this life, to stop always wanting to be where I
wasn’t. The move was never about leaving London entirely (our main motivation was navigating the school
dramas); instead, we opted for a reverse commute. Weekends in the city, weekdays by the
sea.
At first, it felt like we were constantly packing a bag, straddling two different
lives. Now, it’s more of a fluid mix. And after years of trial and error, here are the real pros and
cons of the reverse commute life.
✅ More Space. More calm.
The obvious one. More house (definitely in comparison to our canal boat), more garden but most
importantly for me more fresh air.
✅ A Seat on the Train! If you’ve ever
been wedged into a rush-hour carriage, you’ll understand. Reverse commuting means I actually get a seat,
often with a table where I can do an hour or two of totally uninterrupted work or even better - read my
book!
✅ Best of Both WorldsI haven’t left London. I can still pop in for work,
meetings, or a cultural fix. But I don’t have to get involved in the daily grind. When I go to London I
am VERY excited to be there. When I get back to the coast I think how beautiful it is.
✅
Friends. Knowing I only have a couple of days in London each week makes me far
more intentional about seeing people. I book dinners, meet-ups and meaningful, and make the effort,
rather than assuming I’ll just ‘bump into’ friends at a party like I used to.
✅ Cheaper
Living (Mostly) Maybe because in 'the country' we really don't have the temptation to
go out... no passing 5 delicious coffee shops... we cook at home 95% of the time. And while train fares
can add up, it still works out cheaper overall.
✅ A Shift in Priorities. Living
outside London made me appreciate different things—time outdoors, leisurely mornings spent with friends
jumping in the sea, definitely a slower pace of life - in fact, it's hard to feel the hustle (is that a
pro or a con??). It’s a recalibration of what ‘quality of life’ means.
❌ The Packing and Planning I
am forever lugging stuff between two places. I have a constant mental checklist—laptop, chargers, kids’
school bits, that coat / pants / shoes / tortoise / rabbit I definitely left in the other
place.
❌ Train Travel Costs. OMG the train tickets aren’t cheap, and
strikes or cancellations can throw a spanner in the works. I don't leave either place if there's rail
replacement.
❌ FOMOI miss the spontaneity of London life. The food and drink. A last-minute gigs. The new
restaurant openings, the weird and wonderful wellness experiences. I miss the street food adventures and
I really miss my everyday local Hoxton Street supermarkets. Oh and Planet Organic and Whole Foods -
although my wallet thanks me for it.
❌ The ‘Neither Here Nor There’ Feeling. At
times, I feel like I don’t fully belong in either place and I don't quite get enough done in either
place. I’m not quite a local in the seaside town, and on a bad day am I really a Londoner anymore? But
after 44 years I think I still count
Would I recommend it? Absolutely—if you go in with
your eyes open. It took time to adjust, and it’s certainly not perfect. A lot of the time I feel
like I've taken early retirement (but without the cash to back it up). But when it's going well
the balance we’ve found gives us the best of both worlds.
London still feels like home,
but now, so does the sea.
