Hunting for a house part 1 | why I need a change of scenery

Why I want to move out

Right now I live in an apartment I purchased 8 years ago. At the time I moved from a 25m2 studio to a 55m2 apartment and it was a big increase. It was the cheapest I could find that fitted all my requirements. You can read all details about how and why I purchased this apartment in a previous blog of mine here.

Reason 1: stuff

I am not a big accumulator of stuff, although I do have to admit I have more then 8 years ago. I believe in minimalism, but in my own way. The extreme way is where you find videos on YouTube of people owning virtually nothing. Not because they can’t afford it but because they believe stuff does not make them happy. Or so they say. I would be frustrated if I had to go to other people to loan even the smallest things like a screwdriver.

One other method of minimalism is from Marie Kondo. She has a show on Netflix called Tidying up. In the show she takes everything she finds in one room puts it on a big pile to make people realize how much they have. They then decide what they keep and what they no longer need.

My approach is more like this: when I do not use anything for a few years or very I get rid of it. First I will try to sell it, if that fails I will bring it to a Kringloop shop. The shop is non – profit, and re – sells what you donate but at a very cheap price. They usually take almost anything I want to throw away: clothing, hobby gear, books,… In the unlike event they would not like it I would have to throw it away.

Its harder when it comes to items from my childhood or personal items. So I do tend to keep a few, but there is a lot that I did got rid of. One item I recently parted from was my telescope. It was a birthday gift when I was 12. To be honest I never really used it much. It’s also cheap, but it was a time that I wanted to be an astronaut and the memory of my dreams were in that telescope. It was sitting at my mom’s house for a long time, until she decided all my stuff had to go. So it sat in my living room of my apartment for one year. Eventually I decided the memory was not worth the space, and I parted of it.

Reason 2: no garden

I had a big garden when I grew up. Although I never used it much after my childhood and I reached a point where I no longer found outside space to be very important.

Over time my opinion changed, and I am now to the point where I do think outside space is important. Now I would not look to working in the garden as a chore but rather as a relaxing activity. I would enjoy to have a vegetable garden and to think of ways to make it a relaxing paradise. I also appreciate it much

Reason 3: hosting family and friends

When I lived on my 12m2 student room, I hosted sometimes for 10 people. As all of my friends had similar accommodations nobody really minded. When I moved to my apartment I was quite proud of it. I was one of the first to purchase something of their own. My friends waited a little longer and got bigger properties.

It wasn’t until 4 years ago when I suggested to host our yearly Christmas party and the reaction was that my place was to small that it started to sink in that compared to new houses and apartments my friends had purchased I did not had enough space to host people. I do have a very large group of friends, its not uncommon that we have 15 people at our Christmas party and we always have it at someones home.

This is quite opposite to my sisters (and partners), who were happy to hear that I was willing to host a Christmas party this year. But we are a smaller group, so its much easier to do so. The idea is that I host more things in the winter (since I do not have a garden), and they host more in the summer.

Reason 4: the location and change of interests

The activities I do now have changed compared to 8 years ago. Eight years ago my friends all lived in the city, and I usually went into the city to do things. I now shop more outside the city (in malls), one of my hobbies (mountain-biking) brings me more outside the city, and some of my friends have moved away from the city, as has my family.

My friends who do live in the city no longer live near me but most of them are living at the other side of the city.

I used to want to be close to everything, now having space is just more important to me. That I do not have a supermarket, hairdresser, doctor, restaurants, pharmacist and even my work on walking distance are things I will need to live with. Although I expect most of them I will have on biking distance.

Reason 5: looking ahead

While I am currently single, I know that my one bedroom apartment would not be big enough if I did meet someone. You could say it is better to wait and buy something together, but at 35 most women I meet have a house of their own already. They like their independence and are not eager to step into a real estate adventure with someone else.

I myself have also figured out what region I want to live in. I do not see myself move to the other side of the country. I enjoy living around Gent and in Belgium. It does have some downsides, but the benefits strongly outweigh those.

And if I would meet someone who does not have a home, I would be happy that she moved in with me. I have no issues sharing whatsover.

Reason 6: neighbors

I live in a small apartment with one bedroom. That means that I have neighbors at both sides and above me (nobody bellow). I must say I am happy with them. They are friendly, and we do try to help eachother when its needed.

At the same time the walls are not very thick and I do hear them from time to time. My left neighbor has the urge to shout on Sunday morning. I do not understand why but she does. Sometimes I hear my neighbors when going to bed. Not until 2 AM, so I really cannot complain that much.

I do prefer absolute silence when I am sleeping. and having less neighbors would go a long way to that. That’s why I know I will need a house rather then a bigger apartment.

Join me in my search!

So the course is clear. I know I will need to search for something bigger. I will post about my search here from time to time so you can follow me in my joys and frustrations, that hopefully will eventually lead to me owning a house.