Friends moved for a very good reason: they were waiting. There was not enough space for everyone, since their elderly mother also lived with them. Having calculated that real estate in the Volgograd region is cheaper than in cities, they bought a one-story building with 5 bedrooms. The price was almost good, they changed the apartment without additional payments, and the maternity capital was used to renovate the building. But is it so easy for everyone to move?
Pros of village life
The most important advantage of living outside the city is fresh air. Many people talk about the pollution of the urban atmosphere, but you can feel it only by visiting somewhere cleaner for a few weeks and then returning. The freshness of the village is very attractive, and besides, there is also little noise around. Of course, cars fill the streets, but there are no trams, huge traffic jams, and after 12 at night everything freezes.
Another advantage is that real estate is significantly cheaper. Of course, it depends where, but usually the further you are from large cities, the better the prices. The cost is also influenced by the transport network, as well as the location of the infrastructure. If the village is residential, it has shops, a clinic, a kindergarten and a school, then the place is quite suitable. Instead of the usual two-room apartment, friends bought a five-room house with all communications. There is also a bathhouse and a couple of sheds in the yard.
Your home is also a small plot of land on which you can grow vegetables, fruits or flowers. For some this is great joy. The most important thing is that you decide for yourself whether to concrete the area or plant a lawn. Everything can be changed every year, although this takes time and effort. On the territory you can put a gazebo, make a playground or a corner for.
A huge plus of living in your own home is a separate territory. There are no annoying neighbors who can hear everything that happens through your walls. You can make repairs at any time and listen to music without restrictions. A fence isolates you from prying eyes, allowing you to maintain privacy.
Disadvantages of village life
Moving to the countryside is an important step to consider. You need to start with where you are going to work. Modern technology cannot always provide space for a specialist, which means difficulties will arise. My friends have not changed jobs; they continue to travel to the city, but at the same time incur travel costs. It is necessary to have personal transport, and also take into account that the journey will take some time.
The village is very convenient for the growth of children, but it is quite difficult to develop them. There is a kindergarten, and that’s great, but the availability of sports facilities, a music school and other interesting places where children can develop comprehensively is questionable. This should be taken into account, because they will have to be taken to the city to gain some skills.
Transport is also an issue. Of course, adults must have cars to be mobile, but a child under 18 will not drive. How will he go to school or somewhere else? Even at 12-14 years old, it will not be very easy for him, so check what types of public transport are available in your new place, how often they go and how much they cost.
You need to understand that life in the house constantly requires some kind of work. A leaking roof, a clogged sink, a burnt-out lantern and much more will require the skills or a technician who is ready to help at any time. The current one will be permanent and the costs will be significant.
Today in our region a lot of very cheap housing is being sold, but this is due to the fact that there are no good roads in the area. In summer the place seems very pleasant, but after rain it is not possible to get to the house. The autumn-spring season becomes a nightmare for residents. And no one is creating conditions. When moving, you need to make sure that everything is fine with the road and there are no significant problems. Also find out if there are any interruptions in water, electricity and other infrastructure. You need to understand that even the Internet is not available everywhere today.
For myself, I decided that all the difficulties that may be encountered are not a problem for me. All of them can be solved if there is a desire. And the fresh air is worth it. But I just want a house closer to the city, and it wouldn’t hurt me either. I’m just planning the move for now, but I think I’ll be able to do it soon. Where do you live? I would like to know where is it better?
When I studied at the university, there were several people from villages in my group. I always heard that they want to stay in the city, that there are no prospects in the village. I agree with them, I think, basically, all young people are trying to move to the city and take advantage of all the opportunities.
How is rural life different from urban life?
I only came to the village to visit my grandmother during the summer holidays. Of course, their life is completely different. I have lived in the city since birth, but so far the most that attracts me is the acquisition of a summer cottage. There is a river in our city, and having a small house next to it is quite a good idea.
First of all, in a village or village, the absence of large industrial enterprises is striking. Nowhere will you find a factory in the middle of the village. Sometimes such objects are built outside the city, but, all the same, settlements near them are considered at least an urban-type settlement. Of course, all villagers keep livestock. But one should not think that people in villages and villages still live without any amenities. It all depends on finances; you can build a comfortable house in any village.
One of the biggest differences is the people. The rural population is much friendlier and more sociable. For example, I don’t even know all the neighbors in my building, but there people know each other personally.
Pros and cons of living in the city
Each person chooses a place to his liking. But, whatever one may say, living in the city has many advantages:
- developed infrastructure;
- convenient transport system;
- more vacancies and higher wages;
- many educational institutions;
- developed medicine.
But not all city residents are satisfied with their lives, and many even seriously think about moving to some village. The reasons are as follows:
- bad ecology;
- high crime rate;
- heavy workload;
- deterioration of physical and mental condition.
As a rule, the desire to lead a more relaxed lifestyle among city residents arises with age; I think this is due to fatigue from the too fast pace of life.
A month has passed since we moved from the city to the village forever and we can already talk about the first results. I had only positive hopes when we decided to leave Moscow. However, not everything is as sweet in the village as it seemed at first. Of course, there are advantages and I will describe them, I will start by describing the “cons”.
1. Increased humidity in the house
I spent the first 17 years of my life in the village, 19 years have passed since then and I don’t remember at all that this bothered me before. Now I feel it and it is significant: a damp bed, stuffy air, wet salt, sugar. You need to think about how to store cereals and flour so that bugs do not infest them. The stainless steel knives began to rust.
To avoid sleeping in a wet bed, you need to dry your laundry in the sun more often.
This house smelled of damp all over, especially the cabinets that were left over from the previous owners. I abandoned the closet with tightly closing doors and we built a dressing room from scrap material.
Instead of a door there is a curtain for good ventilation, and so that the structure is not bulky, we placed mirrors on both sides.
When building your house, you need to think carefully about ventilation; perhaps you should opt for forced ventilation.
I used to dream of living next to a forest, but now I understand how good it is that the forest is about 800 meters from us. Nearby the forest means even more humidity and hordes of insects. Actually, I moved on to the second minus:
2. There are much more blood-sucking insects than in the city.
In cities, all forest areas are cultivated, which reduces the number of insects and does not spread the diseases they carry. They don’t do this in the village, and there are a lot of forests. Mosquitoes, gadflies, horseflies, flies are the reason why you won’t be able to sleep freely near an open window. First you need to install the grids.
We haven't purchased them yet, but I can't sleep with the window closed. Even in winter, the window in my apartment was always slightly open.
This disadvantage is easily eliminated with modern insect repellents. You insert the liquid into the heating device and after a few minutes there are no mosquitoes!
3. Lack of entertainment and educational activities for children
This minus seriously worries me. The nearest city is 30 km from the village, Moscow is 85 km away. My daughter is going to study to become a veterinarian next year; this is her conscious choice. Now he reads a lot about veterinary medicine and spends all his free time with animals. In Moscow, she went to the KYUBZ (Moscow Zoo circle) and worked as a volunteer in a sled dog kennel.
Now you have to spend 4 hours traveling one way.
In the meantime, our husky Bars is helping her adapt to a new way of life (all photos taken by Dasha)
They explore the surroundings together
The younger children, Sonya and Yegor, do not have the opportunity to attend any additional clubs. While they are busy learning about the environment and their inhabitants: hedgehogs, lizards, various butterflies, bugs and spiders - everything is interesting to them.
It is necessary to build a children's playground.
4. Very low quality of tap water.
For a village, having running water is a luxury. There is water here, a thin stream flows from the tap, but with a very strong smell of hydrogen sulfide. You definitely can't drink it. After washing for some time, an unpleasant odor emanates from the body; no amount of soap suppresses the stench.
You need to install a powerful water filter, although I'm afraid this is impossible due to the low pressure.
5. The power supply voltage is weak, there are constant traffic jams and there are power outages.
It knocks out traffic jams at least 3 times a day. It doesn’t seem to be a big deal, it crashed, turned it on again and business is good, but I work remotely all day and when the lights go out, the computer with unsaved data turns off. After a long time the computer boots up, the system is restored, and I sit and worry that I have received an important and urgent message.
Now we can only turn on one device at a time. If the electric stove is on, the kettle cannot be turned on.
My electric stove is ancient, or rather not mine, it was here in the house, only one burner works, and no matter how I tried to clean it, it did not budge. Well, it’s okay, for the first time until we buy a new one, it will do. I even manage to cook system recipes on it and post 3 dishes to the group every week.
Here it is, this tile))
Last month there was no electricity once due to a thunderstorm. As I wrote above, I work at home, but without electricity this is impossible and that day I had to urgently rush to work in Moscow, leaving the children at home alone. There is no gas at home, the children could neither boil tea nor heat food. I described my first trip to work in Moscow here
These two disadvantages with electricity can also be eliminated: change the old wiring, purchase a gas generator and an uninterruptible power supply for your computer, if you have the financial opportunity.
6. The biggest drawback that still worries me is the proximity of the testing site.
I don’t know what they are exploding there, but after each explosion the house shakes and the children and I get very scared until our knees tremble. It really seems like a war has begun. She also described her first impression of the explosion.
And yet, you will have to get used to it; there is no possibility of moving somewhere.
7. Products in the store are more expensive than in Moscow, they are not fresh, and the assortment is very small.
For example, a loaf costs 26 rubles, regular “brick” bread costs 30. In the summer, you won’t be able to buy unsour milk. The meat is only re-frozen.
8. No garbage removal.
Because of this, the banks of the forests are filled with garbage. Even our plot, which was allocated to us under the program for large families, turned out to be littered with garbage. There is a lot of garbage and it is partially buried.
Everything needs to be collected and taken out.
Actually, these are all the disadvantages that we managed to feel. I will try to find at least two pluses for every minus, so as not to lose heart and enjoy life.
