Gransnet forums

Travel

Where did you want to move to when you were growing up?

(39 Posts)
CrazyUSA Wed 15-Jul-26 17:02:59

Manchester

Charleygirl5 Thu 16-Jul-26 13:40:25

I lived in the middle of nowhere in Scotland. Although I loved the countryside and being able to ride my bike everywhere without fear of much traffic, I would have loved to have lived in a town near shops, any town. I now live in London and haven't been in a store on Oxford Street for x number of years!

Mollygo Thu 16-Jul-26 13:23:30

The Isle of Wight because I thought it would be exciting to get a ferry every day.
The short time we spent in Birkenhead, needing a daily ferry across the Mersey🎶 made me glad my childhood wish never happened.

merlotgran Thu 16-Jul-26 13:15:36

Anywhere where I could stay put, not live in a married quarter and not have to move every two years.

It turned out to be the Isle of Wight and I was very happy with that - until I got married and we moved back to the mainland.

eddiecat78 Thu 16-Jul-26 13:13:56

Guernsey. We usually holidayed there when I was growing up and all loved it. I knew that it was impossible to settle there unless born there or a millionaire so I fantasised about marrying a local lad.

watermeadow Thu 16-Jul-26 13:08:55

We moved frequently and I was always excited to go somewhere new and explore. My pleasure evaporated with each new school. Being the new girl, who didn’t speak the same or know the same games, was always horrible.

NotSpaghetti Thu 16-Jul-26 13:05:45

Anglesey

Norah Thu 16-Jul-26 13:03:14

Next door to the home where I was raised. East Anglia.

We purchased my grandparents home when we married.

madeleine45 Thu 16-Jul-26 11:12:56

Loved my home in Yorkshire . I was a keen bookworm and early reader, and when asked by a lady visiting my mother, (in a rather patronising way), where I would like to go when I grew up and would I like to go to London replied "No, I am going to go to Macchu Piccu in Peru, and Ulan Bator - which is the capitol of Outer Mongolia , you know"

I was about 5 at the time and this was a family tale I was reminded of on various occasions. Well I never actually managed to go to either of those places, but have travelled and lived in many other places , so obviously had itchy feet from the start. However , despite having loved visiting many different places , whether living or holidaying, I still love Yorkshire and am happy to be living in North Yorkshire with the luxury of both the Dales and the coast and many lovely places to be able to visit.

MarieElla Thu 16-Jul-26 10:37:33

I used holiday in a rural part of Ireland every summer with my family.
We would see my dad's siblings and their families.
I loved it as a child and planned to live there as an adult.
As I grew into a teen and young adult I realised how conformist and bigoted some of them were becoming and now, as a middle-aged woman I will only go there for funerals and avoid all those relatives at other times.

GrannyGravy13 Thu 16-Jul-26 09:09:15

I lived in London till mid-teens, Oxford St, Regent St, etc., were close, Selfridges was just a shop

Both sets of grandparents were in the suburbs;and close to the countryside.

I had the best of both worlds, never wanted to live anywhere else.

keepcalmandcavachon Thu 16-Jul-26 08:52:32

London.
I was intrigued by the Tower of London, London Bridge and the Thames with all of the beautiful lamp posts. The changing of the guard! All madly exciting to my little self.

M0nica Thu 16-Jul-26 08:29:25

I lived in so many places, in England, Europe and Asia, it would have been greedy to have wanted still yet another place.

Humbertbear Thu 16-Jul-26 08:08:44

As a family we all wanted to get out of the East End and we did. I love living in the suburbs but I never, ever go back.

Jane43 Thu 16-Jul-26 08:06:20

I just didn’t want to move again when I was a child, my father was a police officer and at that time we lived in police houses. I lived in seven houses in total and had three primary schools and two senior schools which was difficult for me as ai was a shy child.

JaneJudge Thu 16-Jul-26 08:00:30

I can’t remember I wanted to live anywhere in particular. I used to live looking at the stylish house magazine that featured London townhouses but I suppose I also wanted to live by the sea, which I did but found it really quite isolating. I certainly wouldn’t have chosen where I live now but I’m happy enough smile

Marzipan22 Thu 16-Jul-26 07:48:22

Wherever Sandra of the Secret Ballet lived because I adored her story in my Judy comic. Now I look back at it I see how weird and a bit sinister the storyline was but as a young girl I'd loved to have been at a secret ballet school!

SpinDriftCoastal Thu 16-Jul-26 07:30:34

Salisbury.

Bassoues Thu 16-Jul-26 07:19:07

Africa. I was born in Holland, got an au pair job in Wimbledon to see a bit of the world and get away from an overbearing, manipulating mother and a husband who I'd married far too young! Had a glorious time in London. Went travelling but decided to get back to England, got a job as a receptionist in one of the posh london hotels and I'm still here. Now in north yorkshire and staying put...for now!

Ashcombe Thu 16-Jul-26 06:31:01

I was born in Wiltshire, grew up in Surrey, studied in Birmingham which I loved as it was such a contrast to my hometown of Dorking. I spent a year in Michigan where I married my first husband then lived in Luton, Dunstable and Staffordshire where I spent nearly 40 years. Finally, I retired to Torquay and now divide my time between there and my DH's home in France.

I never thought about living elsewhere than where I was at the time and I’ve been lucky to visit some beautiful places on my travels. If I could live anywhere in the world, I’d choose New Zealand.

Marg75 Thu 16-Jul-26 06:08:16

Born in Cornwall, lived my whole life in Cornwall (except for a brief foray into Plymouth), wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Bellasnana Thu 16-Jul-26 05:56:02

It never occurred to me to want to live anywhere else. We lived in Chester but also spent a lot of time in York staying at our grandparents. I still love both cities but wouldn’t want to live there now.

I spent five years in London which I loved at the time, but never thought of it as permanent.

Never in a million years did I think I’d spend most of my life living in Malta, but I love it and consider it home.

Redhead56 Thu 16-Jul-26 01:20:22

I grew up in Liverpool moved to the outskirts as a child. When I married I moved about five miles away but I was really homesick.
I moved back very close to where I grew up when my son was six months and had my daughter three years later then divorced.
I remarried and I live the same area from where I grew up it's home to me no place else will do.

nanna8 Thu 16-Jul-26 00:07:48

I lived in London and wanted to stay there but I would have appreciated more greenery other than just parks. We used to go into the Kent countryside for walks. As I got older I wanted to leave the whole place and Ted Heath finally convinced us to get out with his 3 day week.

Redrobin51 Wed 15-Jul-26 21:13:32

Anywhere near the sea preferably in Wales.

hollysteers Wed 15-Jul-26 20:39:07

London, because it’s the capital and Oxfordshire as my aunt and godmother lived there in a fairytale village where I spent the long school summer holidays.