We have posed many questions in the course of writing this book and you doubtless have many others in your head as your plans gradually evolve and develop. In meeting a wide range of people interested in the potential of downshifting and relocation, both professionally and informally (and numbers are certainly growing year on year), there are recurring questions which we tend to be asked. Putting our heads together in one of our ‘Blue Water’ meetings, we’ve come up with the following as some of the key questions, with possible responses.

1. We’re moving from a large town/city to a small village. Will the locals welcome us?

The simple answer is that you have to earn the welcome and work at integrating into the community. You’ll meet a whole range of attitudes and ‘chips on shoulders’ which are far too complex to consider in any depth here. Understand that some people will see you as comparatively rich ‘townies’, coming into the community and paying a sum for property which many locals may not be able to match. Although it’s likely to be a local who is receiving your money, and who has set the asking price, and although it’s often only outsiders like you who are willing to buy properties in need of refurbishment, these facts are often conveniently forgotten when attitudes are being aired.

It really need not be a Scottish/English/Welsh thing, unless you respond negatively to the suggestions. Tread softly. Try to bring something to the community, but even there, realize that your potentially broader experience of life may be seen as a threat to the status quo rather than as an asset. Look on it as an interesting exercise in interpersonal skills -join one or two clubs and develop some allies within the community. You can guarantee that you will be talked about behind your back, so it helps to have a few spies and allies in the various camps. Think of it as a bit of a game and don’t take things too seriously or rush matters. It takes several years to become integrated into a small community – estimates vary between five and twenty-five!

2. To what extent must I have planned everything before I finally take the plunge and decide to downshift and relocate?

The immediate response to this question is ‘go with your heart but use your head’. You can’t think of everything, but you do need to get a strong feel for the community and area to which you’re planning to relocate. Visit at different times of the year. Check out the availability of facilities and services which are important to you: is it acceptable to have a 15-mile round trip to buy a newspaper, for example? As we have underlined in several chapters, detailed planning must include a review of financial matters. This is most likely to be the medium- to long-term stumbling block, so go down that route with your eyes wide open.

Are your decisions to downshift based on alternative (income-earning) activities which you will enjoy doing or are they driven by a narrow dislike of your current work and domestic arrangements? Self-employment is a variable game, with periods of famine as well as times of feasting, so are you ready for the rollercoaster ride? Talk to someone who is self-employed and a sole trader (perhaps a current neighbour or friend – you don’t have to relocate to work for yourself) and find out some of the realities. They need not be negative at all, but you should be aware of them.

If you’ve been an employee in other companies up to this point and are setting up in business for the first time, talk to people to find out the requirements. If you’re planning to keep your new venture small and personal, without employees, it’s surprisingly simple to set up in business. There are various business advisory services available, usually free, to help point you in the right direction. There are also various grants and other forms of assistance that you can pursue, although you will be required to jump through administrative and official hoops, which may or may not be acceptable to you. It’s certainly worth asking.

3. I have a dream of moving to a smallholding in Wales or Scotland and becoming self-sufficient, growing organic produce. What’s the best way forward?

First and foremost, do this with your eyes wide open. Self-sufficiency is very hard work and a sudden turn in the weather can render your laboriously grown fruit and vegetables useless – then what do you eat for the rest of the season? If you haven’t practised growing vegetables fairly extensively in your present back garden or allotment, don’t even consider selling up and moving to Wales. Even if you have got green fingers, it is safer if you can also have a back-up means of earning some money, just in case sudden frosts or insects hit your crops.

Thinking positive, however, if you can make a go of it, there are particular estate agents/property shops which specialize in properties with land. If you want to buy a croft in Scotland, get a Scottish solicitor to handle your transaction and make sure that you really are getting the agricultural ‘in-bye’ land as well as the cottage and immediate ground. If you’re not careful, you may find that the main fields have been separated out and sold on to a local neighbouring crofter.

Check the quality of the land as well if you’re hoping to grow crops. Very little of the farmland on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands is good arable soil, for example. The east coast, central areas like Morayshire and Perthshire and the southern belt have better land, but property will be more expensive. Similarly, Wales has variable quality of arable soil. Visit the areas you’re thinking about and find out for real what the properties offer. Your plan to produce crops on a property with 40 acres will end in tears if the majority of these acres are scrubland, fit for rearing sheep at best.

4. Is there a good time to make the downshifting move?

There is not usually one particular time when it is best to make the move, but you have to consider circumstances. If you have children at school, the best time is in the summer holidays between primary and secondary school or just before they move into the sixth form. While this isn’t always possible, it obviously isn’t a good idea to downshift in a year when they are due to sit important examinations.

Most young children are very adaptable and it’s up to you to reassure them. If you tell them it’s going to be difficult for them, then it will be. Treat it all as an adventure and they will too. It isn’t so easy for older children, but again, emphasize the positive side of the new life while trying to answer their concerns.

We intended to make the move once both our children had finished school but in the end we just couldn’t wait that long. We moved from London to Wiltshire just as our son was going into the sixth form. He didn’t like the idea of the move or the new school and he found it difficult to adjust to country living initially. However, most of the friends he now meets up with are the ones he made in that new life. He also grew to love the area we moved to, though we have now moved on to our second downshifting rural ideal (which he also loves!).

If you have only yourselves to consider then it’s far easier. If one of you still needs to continue with their job but the other one is ready to go, then don’t wait too long. Move to a location where commuting is still possible but you can also start enjoying that new life.

What I would say is that if you really are determined to take the step but are always putting it off until ‘one day’, don’t wait any longer – life is too short to waste.

5. Are there added practical problems with moving between particular countries in the UK?

The short answer is, not really, although you should be aware that Scotland has a different legal system from the rest of the UK, as well as a different educational system. So for a house move, the ideal is to move from Scotland to elsewhere in the UK; the most difficult house move is the other way round. If you are selling your house in Scotland and moving south of the border, then as soon as you accept an offer for your house (and any/all missives are dealt with), the transaction is legally binding. You then have a firm date on which you will receive the money and you are in a good position for buying that house in the south. If, however, you are selling property in England and buying in Scotland, you can never be sure of your southern sale until the contracts are exchanged. Meanwhile, if you have put in an offer for a property in Scotland and it has been accepted, you must come up with the money on the agreed date.

On the educational side of things, children move up to secondary education at the age of 12 in Scotland and 11 in the rest of the UK. The examination scene seems to be in a state of flux on both sides of the border, so it would be wise to make enquiries about the situation to any particular school you are interested in. In Scotland the education system sounds complicated but is very flexible in practice. Pupils usually sit the Standard Grade in the fourth year of secondary school. They then have the opportunity of going on to study for Highers. However, there are also the Intermediate 1 and 2 examinations. Intermediate 1 is usually for those who will not be going on to take the Higher in that subject and Intermediate 2, which is a little more advanced, is used either as a stepping stone for the Higher or as an alternative to the Higher in the subject. Additionally, there are the Advanced Highers. The advantage of all this diversity means that a course of examinations can be more or less tailormade for each child if the school has the facilities.

In the rest of the UK, pupils sit GCSEs at the age of 16, then A Levels two years later. AS Levels are equivalent to half an A Level in quantity (not quality) and are normally sat at the same time as A Levels, though it is sometimes possible to sit these after one year in the sixth form.

6. What do you find to do all day? Don’t you get bored?

This is a question often asked by visitors. We have the cottage changeover day on a Saturday, but as for the rest of the week ... In fact, if we’re thinking in business terms, then each week there is all the laundry to do, the book-keeping, the advertising, the website to keep up to date, the queries to answer and the bookings to take and to confirm. There are also the various maintenance jobs to do on the buildings and grounds, logs to gather and cut for the stoves and other physical work to keep the place in order.

However, if we are honest, this still leaves us with lots of free time. This is what we came here for! Because we are so isolated, I don’t go into the shops very much. I’ve also lost my taste for city life. If the weather is good we take the opportunity to go for walks with the dogs or for a picnic in the glen. Any journey in the Highlands is through beautiful countryside, so is always a pleasure.

I’ve joined the local History Society and am a volunteer helper in the Visitor Centre in the village in the summer months. At present Chris is chairman of the committee which is organising the building of a new community centre. We belong to the Association of Scotland’s Self Caterers and Chris is chairman of the Highland branch. He is also involved in a range of training and development activities and has a small flock of sheep and a working collie to play around with. With a widening range of activities and opportunities presenting themselves, he reckons he’s beginning to ‘upshift’ again!

This still leaves us plenty of time to rush out and look at glorious sunsets or listen to the owls calling to each other on dark nights. We make time to stand in the courtyard and listen to the buzzards and their young above us in the pine forests and the red-throated divers out on the loch. Or on a lovely summer afternoon we might go down to the loch shore and just sit looking out over the water. Wonderful.

7. How do weekly budgets differ from when you were working conventionally?

Having a regular monthly salary meant that we could spend what we wanted to (within reason) in the sure knowledge that, come the end of the month, a further sum would be paid into the account. Now things are very different. There is no set sum appearing – the amount of money we have coming in fluctuates greatly. Even when bookings have been made and we know that money will be paid, we don’t know exactly when. Bills have to be paid nevertheless and so we have to be careful.

Town living presents you with so much choice. Shops are full of tempting goods, supermarkets overflowing with produce. In our previous existence we used to buy all sorts of luxury food just when we felt like it. I didn’t really have a set budget for food and going down to the cottage for the weekends meant we often did a second supermarket shop down in Wiltshire. Now we have to be circumspect. Our diet is much more down to earth, but I’m sure no less healthy. Our meals are certainly plainer and we rarely eat some of the more expensive foodstuffs. I enjoy cooking but my choice of menu is restricted now to those dishes without a long list of luxury ingredients.

We don’t buy many new clothes. After all, we don’t normally need office wear (apart from when Chris does development work on clients’ premises), so both of us spend most of our days in comfortable clothes of the trousers, shirt and jersey variety.

If all this sounds gloomy to you, we don’t find it so – some things simply don’t matter so much.

8. Can you get the same level of service in the country (doctor/dentist/schools/library/transport)?

Transport is a real problem in country areas. Many villages have no bus service at all and a car is essential. Sometimes it’s necessary to have two cars, especially if you live in a remote area. We’re about seven miles from the nearest food shop and if one of us is away for the day or perhaps even two days, then the other would otherwise be completely stuck. It pays to be organized.

There is a medical practice in the next village, which is 14 miles from here. If it sounds a long way, it isn’t. The roads are quiet and it takes less than 20 minutes. If we have an emergency then both the ambulance and the doctor can be here very quickly. Hospitals may be thin on the ground in the remote areas but then we don’t usually have a long waiting time to be seen when we get there. We had a couple staying in one of the cottages recently when the wife became ill. Her husband took her into the local hospital where she was seen within 20 minutes and the staff apologized for the delay.

As her illness turned out to be serious, she was flown by helicopter to the hospital in Inverness. The couple were impressed with the level of service – it was the wife’s first experience of flying. In their local city hospital they said they normally had to wait at least three hours to be seen.

Dentists are thin on the ground in the Highlands; there’s a real shortage. In other areas you may find it just as much of a problem finding a dentist who will take National Health patients as in the towns. No better, no worse.

There is a primary school in the village with about 24 pupils. Local children are bussed to secondary schools either 7 (in one direction) or 26 miles away from the village.

I visit the library now and again, usually combining my visit with a shopping trip to the supermarket. You may also find that a library van will call in the village on a regular basis.

9. I’ve watched a few different TV programmes which follow people trying to downshift and relocate. How helpful and accurate do you think they are?

They’re certainly interesting and they give some good reference points to look out for. It’s always easier to spot mistakes and wrong-headedness in others, so these programmes are also valuable in letting you see the results of actions which you have probably identified as wrong. Just remember to use them as learning points when you are faced with similar decisions.

One thing they illustrate well is the comparative values of properties in different parts of the country. There used to be a belief that city property was much more expensive than rural property. This is true to a certain extent, especially if you are selling a property in London, but be realistic about property values. There have been examples of couples wanting to move from town to country while retaining a ‘crash pad’ in the town to allow one or both partners to continue in their current work, full or part time. As well as their choice of extensive country property invariably using up the majority of their available budget (and thus not leaving enough to buy the tiniest crash pad in town), the concept of trying to maintain both lives in parallel is not really what downshifting is about. If someone is initially trying to juggle two lives like this, we would probably advise keeping the town house and working life in the initial stages and weekending periodically down in the country, either by renting a self-catering property on a regular basis or buying a small property. We did this when we lived in London as our first practical realization of our downshifting/relocation plans (although not our first experience of living in the country). In Scotland, we have several guests who come quite regularly to ‘their’ cottage in our range of self-catering cottages, some of whom are getting a feel for the area with a view to downshifting ultimately.

Another fact that these programmes sometimes highlight is that small country properties don’t appreciate in value to the same extent as many city properties. You therefore should not use the same arguments for justifying additional investment in refurbishment and extending your country property. With our first country cottage, when we still lived in London, we didn’t make much, if any, profit when we sold it several years later (taking into account the costs of renovation and extension), but we had gained immense enjoyment from having our bolt hole in the country for weekends and holidays. There is, after all, more to life than property values.

Television programmes are also useful for giving you ideas of how to convert and renovate properties, for illustrating the structural problems to look out for and for highlighting the extent or lack of facilities which are available in particular locations. Some will show you the theories and realities of budgeting for the renovation work and how costs can easily spiral. It is also interesting to see the ever-increasing range of occupations which downshifters can adopt in a remote country location, thanks to technology and the ‘electronic cottage’ concept.

The different programmes have various angles on the range of considerations – the downshifting, the budgeting, the selection and detail of relocation, the changes in priorities and work/life balance. Some even offer a window onto how the project turned out when the programmes revisit former subjects. Watch and learn!

10. What happens if things begin to go wrong?

That depends very much on how honest you are with yourself and the tightness of grip that you have on your finances, business affairs and future marketing strategies. If your business planning has been realistic, you should be aware of your expected levels of income and expenditure and you should therefore resist the temptation to throw money at the problem if the money’s not there. If your problems are financial, talk to people in the know – your bank or building society, for example – and try to sort out some form of consolidated solution. Harbour your finances and try to spend more wisely in the future.

If your problems are technical, bring in people who know the ins and outs of the technicalities. Sometimes (for things like private water supplies, for example) you’re better finding the local guy who knows how things work in your area. At other times, when it’s a high-tech problem and you’re living in a rural location, you might have to bring in an expert from further afield in order to get a real solution, rather than some local guy who has never experienced the problem and attacks it by trial and error, progressively replacing parts (at your expense) to find the defective one.

If your problems are personal or social, such as not getting on with the locals, finding the reality of the location too remote or basic, or feeling that you and your partner are in each other’s company too much, you need to sit down and talk through the problems and potential solutions. You may be able to do that yourself or you may need to involve the services of some form of counsellor. Don’t let the situation drag on – confront it and come up with a viable solution.

In the longer term, things might begin to fade off, business wise. We’ve already discussed this in some detail under ‘bell curve’ in the previous chapter. The point to reiterate is that the possible decline is quite natural. Depending on your longer-term plans, you can respond to the decline in a variety of ways.