With the arrival of the covid and the subsequent quarantine at home for more than just a few weeks, those who had huge houses and, especially, gardens, were the most envied and made many of us want to lead a country life, unaware of the drawbacks.

The lockdown period made people reflect on the advantages of living in the countryside, in a cosy cottage, far from people and where you can breathe a lot of fresh air if another unavoidable  stay-at-home period comes back. So much so, in fact, that, within my city,  country houses were sold like hot buns when we could actually move around as they were highly demanded.

However, I don’t think people who just want a break from the crazy city life, have really put some thought into the disadvantages of the “relaxing” life in the outskirts. Do they know that they could be changing the noise coming from a group of youngsters at midnight for a noisy rooster at five in the morning? That’s difficult to get used to! Also, you can go far from people but be prepared to be near all kinds of bugs: spiders, cockroaches, mosquitos, beetles...and even some rats or mice ready to steal your food. Does it still look nice?

I speak from my own experience when I say that living in the countryside is not all roses and clean air. It is also having just one neighbour but such a noisy one because he can now put  music as loud as he wants as there are no other neighbours to complain! Just you, wanting some peace and quiet and not getting it. And, once you have achieved some, you remember you can’t just lie down and relax as you must clean at least ten spider webs a week if you don’t want your house to look as if prepared for halloween. 

So, the next time you think about moving away from the hustle and bustle, you must make sure to do a research on how noisy the neighbours are and  think if you are fully prepared to fight the bug killing and cleaning!