Well, that was an interesting experience. I just came this close to putting down a deposit on a five-bedroom house near Queanbeyan while momentarily charmed by the clean air and roads devoid of traffic jams. In all honesty, I was probably also entertaining romantic notions of working on a cattle ranch (despite not knowing the first thing about it) and owning an oilskin overcoat and cowboy boots.

 

There’s also the fact that the house in question cost about a quarter of a comparable house in Sydney. That’s nothing to be sniffed at, but the fact is, I’ve hardly spent any time here. Who am I to move in on a country town when the only interaction I’ve had with it is waiting on the side of the road for two hours to get my smoking car towed, followed by perusing the window offerings at the local real estate office while waiting for my car repair?

 

What I’m saying is, I think it’s wise that I held my horses and didn’t get swept up in a mostly fictional  narrative about country life informed by watching a few episodes of McCutchin’s Daughters. As I pottered around near the mechanic shop, Queanbeyan life started to come into focus. I realised that I’d have no friends, no job, and no real sense of how things are done around here. I’d be an outsider, with only a five-bed house to my name and nobody to enjoy it with.

 

Not to say that I wouldn’t be able to eventually create a life outside of Sydney, maybe even in a rural area. I just think I should do more research before committing to it. After all, there are surely better metrics to base the decision on than ‘my car randomly broke down there and it seemed kinda cool’. I should be looking at things like local amenities, weather patterns, work opportunities.

 

Then again, sometimes you’ve just got to go with where the moment takes you. I’m fairly sure this isn’t one of those times, though. I’d better pick up my car and split before I change my mind and make an impulse buy.