Al2O3 said:

I know what you are saying, Brown. But, there are many positives to living in less densely populated counties.

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Absolutely. I live in a city because I have to go to work and pay rent and buy groceries. But if I had the choice I'd live somewhere in Wales or Scotland where you can't see the next house.

That's another negative, not so many jobs. Hold on! The negatives are starting to out weigh the positives here

I have a Land Rover and a partner so I don't think the jobseeker's allowance lifestyle would work for me somehow. If I could have the salary and work entirely online I'd be off. But then the internet access is often rather slow and patchy in rural areas.

The great thing about rural areas like North Perthshire is that if you want to work, you will find work. OK, it may not be the best paid jobs in the country, but the cost of living is generally also lower, the the stress-factor is greatly reduced, and the scenery is beyond price. I could earn 2-3 times as much by moving back down to the Central Belt - but no thanks!

I couldnt move back to a "populated" area. Id want to murder everyone. I find it stressful enough having to go into Cumbria everyday, Stealing monies from England and bringing across the border!

Beneagles said:

The great thing about rural areas like North Perthshire is that if you want to work, you will find work. OK, it may not be the best paid jobs in the country, but the cost of living is generally also lower, the the stress-factor is greatly reduced, and the scenery is beyond price. I could earn 2-3 times as much by moving back down to the Central Belt - but no thanks!

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Oh yes, I've thought about it, and even done back of the envelope calculations. It wouldn't quite fit for me at the moment though. I can best keep my head above water and living expenses manageable by living near my (for the moment reasonably well paid) job so the commuting costs are zero most of the time. As a single person I can wrap myself up and live in room temperatures below 10 C through the winter, subsisting on rice with cheese grated over it, but as a couple that sort of thing isn't viable! On the plus side though, I enjoy working with my hands so labour costs for most things - from gardening, re-roofing my hovel to most car maintenance - would be close to zero too, because I can just hire myself. Once I'm eligible for my pension that'll cover the basics, and then to supplement that I'll be able to pick up some minimum wage work wherever I am, so a life in the rural wilds will be achievable.

You're not the only ones wishing to get out of the rat race . I was doing 50'000 miles a year, from St Andrews to Salisbury and a lot of places in between while based in Milton Keynes. Plus the occasional trip to the Falklands! I only saw the wife at weekends, Then a post came up in Saudi, almost the same job but at one site for triple the money and no tax!. Overall I saw the wife for half the time I had previously, but in that six years we paid off the mortgage moved to the country side and paid off the mortgage again. So although I'm probable earning half what I could get, with no mortgage my standard of living is vastly better than before. Had I stayed in the UK my job moved to Edinburgh and I'd have 7 years mortgage left.