One of the things that crosses my mind as I contemplate the idea of moving north and lakeside in my retirement life is the availability of services and the ease of accessing them.
Let’s face it, I am on the downward slide of things and am well-past middle-age. (Unless I am going to live to be 114 – then I am smack in the middle of life, still. Hehehe!)
Is moving to a much smaller, more rural, less services-intense community wise? Where every hospital visit entails a long road trip to a major centre and appointments with specialists the same?
Where prolonged power outages are more common, the winters are wilder, and the (GASP!) internet/cell service may be dodgy?!?!?!
It’s the last point that really has me questioning if this is the right move for me. I can be prepared to wait out/deal with everything else. I would rather have to chop wood for heat than go without Ye Olde Interwebs (or use of my smartphone!!!) at my fingertips.
Sign o’ the times, right?
But all is not lost. This article gives me hope.
Perhaps my dream lakeside home will be (internet) ready for me by the time I am ready for it.
Rock on,
The WB
Depends how far north you want to go! My parents’ place in Kincardine had pretty crummy internet access up until about 5 years ago, but it’s fine now! Even when I visit, my cell service (Public Mobile – aka Telus) has no issues anymore. 🙂
There’s a hospital right in town, but yeah, doctor shortages are still common in rural areas, and any specialist will almost certainly involve a trip down to Toronto/KW.
Thanks Caitlin…Good to know! Kincardine is very pretty and one could do worse than relocate to that area!
I’ve done a lot of thinking on this one, and as attractive as it sounds to move to a smaller and slower community, in the end I can’t imagine leaving behind my friends and my sons.
In fact I live in fear that THEY will decide to move away one day and my heart will be broken … or I’ll have a new destination to consider 😉
Yeah, I don’t want to be far from my kids either and I am also aware they could move away at any time. Wouldn’t it be nice though, for them to have a lakeside property to visit and stay at, anytime? Something beautiful I could leave for them…
As to friends and family, a lot of them are already far-flung so that is not so much of an issue. Hence the absolute requirement for internet and cell phone though!