Making (and losing) friends when you move
The fun bits. The sad bits. And knowing when to move on.
When I was leaving London, two years and four months ago, I upset someone.
This friend of mine - a fairly new friend, but we’d spent a lot of time together and I valued her friendship - asked me why I was leaving London.
I dished out the usual response: for a different pace of life, an adventure etc.
But she wasn’t buying it.
Why are you really leaving London? she said.
I was a bit stuck, because the deciding factor was pollution.
We lived near a busy, polluted road and I’d spent time in hospital with two of my three children who’d developed respiratory issues.
Add a pandemic in - and the threat of a deadly respiratory virus - and I was clawing my way out of London and towards fresh country air from March 2020 on.
Well, it’s also the pollution, I said.
She looked at me.