I get up at 5.30am to commute 50 miles to London – because I never want to live there
Two and a half months’ worth of wages gone in a heartbeat. It felt strange making the most expensive purchase I’ve ever made on an annual Southeastern season pass.
But in the grand scheme of things, it’s a purchase which will help uphold my quality of life.
Why? Because it keeps me out of London. Don’t get me wrong, I do really like the place; I just don’t want to live there. A nine-hour visit each day is enough for me.
Paying through the nose for day-to-day living, violent crime surges, pollution and flat-sharing aren’t high on my agenda.
Though extortionate, my train pass is effectively a get out of jail card that allows me to escape the hustle and bustle by retreating to Kent each evening for some peace.
It means I do have to commute 50 miles into the capital every weekday for an 8am start (setting my alarm at 5.27am), but it’s worth it.
With the high speed line into St Pancras, the journey to central London is a mere 37 minutes. All hail HS1, I say.
A quick trip on the Victoria line, the speediest on the Tube network, and I’m at my desk just 80 minutes after leaving home. For Londoners getting across the city, it isn’t uncommon for their journey to breach the one-hour mark, so the Kent commute doesn’t fare badly.
Estate agency Savills found that Chatham, Kent, where the average monthly mortgage repayment with a 25pc deposit was ￡1,223, was the best value commuter location within a 40-minute train journey from London.
I live further south where prices are beefier, but regardless, it still trumps London where the average monthly rent now comes in at eye-watering ￡2,167, according to HomeLet.
As for first-time buyers, they are forking out an average of ￡438,000 per property.
And even when you do buy, it will likely be a flat – opening you up to the potential financial banana skin of living in a leasehold property.
Yes, there are picturesque parks and green spaces, but they can’t hold a candle to the English countryside.
I don’t live in the country but I’m only a 10-minute walk from it. That access is pretty priceless and something you can’t buy in the capital.
Just the other month I decided to walk from my front door to see how far I could go cross-country before my feet died. It was 23 miles through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and I barely saw anyone. Perfect.
If I chose to live in London, in the most affordable borough of Barking and Dagenham, a 23-mile trip would take me to that walking hotspot of Heathrow. I know which walk I’d rather do.
But probably best of all, living outside the shackles of the M25 means I can keep my car, a trusty Peugeot 107 with peeling paintwork and leaky roof.
It’s a godsend on weekends. I don’t have to ride a bus (I think I’ve only been on three in my life), and I can drive wherever I fancy at whatever time.
In Kent, that gives you speedy access to a varied county – whether it be the rolling North Downs, numerous castles or a diverse coastline, to list but a few attractions.
I won’t turn this into an ode to the Garden of England, but the close proximity to Europe is another plus point as it allowed me to drive to Belgium, France and Germany last year on separate trips.
Living in the capital would have robbed me of that instant access to freedom as keeping the plucky 107 wouldn’t be an achievable option. Unless of course, I could afford a place with a parking space and don’t mind paying the congestion charge or the oh so friendly Ulez tariff.
The pros of living outside of London could go on for another 1,000 words, but that would be a drag – similar to what life would be like if I lived there.
Essentially, I never plan on moving to the city.
I view it as a pleasant version of Mordor. It’s the place I need to go to do my job, and unlike Frodo, I can go back to my hobbit hole each evening and then speed back in on a 140mph train the following morning.
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