House Sitting - Good for the House Hunt

For two weeks I'll be house sitting for friends of mine. I've been here for a few days, and it's nice. Sort of. It's been an eye opener, that's for sure. I also think it'll help me when Matt and I start looking for a house. Here's why...

I used to want to live in town. I mean, now nice to live within walking distance of the library and grocery story, plus the gym, animal feed, and gun supplies! Okay, so I wouldn't need ALL of it, but the thought was nice. But then you have neighbors...close neighbors. And traffic. And noise.

I like where I live now - I'm about 15 minutes from TC, so I'm not by all of the shopping (and the people) but I can still walk to the grocery store and Kmart. Between the two, I can usually find whatever I need. There are a few other houses around and I know my neighbors, but there's not the traffic and flow of strangers zooming by. I really like it. That made me think that I wanted to live in the country. I'd like to have a few acres (my goal is to have a veggie garden!) and some space, but still be a close enough drive to TC for my needs.

I am currently house sitting in the country. I'm about 20 min. from TC (which seemed okay for a while). It's a big, warm house with lots of comfy couches and very few distractions to keep me from my writing [to check up on that, visit here]. It was fun...for about four hours. After the honeymoon phase I started to understand what it REALLY is that I want.

A small town.

I'm not looking for a nice country setting (trust me - the place that I'm at is about as nice as it gets) because it's too isolated for me. I'm sure its nice for the people who live here - it's a family of five and the kids are home schooled, so no one is home alone all day. But for me? When I focus more on my writing, I'm going to be home a LOT...by myself...all day. It's only taken me one day to figure out that I'll go stir-crazy!

But not in a small town. Even though I currently live in a small subdivision, it really is its own little community. I can be home by myself all day, but I don't feel alone. I watch people walk/run/bike by my house. I can skip up to the store and grab a few things, just to get out of the house and breathe for a minute. I can be "alone" without being COMPLETELY alone.

Does that make sense? Maybe not, but it does to me. I need people! Not a lot (too many and I get jittery), but I need someone.

And so now I have a better idea of what to look for, what I personally need in a house. Now I just hope Matt feels the same way :)