I love small towns. People say hello as I walk by. Shopkeepers remember me. I could be waiting to cross the road and a car will stop right there to let me cross without a crossing in sight. What’s the rush? No traffic jams, no rush hours, no long journeys home. Everything is calm.
Not that I would want to move back to a small town, not yet anyway. The chilled life isn’t one I would recommend for young people due to the lack of opportunities. But for those that like this kind of life, good for you. I can see why.
It is nice to experience one again. I’m currently working around the corner from my hostel, behind the hospital which has greatly reduced my stress of potentially being bitten by a venomous snake. We leave for work at 6.10am and get there at 6.20am, enough time to drink our coffee from the flask before our 6.30am start. Half the journey is through the farm itself and into the shed.
I would complain about the early start and freezing cold weather (yep, even the tropical north has cold winter weather), but the sunrise makes up for this.
After work, we have little to do but socialise with our fellow backpackers and choose between the five pubs and restaurants that grace the towns main street. There is nothing but the main street.
This makes it easy to find friends… if they aren’t in the hostel, I can probably guess where they are in two or three guesses. It also makes it very hard to find alone time, such as this present moment as I enjoy a pint and some loaded pork fries. I took this shot below to show you this beautiful dog, a rescued dog in fact.
As I’m typing, regulars are coming in. I have been finishing early this week on my current farm as we have picked all the pumpkins we can, now we are cleaning up the farm and preparing it for the end of season. This is being spread over the week to give us more farmwork days, instead of us working overtime and doing it in 2-3 days. The regulars coming in are the same ones I’ve seen everytime I’ve been in here. Older regulars that I assume are locals and have been for a very long time. It makes me think. Have they lived here all their lives? This is one of the reasons I left my country to travel.
I remember my home village and know that I will see the same people going into the same shops and pubs when I head back home as I did when I was growing up. It freaks me out a little. Life is too short and the world is too big for me to stay in one place. I won’t be travelling forever, but if I had one piece of advice for young people today, it is travel. There is more opportunity now than there ever was. Make the most of it.
But there is something about experiencing this small town life that I have enjoyed. It is all the good stuff that this kind of laid-back lifestyle provides. The friendliness of the locals. The ablility to walk down the street without bumping into a thousand people on the way. The chance that when you do bump into someone it is someone you already know. It hasn’t been enough for me to want to relocate to a small town permanently, but it is something I have enjoyed whilst I complete my farmwork.
Small towns have a different kind of beauty and I am glad to experience one again, I am just pleased it isn’t for too long.
Its all a good learning experience for you, I’m sure.
We have many towns like that here, & we’re in a small city ourselves.
It is a city, but we see people we recognize all the time, store clerks know who we are, even if not by name, the bus drivers know us & our destinations, rush hour traffic lasts all of 10 minutes.
It suits us now at our age, but it was not good for our kids when they were done with school. Jobs are just not here for the young, so most have to leave for the larger centers.
You will take many memories with you when you move on.
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It sounds like a good sized city! It certainly is a good learning experience with lots of memories.
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Our population is about 11,000 in town proper, plus 25,000 in the surrounding areas…..ranches, farms, etc.
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In cities, larger towns or even suburbs, folks often create their own “small towns.” Thus, the well-defined neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, et al. are effectively small towns mashed up against other small towns. Our section of Brookline is like a small town–we walk down the residential hill to the “main street” where there is a supermarket, a range of shops and a decent variety of restaurants and bars; more stuff is a short T ride away. Granted, not every US city is like this…though they could be if they chose.
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I get what you mean, and I do think this is a great part of big city living. London and Sydney have great suburbs, and have their own identities. At least with these big cities, if you don’t like one ‘town’, there is another just around the corner!
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Yes, a special laid back place to end stress, but not a permanent home for the jet set.
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I agree with this, definitely how I feel personally about it.
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The advice has been noted! … It only just takes all month to pack…
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I pack last minute, honestly on the same day. I’m terrible for that.
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I get into the packing frame of mind a month in advance and then proceed to procrastinate the actual packing till the very last day… university is going to be a mess.
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That’s how to do university properly :p
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Love the sunrise photos! -Jill
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Thanks Jill!
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You are most welcome, Sam. I enjoy reading your posts. So interesting.
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This makes me very happy, always! 😀
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