Originally posted on 2018-09-14
We have been living in our property for about a month now and have settled into a routine. Renovations are underway, and we are figuring out the plan of exactly what we want to do. Having lived here I have found 5 absolutely great things about living in a place that is mainly a vacation spot, and 3 things that are not so great.
# 1 – Swimming All The Time!
Having the lake right there all the time is pretty awesome. The ability to go swimming without having to go anywhere is a luxury you can get with a swimming pool, but a pool doesn’t give you this view. Since there is no travel time, it’s awesome to enjoy a small swim after a long day of physically demanding work, and if the child wants to only be in there for 10 minutes, who cares! It’s not like we had to pack up the car.
# 2 – Campfires
When I was a child, the only way I got a campfire was to be camping, an activity that was reserved for when I was lucky enough to be invited to go by my friends’ family. So the ability to have one every night (or at least every non-school night now that we’re into September) is an absolutely fantastic perk for me. I imagine we will be having fires often until it gets too cold.
# 3 – Coffee by the Fireplace
What’s better than that first-morning cup of coffee? Having said coffee by your fireplace. We have already had a couple of cold mornings here, and I can tell this is something I will be doing all winter long. Also, heating the place with wood just smells fantastic.
# 4 – The Quiet (Most of the Time)
Especially now that we’re into September and most people have finished their vacations it is really quiet here. Even with houses not that far from us on either side, there are moments that could have us thinking that there isn’t anyone else around. It is so peaceful, even when we are in the middle of renovations. It’s really nice to wake up and only hear the sound of the waves from the lake.
# 5 – The Amount of Space for our Child
Our child is spending more time outside than she ever has before, because there is just so much to do and explore, and this property isn’t massive. Even with the rules that she isn’t to go near the water without us and she can’t explore up the driveway, she is loving it outside, and we love that she is loving it.
As mentioned, there are a few downsides to living in a vacation area, surrounded by other buildings that are not lived in all the time and some rented out. If living in such a property is something you are considering before being retired there are a few things you should consider.
# 1 – You Are Not on Vacation, But Everyone Around You Is
I have mentioned that the quiet we have most of the time is great, but the key there is “most of the time”. The neighbors are on vacation, so they act like they are on vacation. They don’t always quiet down in the evening when you would like, and they don’t really have a reason to suspect that anyone would have to get up in the morning. One example, this week some vacationers started setting off fireworks at 11 pm. Now to their credit, they stopped as soon as I mentioned that I had a little one sleeping who needed to get up for school the next day and followed that up with an apology note they left with a bottle of wine, but I still had to interrupt their vacation plans. I hope next year they talk to us and we can come to a compromise since I didn’t like having to stop it.
# 2 – Everything is Far Away
We live down this awesome windy road, but that means it’s a 10-minute drive just to get out onto the highway. The closest town is 20 minutes away, which isn’t bad, but that town is a tourist town. Most of the locals travel over an hour to do their grocery shopping once a week, as that is the closest major(ish) city. The closest Tim Horton’s is 51 minutes away, and that is something I seriously thought I would never be able to say and still be in Canada.
# 3 – During Tourist Season, Quick Trips to Town Don’t Exist
As mentioned, the closest town to this property is a tourist town. During the summer months, this town is packed, and parking can be extremely difficult to find. This means that even a quick trip to the small grocery store to pick up a couple of things is not quick. We’re probably not even getting a parking spot that is close to the store. That was definitely an adjustment, especially since we moved in right in the middle of this season. As much as it is quiet now, it was so crowded in the middle of August. So that is my list of the great and not-so-great things about living here. I realize it doesn’t have anything to do with the transformation of the property, but hope you found it interesting anyway.
Huron The Lake 