Why don't I live near the sea?

I love the beach. I love the sea. And although my dream would be to live somewhere warm with water you can swim in and sand you can lie on without thermal underwear, I even love the British coast. As you will see, my photography has a strong coastal theme too!

calm sea at dusk Orford, UK



So why don't I live there?


Even as a teenager as soon as I got my driving licence I used to head down the M5 towards the West Country for my seaside hit. I love watching the water on calm days and stormy days make me want to park up my car bear the front and eat hot vinegar-laced chips watching waves crash onto the beach through a steamy windscreen.

Southsea beach, Portsmouth, UK



My son and his partner live in Southsea, Portsmouth and he admits they rarely head to the beach even though it's only about ten minutes walk away. Maybe I would be the same if I actually lived there.

wrecked boat, Orford, UK

My mum lives a similar distance from the coast in Cyprus and when we visit we spend lots of time of our favourite beaches, swimming in the sea, snorkelling and enjoying spectacular ocean views. But even she admits, unless they have friends and family visiting they rarely spend the day on the beach acting like holidaymakers.

Latchi, Cyprus


I love that programme about people wanting to move to their favourite holiday destinations - today was Costa Rica and it almost made me want to move there it was so beautiful! Almost everyone on the programme states they want to be in view of, or within walking distance of the beach.



I'm too cowardly to up sticks and move I think. It took all of my courage to move to the Home Counties from the Midlands when I got married. That was 25 years ago and we are still in the same house. It got very overcrowded for a while and we did think about moving but we managed and we are still here with more and more space as our birds fly the nest.

Sunset at Southsea beach, Portsmouth, UK

We talk about moving to Cyprus when all of the children have left but I wonder if I could bear to leave them so far behind in the UK. It's more than four hours to fly and even modern face to face video communication can't make up for a real life hug.

Sandy beach at Margate UK

Maybe if we moved to the seaside we would get bored with it very quickly? I live on the edge of a beautiful forest which is popular with tourists all week round but I confess we rarely go there ourselves now. It's nice to have as a backdrop to the village though.

Leaving Isle of Wight

For now I will have to content myself with visiting my family who live near the sea. Already planning which beaches we will visit for our 25th wedding anniversary trip to Cyprus in May. All I need to do now is to work on my post-winter flab so I don't scare the other holidaymakers!



Isle of Wight