I love London and I will never say anything bad about it. But saying that, leaving has been really transformative for me [says Freya Barnes, 46 ].
I spent 12 years working in public relations and communications, specialising in the charity sector. I felt rewarded by the work I was doing, but day to day you have to deliver and get the job done. It felt great to be achieving things and working for a good cause, but I ended up burning out with the long hours and constant rushing.
I had been doing it for years and years and I reached a point where I couldn’t keep going like that.
There were other things going on too — a long relationship ended, my father died, and the last workplace I was in was quite toxic.
I suffer from an autoimmune disease and I have always had quite low energy. My health was getting worse, and I was also experiencing anxiety and stress.
Then, in late 2022, I was made redundant. I was actually quite relieved, because I had been questioning whether I wanted to continue with that job anyway, and it gave me the opportunity to go freelance and start to rebalance my life.
“I love London, but there were a number of ways that I was not satisfied living there,” says Barnes
I set up Freya Barnes PR and as I was building my client base I realised that since so much of the work was remote, leaving London was an option.
I love London, but there were a number of ways that I was not satisfied living there. Everything revolved around work and careers, and it was really hard to pause. I had lovely friends but we were all so busy that you had to schedule things weeks in advance and then travel for 45 minutes to go for a drink or get a coffee.
Another consideration was that I grew up in the countryside and was very connected to nature. I think you hit a point in life where you want to reconnect with that.
Barnes knew within a week or two that St Leonards was the right place
ALAMY
I started googling “boho towns in the UK” and found St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex. I read about how it was up and coming and there were lots of Londoners moving down and a thriving culinary scene, which was important to me. I spent a weekend there and I loved it.
Last year I dipped my toe in for three months. I own a one-bedroom flat in Hackney and a friend who was renovating their place stayed there while I rented an Airbnb in St Leonards. I knew within the first week or two that it was the right place for me: the sea, the slightly slower rhythm of life, but still sociable and friendly.
After the three months I went back to London. In November I let out my flat for £1,900 a month and rented a flat on the seafront. It also has one bedroom but is bigger than my Hackney flat and costs £925 a month.
Everything has worked out so well. I am still doing the work that I care a lot about and it means I can enjoy it more because I am not constantly stressed and pressured.
Walks by the beach are one of the many positives of St Leonards
ALAMY
I have got more space to do things outside work — I can go for a walk on the beach in the morning, sit on my balcony listening to the Beatles and reading a book, and I have really thrown myself into local life, joining classes and groups. I have built a lovely new network of friends and acquaintances.
One of the biggest things for me is that I feel as if I am rediscovering who I am. I used to love music, I used to sing, play the piano, and write songs, but I’d not done anything like that for 30 years. Here I have joined a jazz singing class and at the end of term they do a show — it is absolutely terrifying but exhilarating too. It is like I am getting back parts of myself that I had forgotten I needed.