How not to move, part 1.

As some are aware (those that follow me on Facebook and Twitter, I'm moving from South East London, where I've lived for 10 years or more, to North London.

Where I currently live is East Dulwich. I'll miss the place. Memories abound and I think I'll always remember it fondly.

When I was walking to get morning coffee today (as the fridge is powered off prior to moving, thus no milk.. plus the kettle is packed) I was thinking and wondering if I've done the right thing. East Dulwich has a nice culture, lots of greenery and some exceedingly interesting shops and things on the main street, Lordship Lane.

So far the downsides I wont miss are proximity to Peckham (though for cheap food and a West Indies/African side of life it can hardly be equalled), the weekly police helicopters and the fireworks that can be heard almost nightly from September to December. Unless they're gunshots. Either is likely around here.

But it's mostly quiet, very close to central London and was, until recently, fairly affordable. Now, though, it's crazy. A 3 bedroom terraced house could easily set you back half a million pounds, more than three times it's cost not long after I moved here.

Tonight is the last night I'll be sleeping in this voluminous flat - 2 bedrooms mostly inhabited solely by me, for almost a year. It's with a sad heart and no small trepidation I'm preparing to move my mattress, fridge and other large items tomorrow.

What remains after that is some frantic packing as well as more sloughing of stuff. The charity shop accepted a lot, but not the encyclopedia which disappeared from outside later - apparently they just don't sell.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy, the last week especially so. As I've needed to sort through everything, deciding what to take and what not to take, I've been packing the car at night (or more usually at 6am as I was often almost too tired to flop into bed) and driving to work, which is currently less than half the distance from new home than East Dulwich is, and most of that is dual carriage way. Its a short 15-20 minute drive from work to home. There is still a lot of stuff to go through, file, and sort.

I've been trying not to throw things out that could reasonably be reused - though it seems no one wants the heated hair curlers. Things like the microwave oven, PCs, washing machine and others have been happily accepted by Freecycle, a group of groups aimed at keeping things out of landfill.

A simpler living me awaits. I hope.