Pictured: Kate Moss, who lives in the Cotswolds
Danielle Perry is a radio presenter at Absolute Radio, a band manager, DJ, podcaster and writer for Q Magazine. She’s also a new mum to baby Etta. Although life has changed somewhat, there is a common ground between everything and that’s what she’s going to be writing about in this new column, 'Me +1'. She’s not going to be banging on about sensory classes or Peppa Pig – but the way our interests, styles and passions shift throughout our lives and how it is possible to not lose any of your identity or fun with the impending feeling of being a proper grown up.
I have always wanted to do a million and one things. I wanted to set up a gluten free sandwich shop in 2000 (WHY DIDN'T I?!); tour the world with a band in 2001; jack all this media stuff in and train as a lawyer or a nurse; study law; work with events again; become a session player... anything and everything crossed my mind.
I was living in Birmingham at the time London came calling. Brum is such a great city; never met a friendlier and more welcoming community and I loved my time kicking the streets of Moseley, Digbeth and Kings Heath. Birmingham was good to me.
I did though have a creative and professional itch to scratch. I'm an old bloody romantic really (much to my detriment most of the time) and I dreamed of being broadcast in a black cab or a busy shop down Regent Street or blaring out of a bar in Soho. The call came and soon I was realising that dream and it felt damn good.
I wish I'd done London sooner. It is THE melting pot of life. Londoners look out for each other and there's an enchanting mix of class, realness and enthusiasm that makes the packed tubes, beeping horns and constant sirens manageable.
But then real life happens.
I'm 37 now, with one little person and a husband with a penchant for boutique amplifiers and guitars-a-plenty. Couple that with a Jumperoo, a few choice family photos and a basket full of toys and there's nowhere left to sit in our flat. Cue the recent heat wave; with no garden and a bedroom in an attic it was another trip to the local Argos on the Holloway Road to buy fan no. 3.
Even before the arrival of our small friend I was hugely frustrated by the housing market in London - both renting and buying - and I felt on a constant treadmill of saving, then to be disappointed by what your money could get you, to then saving again, to then being disappointed... the cycle went on and on.
It IS the deal though. It has always been the deal. London is one of the most expensive, and brilliant cities in the world. Living in a capital requires compact expectations in a home-sense and always will do. The thing that is tricky for my generation is trying to catch up with the generation before, or those clever souls who bought young - who were in the prime seats when then housing market catapulted up to Mars.
The latest official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows a 25% increase in the number of Londoners aged 30-39 moving out of the capital since 2010. I've seen a lot of friends move east to Margate, some back up to Birmingham, many to Cambridge and the surrounding areas and then like-minded folk like me who have decided it is to be a BN3 postcode for the future. (Hove, actually).
It's down to space and clean air for me. For the price of a lower ground basement flat with not much natural light and a 3m square paved garden in south London, I can get a raised ground floor huge, airy apartment with a south facing garden within a 5-minute walk of the ocean, and a 5-minute walk to my direct train to London Victoria. Just like my move to London originally, I've got a gut feeling about this one, and I've run with it.
It's a shame. A lot of my crew have disbanded. Kids, reaching mid-30s, staying in more, wanting to host Christmas for once without feeling like you live like The Young Ones, the option to grow your own veg, the idea of barely any pollution in your little ones’ lungs all became too much of a sway.
The figures are worrying though aren't they? 20-somethings are still flocking to our fair capital (BEST DECISION EVER - you won't regret it), but the 30-somethings AND their children are leaving still in droves as discussed above. It's beginning to leave quite a gap in a well-balanced society and community. And take away all the artists that can't afford to stay either and it could end up being pretty beige.
I’m going to become a commuter which will be quite the shift to my lifestyle, especially with childcare, but I balanced it all up and decided home was the most important bit of all. Whatever the daily grind, to walk back through your own door where you feel at your most secure and happy is everything. And to see her racing around the garden with the hose out and squealing with delight will make every minute on that train worth it. I won’t forget you though London - I’m already planning a weekend visit with a lot of the out of towners - and for once we may even have a few quid to spend on it too.
Listen to Absolute Radio at absoluteradio.co.uk and catch Danielle Perry 4-6pm Weekdays on Absolute Radio, and on The Sunday Night Music Club - 8pm - 12am.
READ MORE OF DANIELLE'S COLUMNS:
Why I'm Cautious Of Sharing Photos Of My Daughter On Social Media