FPN Editor's Blog

Don’t give up on your dreams

Did you see last night’s ‘A Place in the Sun: Home or Away’ on Channel 4? A retired couple had half a million to find a place in Berkshire or on the Cote d’Azur. The wife wanted France, the husband England. It wasn’t cut and dried though, and by the end they were both pretty confused by what they’d seen. In France they’d viewed a trio of properties in the hills behind the Riviera, with rolling views across hillsides and forest to the Med. But in the end they settled for an ex-caretaker’s cottage at the end of a grand driveway in Berkshire. I say settled because although the wife liked the property, she was definitely giving up her dreams to live in France. As she said (with a sigh), she’d always dreamed of waking up in the morning and opening the bedroom window onto one of the views she’d just basically given up on. I felt sad for her. The fact is, sometimes in life you have to be practical and compromise. But when you get the chance to fulfil your dreams, you should grab it with both hands. What really got me is that buying one of the French houses wasn’t their only option. They could have rented for a while to find out if France lived up to expectations. Perhaps after six months she would have got it out of her system. Perhaps the experience would have disappointed. Perhaps her husband would have fallen in love with France too. At least they’d have tried it. Even if they hated it, what would they have lost? They could still have bought a place in Berkshire. As it was, the sale on their own property in the UK fell through so they couldn’t buy the caretaker’s cottage anyway. They could have rented out their English home and rented a French place – they may even have made money on the deal, to spend on vin rouge and menus du jour. I guess what I’m trying to say is, whatever your circumstances, don’t give up on your dreams. You might have to take a different route to them than you’d imagined but there’s nearly always a way. Go for it!