Pride is a funny old thing isn’t it? We’re so rarely proud of the things we have a right to be proud of. Our accomplishments at work, our academic achievements, the steps we take to keep our relationships happy and healthy and even the way we raise our wonderful kids. We’re expected to bear these accomplishments with a kind of demure modesty. Yet, when it comes to the achievements of our favourite sporting team we’re allowed to roar with pride. Of all the many and various types of pride, pride in where you live is surely amongst the strangest. New Yorkers, for example, are often portrayed as fiercely proud. In fact, one could argue that Donald Trump’s ascendance to the Presidency owed a great deal to the fact that he was able to tap into a flagging sense of national pride in the American populace. See also, the Leave movement in Britain leading up to Brexit.

While it’s undoubtedly nice to be proud or at least happy to live where you live, there are many for whom home is home in name only. If you live in a constant state of worry or frustration at where you live no matter how beautifully you manage to maintain your home and garden, it’s just possible that you need to call an international removalists like Chess Moving… because you’re in the wrong place! Where you live has a huge impact on your quality of life. Thus, if any of the following seems all too familiar, it may be that you’re simply living in the wrong place and may need to leave your neighbourhood, your city or even your country…

Everything is suddenly way too expensive

Gentrification is a two way street. While homeowners may gleefully run their hands together at the impending rise in property prices when the flannel clad hipsters start flooding the bars and cafes, hunkering down with their macbooks and laptops… Gentrification can also really change the vibe of your neighbourhood. Suddenly your favourite shops, cafes and restaurants are replaced with uber trendy and needlessly expensive artisan espresso bars and couturiers. The next thing you know, your landlord’s threatening a rent hike. If these factors are stopping home from feeling like home, it’s time to move on.

You worry for your kids

Do you see gangs of kids congregating on street corners or strolling down the high street and pray that your son or daughter doesn’t wind up joining them. Do you read the performance reports of local schools with a mounting sense of dread that your child may not be able to live up to his or her full potential unless you move to a better catchment area? If so you have two choices… You can either wait and hope that the situation improved, or you can get out of dodge for your peace of mind and for the future of your kids.

People don’t get your style

Some may shrug off the importance of how we dress, but it’s a huge part of what makes us who we are. It can be our armour against the world on a difficult day or it can be the key that opens up the doors to our personality on a good day. Looking good is an important step to feeling good and validated. Yet, there can be nothing more soul crushing than stepping out of your door in a perfectly arranged ensemble and drawing disdainful looks from the near identically dressed people who walk past you. If your fellow natives don’t appreciate your style, take it to someone who will.

You’re a little too obsessed with the idea of your next holiday

Who doesn’t look forward to going away? Exposure to new locales, cultures, cuisines and people is an extremely edifying and enjoyable pursuit. It allows us to leave our problems at the airport and live life fully and completely outside of our comfort zone. If your anticipation for your getaways is a little too intense and you dread coming “home”, maybe you and your family would be better off elsewhere.

You just can’t eat right

It’s absolutely true that you are what you eat and it can be extremely frustrating when your local choices of cafes, restaurants and shops don’t offer the foods to suit your lifestyle. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian and struggle to find a restaurant that will accommodate your needs outside of a plate of chips or if you’re gluten intolerant yet struggle to buy foods that don’t make your bowel want to emigrate your taste buds may be better suited to new climes.