Try It for a Year Before You Decide

A trial can show us how the days feel, and how we feel in them.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a couple named Anna and George. They are both in their late fifties and already see themselves living somewhere warmer. They have seen photographs, read what others have written, and spent a happy ten days on holiday. Still, they hold back from selling their house.

"What if we hate it in February?" Anna asks.

"What if we love it in February?" George says.

"Then we will have wasted the holiday, because we loved it for the wrong reasons."

They laugh. But the question stays. How do two careful people find out whether a place suits them before they commit to it?

Three ways people try it

Here are three stories I came across, from Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria. Each one takes a different approach to the same question.

Greece: the grass is still grass

The Greece story had a sobering tone. The writer's point, as I understood it, was that moving does not remove the ordinary worries of life. The same concerns about health, family and money follow us, and a different setting does not make them disappear. The grass is still grass, whichever side of the fence we stand on.

I think this is a helpful thought to carry on a trial. If we go somewhere with the hope that it will fix everything, we may come home disappointed. If we go with the hope of finding out what changes and what does not, a trial can teach us a great deal. The writer seemed to suggest that having a plan to return, if needed, was a sensible thing, and I tend to agree.

Croatia: early retirees looking for a rental

The Croatia story was hopeful. A couple who had retired early were hunting for a rental near Pula. They were not buying. They were looking for a place to live for a while and see. I like the quiet sense in that. Renting first leaves the door open at both ends.

There was excitement in their words, and I think that is as important as caution. A trial can be a pleasure, not only an experiment.

Bulgaria: a test year in Plovdiv

The Bulgaria piece was calm and careful. It described a test year in Plovdiv, a full cycle of seasons before any decision. The idea is simple. A year shows the weather in each month, the pace of the place, the way the neighbors behave when it is cold and when it is hot. A holiday cannot show these things.

How the three compare

What a trial can and cannot show

A trial can show us how the days feel, and how we feel in them. It can show whether we like the shops, the neighbors, the pace and the light. It can show whether our partner is as happy as we are.

It cannot show everything. A year as a renter is a different life from owning a home or being old in a town. It cannot tell us what we will think in ten years. It also depends on the year: a mild winter or a hard one changes the picture.

I think the most useful part of a trial is to look for what surprises us. The small surprises, good and bad, are where the truth tends to be.

Anna and George decide on a rental for six months, with their house left as it is.

"If it works, we have our answer," Anna says.

"And if it does not?" George asks.

"Then we have our answer too."