making drastic changes in life

[emily_in_nc]

Of course, in the remote areas where most of those plains and prairies are, you'll only have cows or maybe antelope for company. Some of the counties in this region have the lowest population density in the U.S. That lack of population, though, can also add to some folk's unease.

But would make me very happy indeed!

[north woods gal]

Me, too. Just need my husband, our dogs and close friends. Anything more is a crowd.

[Crankin]

And, I would not last a minute in that environment!
Need lots of people. Not a super crowded environment, but definitely not sparsely populated.

[shootingstar]

Where I live now is 1,000 metres above sea level, but one doesn't know it while in prairie land. The difference is that my partner tells me that after spending over a month or longer in our area, he cycles better on hills in Vancouver area which the downtown area is at sea level. Your lung capacity is expanded in our area.

The skies are brighter in blueness and we do get many more days /hrs. of sunshine compared to other areas. Long time locals love the sunnier skies and tell me, that's what they don't like about Vancouver BC...more rain/grey at certain times of years, etc. I am not affected by SAD compared to others..IF I live in a city with a range of different things to see and do. I could not live in Pacific Northwest rainy seasons in the rural areas.

As for cycling in the prairies: the hardest part is a lot less tree wilderness and trees. It IS a big deal..for a woman touring cyclist needing to go to the washroom. At times there is no bush or rock, stand of trees to hide. The winds with no natural windbreak at times, can be difficult. I know some local cyclists at work, who are decent cyclists, just choose not to cycle commute to work on days when wind kicks up over 40 kmph through natural grassland prairie parks. And we have some long linear local parks like this.

I've always enjoyed living within view of large water body from home, or at least cycling a few kms. from home, to a large body of water. Where I live now I am near a major river and actually am fortunate to have view of also river parkland with natural mature trees, etc. It's a big deal in a prairie city. It does mean something to my soul to see leafy tree cover and also changing fall colours.

However, I know after camping and travelling in rural areas, wilderness that's great for travel but for myself not living long-term. Nature inspires me for creating art, what I write and cycling in areas surrounded by nature, is motivating. But I don't feel comfortable to isolate myself by living in rural area. I've spent vacation time in homes of a few friends who each live in a tiny town of 2,000 or less people. It's ok...I guess. But not for me. A lot of driving for them to daily shopping and chores.

I don't drive and hence, living in rural areas makes no sense for me. There's a time in one's life to live in rural isolated areas for a few decades...not when you become more weak/less mobile. I am not convinced that friends and family will be around to help at the right time, because they have their own schedules and lives also. Right now, except for my partner, I have no family living in the province where I am. They are 3,800 km. east of me. Canada (and US) are frickin' huge countries.

I believe it helps that a person knows who they are, their identity or what shaped their earlier years in life which propels them to select the best values and adopt other improved values/ways of living. It helps later in life when you end up living in areas very far from where you were born/raised.

For myself, it's living in a place that's clean, safe and close to amenities plus a diverse range of cultural activities and opportunities to learn via lectures, courses and some shared interests. Yes, I do value Canada's health care system. It's not perfect but whole lot better than some other places. And one is better off living in a major Canadian city to have local access to health facilities and specialists. It's mind boggling to hear of other Canadians spending their own money (not covered by public health insurance) to travel several hundred or over 1,000 kms. to a big city for specialized health care, etc. (and also find local accommodation etc.).

I also prefer to live in multi-generational neighbourhoods. By coincidence, I live in a neighbourhood that has less children at this time. (Have seen the census for our area.) Not in a retirement community until I become unable to live independently.

My parents have an ideal situation (my father died nearly 2 yrs. ago), they bought and live in an newish infill house in mid-town Toronto over 18 yrs. ago. It is across the street from an elementary public school. The house is on quiet street which coincidentally had bike lanes installed just 4 yrs. ago. Is a 15 min. walk from 2 different frequent bus lines to subway. 2 blocks from major grocery store etc. There is a community garden just 1/2 a block away. It was created over 5 yrs. ago. My parents really wouldn't have known all this new amentities. They simply needed a home that fit their budget, close to transit (for non-drivers), some shopping and not in the suburbs. They made a very wise lifestyle and for my mother, a wise financial investment.

[Crankin]

Shooting Star, one of my closest friends in AZ is from Montreal. She is an ob/gyn nurse practitioner and midwife and her ex husband is a family medicine doctor. Both trained in Canada, althogh my friend did her NP work in AZ. All of their family who still lives in Canada go to private doctors and use insurance from their jobs. I remember, quite a few years ago, one of their parents needed an angiogram, after some heart incident. He was still youngish at the time, and it was going to be a 2 month wait. My friends were frantic, and used connections to get him in with a private doc. I think that in the end, people who have some other sort of insurance from work use it, to avoid situations like this.

[shootingstar]

If it was life-threatening, it's understandable that your friends wanted to go the private route.

Not sure if all medical conditions need the faster route to a private doctor all the time.
My partner who is a cyclist, had congestion in what he perceived in his respiratory system. Doctor looked at him....3 months ago. Then they fast-tracked him to the local hospital for respiratory and heart tests. To make it sure it wasn't anything else. It was incredibly fast their response to him. He was in the hospital clinic the next day.

This was in Vancouver.

I had a concussion and was in rehab for 6 months last year. I saw my family doctor every 2 wks....that is how heavily monitored I was because I was also on sleeping pills since concussion disrupted my sleep patterns. She had experience dealing with a number of patients with concussion. I did have an MRI a few months later, which the doctor preferred once things "settled down" a few months later. (I did have a CT scan within 3 hrs. of my injury in Vancouver. I was unconscious at that time. They put me on a spinal board....just in case.)

I also saw sleep doctor several times. He is involved in various research studies on sleep and concussion/athletes with the university. So his expertise was real and deep. Both physicians' care for me, were on the public healthy care system. After each diagnosis, I would phone my sister, emergency medicine doctor in Ontario who also deals with concussions. Just to get her informal opinion on the general direction of care, and know that I was under the best care. I was. I did have physiotherapy (6 visits) which were funded by employee health benefit. If I didn't have it, I believe people might qualify for a few (less) physiotherapy visits.

I was injured in British Columbia. I believe the real cost would have been $500.00 for ambulance transport, as a non-British Columbian, but CAnadian patient to pay. (My work benefit paid it.) My hospital care for 1 night 24 hrs. with neurologist, etc. did not personally cost me. There is paperwork sent to the B.C. and Albertan health govn't authorities where they check for Canadian patients if the rate of care is same cost between the 2 provinces. If it's different, I believe the patient pays for the difference.

This is for Canadian citizens who already live in a specific Canadian province and have registered with their home provincial authority for public health insurance coverage. Everyone who chooses to live in Canada is advised to register for public health care coverage. It makes no sense for medical care in Canada if one chooses not to register or use the system. There are VERY few private doctors in the cities where Il've lived..and honest, I wouldn't use them unless there was a compelling reason.

May I say: my father who had diagnosed for prostate cancer for remaining 6 years of his life....did not pay for clinic care, specialist tests, not for the drugs, chemotherapy and palliative care (for 2 months before he died)...at Canada's top cancer research hospital in downtown Toronto. This is what I mean....to live in a major North American city with specialist care already there.

We could have not asked for anything better, Crankin for my father. Would have been a mistake (and waste of money) to go to the U.S. for cancer care, now that we know what limited options he had anyway in his 80's. He was already living in a city with a well-known research and care facility in the Canadian oncology world. His advantage helped maintain a high quality of life with cancer, was his general health....no respiratory, heart conditions at all to complicate things.

The useful thing as a patient, is to find a doctor who does believe in patient education, in addition to diagnosis. But personally I find, my best defense, is to be alert to ask good questions when with the doctor and a doctor receptive to being bombarded with patient questions...which a lot of people don't know how to/stressed out/feel intimidated by doctor/health care professionals.

Since this is a cycling forum: no question that being/becoming healthy at least cuts down more medical complications near the end of life. And for major injury/illness before that, you recover better. I personally vouch for this in my concussion recovery in my mid-50's.

[rebeccaC]

Does anyone else find such decisions, about moving to find the "right" fit, complicated by being half of a couple?

For me...and this being a drastic change thread...being in a relationship that for the first time has the possibility of marriage I’ve been thinking a lot about and having conversations with Alex about being a committed couple and all that means.
Both of us think it’s important to have these conversations. We both feel one of a relationship’s important aspects is based on how differences are dealt with and that we are all shaped by different dynamics.
Our understanding and respecting each other's choices, our words of affirmation, our life’s ethos, how we deal with trusting one another, how we make decisions together are just some of the things that can make a marriage easier if we take time to work out our feelings in an honest and caring way before....that's what we're thinking anyway. Relationships are hard and marriage is even harder....i know good, bad and ended ones.

Every love story is beautiful, but Alexandra’s and mine is my favorite.


‘The negative feelings we all have can be addictive…just as the positive…it’s up to
us to decide which ones we want to choose and feed”… pema

[shootingstar]

Hope things, work out Rebecca.

[ny biker]

Does anyone else find such decisions, about moving to find the "right" fit, complicated by being half of a couple?

Late to the party here, things have been crazy lately. But I just wanted to mention that it's no picnic going through everything alone.

I'm very happy for you and Alex, Rebecca.

[Pax]

Late to the party here, things have been crazy lately. But I just wanted to mention that it's no picnic going through everything alone.

I'm very happy for you and Alex, Rebecca.

I wonder about what it would be like to be alone, sometimes. We've been together for 26 years and while many decisions are easy because we have so much in common, others can be a bear because we have different timetables or ideas about the future.

Do you ever find, without having someone to bounce ideas off of, that you can be prone to over-analysis paralysis?

[Catrin]

I can't imagine what it would be like to NOT be alone, I've lived alone now for over 20 years.

Good question Pax, for me and my tendency to over think (though I do generally make big decisions quickly, it's the little ones that take time), living alone does make it...challenging sometimes to set aside obsessive thinking patterns when I go there. Thankfully I've learned how to recognize the signs and have developed ways to deal with it. I admit wondering if it would be easier to stop it if someone was around to distract me. Or not

[Pax]

Interesting, Catrin. My honey is more like you, she was a bit obsessive about decisions when we first got together, she had to weigh and consider and ponder. I, on the other hand, review, decide, act, almost instantly. It was very disconcerting for us both initially, we've adjusted to each others ways over time and that's helped immensely.

[Catrin]

Interesting, Catrin. My honey is more like you, she was a bit obsessive about decisions when we first got together, she had to weigh and consider and ponder. I, on the other hand, review, decide, act, almost instantly. It was very disconcerting for us both initially, we've adjusted to each others ways over time and that's helped immensely.

I do both - it depends on what it is. The bigger the decision, the less time I consider/ponder. The opposite of what one might assume

[ny biker]

I wonder about what it would be like to be alone, sometimes. We've been together for 26 years and while many decisions are easy because we have so much in common, others can be a bear because we have different timetables or ideas about the future.

Do you ever find, without having someone to bounce ideas off of, that you can be prone to over-analysis paralysis?

Yes. Combine that with the fact of only 24 hours in a day and no one to split household tasks with, and there are plenty of important things that never get done.

[Pax]

Yes. Combine that with the fact of only 24 hours in a day and no one to split household tasks with, and there are plenty of important things that never get done.

I know when my honey had her hysterectomy and I had to do everything for a few weeks, it felt overwhelming. I eventually starting letting things slide because I ran out of hours in the day.