I am vaguely looking at the housing market in Adelaide. In some ways it makes more sense for me to buy than rent here.

I found a house where the street number is the same as my birth day, and the street name the same as my birth month. I really would love to have that as my address. It made me realise how very, very much the name and number combo sways me.

Is it just me, or does the street name really, really influence where you would be happy living? Does that mean I should TRY to find something that sounds a bit yukky, because people would be less likely to want to live there?

Top of my “no go” list are names that sound violent or have violent associations. I am sure that Kilburn is a lovely suburb, but I just could not bring myself to say I lived there. Likewise, Military Road, or Hunter Street or Pearce Street.

I gifted myself a year of living within walking distance to the beach, in a very comfy house. It’s my substitute for not being able to take some of my redundancy payment to travel for a month or so to work out where to next. A year of feeling like I am on holiday, even while I work hard.

Well, that and because in December’s overheated rental market, I had to persuade a landlord that even though I had not seen their property and even though I had two cats, I was the best tenant. I really had to accept whatever I could get. Coming from Perth, where rents were far higher, I applied for places far more upmarket than my usual frugal, make-do budgeting style would dictate. The week I arrived, the neighbour across the street described the long queue outside during the viewing, and I realised how lucky I had been.

If we had not spent the last year in rolling lockdowns, I would probably have chosen something tiny, smack-bang in the middle of the city, walking distance to the art gallery, museum, state library and so much green space. One of my selection criteria, however, was that I needed to be able to happily quarantine for a fortnight, and not be driven nutty because it was too small or surrounded by neighbours if everyone was home again.

I am loving the neighbourhood, and the process of working out just how much space I need and what is important in where I live. I had been in the house I built in Fremantle for 20 years, and chose the location and size to raise a family. Now, I am taking a year out to find out more about what type of house I need when I just please myself. Interesting times.