It was the time of Covid lockdowns. We were trying to keep our sanity by regularly checking in with friends and family between working from home, online school and Netflix binge sessions. The new normal for getting together with people was glass of wine (or beer) in hand and chatting over FaceTime or then, the new fangled medium called Zoom. So when asked, “What are you guys up to? Anything new?” we answered “Yeah, we bought a place in Nova Scotia”.
“What were you thinking? Why Nova Scotia? Are you planning on moving there?” These were the most frequently asked questions when we informed everyone of our latest “online purchase”. Technically, it was an online purchase. Yes, our agent and now friend Mike did visit the properties and send us photos and videos but we never saw them or even meet Mike in person. All the purchase documents were signed over the internet.
What were were thinking? We really weren’t. There was a time when we casually considered a cottage in Muskoka but we never seriously looked. We were fortunate enough to have a few friends who were kind enough to invite us up to their lake side getaway. One was even generous enough to let us use their less used cottage for 5 or 6 summers while the kids were little that our kids actually thought it was our cottage! Although we enjoyed our visits to Muskoka, we longed for something a bit different. Once we got a glimpse into what it could be like to spend summers at a rural sea side home, it planted a seed of what if. This was our crazy covid online purchase.
Why Nova Scotia? Laurence and I both had visited the Canadian Maritimes growing up. We both remember being in the back of our parents’ cars with our siblings and making the days long trek out to see the Atlantic provinces. Filling up on church lobster dinners, walking on the beaches and of course, climbing on the huge rocks at Peggy’s Cove. When we returned together on our road trip in 2017, it was like visiting for the first time. We were enamoured by the quaintness of the picturesque little towns along the coast, the weathered victorian homes overlooking the sea and the cute lighthouses atop rocky cliffs jutting out into a bay. When we stopped at a little restaurant for lunch or a B&B for a night, we were welcomed by warm friendly hosts that made us feel like we were visiting old friends. Even a stop at a gas station had us chatting with local folks about where were from and where we were going.
Are you planning on moving there? When I started my little online property viewing adventure, we were not seriously looking to buy property. We couldn’t leave our house, I had some idle time and I had a glass of wine in my hand. We never thought that a few months later, we’d be on the road to visit our cabin in the woods by the sea in Nova Scotia. So no… not then.