Considering a Sea Change: Do it! I Have No Regrets.

My Story Might Help You if You Are Considering A Sea Change

How my Sea Change Happened

I first began writing this post at the very end of 2018, and it took me weeks to find the courage to finish it. At the time, I worried about what readers might think. How could someone run a blog called Sydney Chic and then leave Sydney?

The truth is, I never really left.

Sydney shaped my adult life. I lived there for decades, built my career there, and it’s where my heart still feels very much at home. There was always something exciting to explore in Sydney. I return often, with family in Bondi Beach and Collaroy, and that deep connection has never faded.

What did change was where I chose to live now.

In 2017, I made the decision to leave city life behind and move up the coast. It wasn’t an escape or a rejection of Sydney — it was a conscious lifestyle shift. One that felt right at the time, and one that has taught me a great deal since.

Nearly eight years on, Sydney Chic is still standing strong. The site has continued to grow, evolve, and remain relevant, proving something I didn’t fully understand back then: a great website isn’t tied to a postcode. It’s built on experience, perspective, and authenticity.

If you’re considering a sea change of your own, this post isn’t about convincing you to pack up and leave tomorrow. It’s about sharing what I’ve learned — the fears, the rewards, the unexpected realities — so you can make a decision that truly suits your life.

Where I lived in Sydney

I’d been contemplating the move for at least a year, but kept putting it off. There was always a reason not to go — work, timing, convenience, comfort. Looking back, it was fear dressed up as practicality.

At the time, I was living in Potts Point — officially Elizabeth Bay according to my lease — but in reality, I was right on the corner of Roslyn Street and Ward Avenue. Let’s be honest, that’s the Cross. I lived there for three years, and before that I was in Darlinghurst, and prior to that, Hyde Park Plaza. Inner-city living had been my world since 2012.

Before all of that, I was a die-hard Manly girl. And in many ways, I still am. That connection to the Northern Beaches never really leaves you — it’s woven into who you are, no matter where life takes you next.

Leaving Sydney for My Sea Change

On my final day in Potts Point, I walked up through the Cross to the train station with no regrets at all. My furniture had already been collected and sent north overnight, and I was staying at the Four Seasons for one last night in the city. It felt oddly calm — like the decision had already settled.

The following day, I flew out of Sydney. As the plane lifted and curved over the city, I looked down with a quiet sense of sadness, but also with certainty. What lay ahead felt gentler. Slower. A different way of living that I was genuinely ready for.

I moved to Tuncurry–Forster, and a few years later made my way to Tea Gardens, where I’ve been based since 2020. Somewhere along that journey, I started a handmade jewellery business. What began as a creative outlet has grown into both an online store and a small retail space here in Tea Gardens — something I couldn’t have imagined back when I was navigating inner-city streets each day.

One of the questions I get asked most often is, “Don’t you miss all the events you used to go to?” The answer is both no — and yes.

There’s a perception that this blog is all about VIP events, but in reality, I’ve rarely written about them. Even when I was attending regularly, most of that content lived on Instagram, and these days it’s more likely to appear in Stories than in a blog post.

I’ve also brought contributors in Sydney on board to attend events on my behalf. Quite honestly, they’re younger, fresher, and far more immersed in that scene than I am now — and that’s exactly how it should be. Every blog needs new energy, and the events side of Sydney Chic is no exception.

That said, the whole VIP culture has always amused me. I still remember being told by a photographer at one event that he couldn’t take photos of anyone over 25. I was 56 at the time — and very proud of it.

Peace at Last

Coming back to the idea of a sea change — for me, it was unquestionably the right decision.

What I gained wasn’t just more space, but a different quality of life altogether. A larger home. Quiet nights. Clean air. The kind of uninterrupted sleep I hadn’t experienced since 2012.

There was no longer constant noise outside my window, no late-night disruptions, no background chaos that had slowly become normalised over the years. I didn’t realise how much it had affected me until it was gone.

The shift wasn’t dramatic or instant — it was subtle, steady, and deeply restorative.

One of the biggest advantages for me was that I’d already been working from home for years. All of my work is digital, so relocating didn’t disrupt my income or my routine in the way it might for others. Blogging had long been my foundation, alongside my work as a website designer, which meant I could take my business with me rather than leave it behind.

What I didn’t expect was how quickly my health would change.

Within just a few weeks of moving, I’d lost three kilos without trying. City life had quietly taken its toll. Out here, I was walking every day — often for two hours at a time — covering six to eight kilometres without thinking twice. I was eating better, sleeping better, and moving more.

And then there were the little things that felt almost surreal at first. Neighbours dropping off fresh, home-grown vegetables. Locally caught fish and prawns shared without ceremony. It was a completely different rhythm of life — one that felt nourishing in ways I hadn’t realised I’d been missing.

Personal Grief and Challenges

At night, I look out my bedroom window and see stars — thousands of them. I hear the ocean instead of traffic, sirens, and late-night chaos. I breathe clean air rather than the black soot that coated everything white in my old flat. For years, I didn’t really question it. I was breathing that in every day.

But there was another, far more important reason behind the move.

My mother suffered her first stroke in 2011. She went on to have three more before she passed away in 2015. She wanted me — her only daughter — to move north and be closer. At the time, I didn’t. I told myself I couldn’t. That my work in Sydney mattered too much.

With hindsight, I see things differently.

Nothing actually changed with my work when I eventually did move. What did change was my understanding of what truly matters. I wish I had made that decision earlier, because she was infinitely more important than any website or deadline.

My father passed away in 2019 at the age of 86. This time, I was able to be present. I had time with him — real time — and that has brought a sense of peace I didn’t know I needed. In my own quiet way, making this move felt like honouring both of them. One of life’s clearest lessons revealed itself: family matters.

Earlier in the year my father died, I very nearly lost my own life.

I was diagnosed with a rare and serious condition — a psoas abscess caused by complications from Crohn’s disease. It’s no exaggeration to say that I shouldn’t be here. That I am here, updating this post in 2026, still feels extraordinary.

What feels even more remarkable is that my life was saved in a regional hospital. A surgeon in his seventies at Manning Hospital did what needed to be done — and did it brilliantly. It was a powerful reminder that quality, care, and expertise are not limited to big cities.

Before that I could have drowned in a Riptide in Tuncurry Rockpool.

Sydney Chic continues The site has evolved, just as I have, and I still move between the city and the Mid North Coast regularly. Sydney remains part of my life, my work, and my story.

Making this change was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made — and without question, one of the best. I have no regrets.

If you’re standing on the edge of a similar decision, wondering whether to stay or go, my only advice is this: listen to yourself. Life moves quickly. Sometimes the safest choice is the one that feels like a risk. We all deserve a life that feels right, not just one that looks good on paper.

As I finish updating this post, the soundtrack is no longer traffic or sirens, but the steady chorus of green tree frogs outside. It feels calm. It feels settled. And it feels right.

UPDATE – January 2026

So, any regrets? None. Not one.

Since first writing this post, life has continued to expand rather than contract. I’ve created a second destination website, North Coast Leisure and Life, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to build something that reflects the region I now call home.

On a personal level, the changes have been just as meaningful. Over the past few months alone, I’ve consistently walked between 10,000 and 15,000 steps a day — not as a goal, but simply as part of daily life. Movement, fresh air, and a calmer rhythm are no longer things I have to schedule; they’re built in.

Life feels grounded. Balanced. And very good.

Yet something is niggling at me quietly; I'm thinking about moving back to the Northern Beaches.

My other websites are:

www.debcarr.com

www.northcoastnswlifestyle.com.au

www.upbeatandpositive.com