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Nine women, nine lives
continued from page 9
The time-out mum
Two years ago, when Katie Latimer, 31, discovered she was pregnant she quit her job as features editor of Marie Claire magazine, sold her Camden flat and moved to a cottage in Bath with her husband John, a carpenter. They have a 16-month-old daughter Olivia
"For about a year before I left my job, I'd become a bit dissatisfied with work. I couldn't really put my finger on what it was because, until then, I'd loved it. It might have been the fact that it was pretty relentless, quite highly pressurised and left little time for anything else in my life. I always seemed to be working to a deadline and, towards the end, I just didn't feel as if the effort I was putting in was appreciated.
I'm originally from Scotland and John's from Bath, so we decided that we'd leave our London flat and move down there. We both wanted a more chilled-out pace of life and a bit of greenery on our doorsteps. My friends were really surprised by our decision to move to the country. I absolutely loved London and am a bit of a shopaholic. We always had a busy social life in London and were happy, but as I grew disenchanted with my job I began to think I might be happier out of town. We also wanted to have a baby and felt it was the right time to move.
Everything happened at once. We moved not long after I discovered I was pregnant so, in the space of a few weeks, I'd left a nine-to-six (and beyond) job and a flat right in the centre of things, to go and live in a lovely sandstone cottage on the edge of Bath. Our kitchen window overlooks rolling green fields for as far as the eye can see and the nearest form of entertainment is the local pub at the end of our road. I had a very relaxing pregnancy and as I got bigger I was glad we'd moved because I just couldn't imagine coping with the stress of travelling to work and being there while pregnant.
I did the odd bit of freelance feature writing from home, until Olivia was born, then I became a full-time Mum to her. I love the fact that I'm there for her and I get to see every stage of her development first-hand. I can pop her in the pram and take her out for a walk with our dog, Tilly, whenever I like and I don't feel weighted down by the stress of work anymore. Working in London, and especially in the job I was in, places so much importance on material stuff, but when you take a step back you realise you can live without all those supposed 'must-have' things. Don't get me wrong, I still love to shop and recently bought a pair of Prada shoes in a sale down here - but it's not the be-all-and-end-all like it used to be. I don't even know where I'm going to wear those shoes now, anyway!
I made lots of new friends when I moved down here through joining the local mother-and-baby groups and we've got some great neighbours, too. Most weekends we have friends down to visit so I never really got the chance to feel homesick for my other life.
While I was working, I'd been trying to write a book in my spare time. After Olivia arrived I went back to that - more as a hobby than anything. However, I've now got a publisher and it's going to be coming out later this year. So I'm still pretty busy but it's all about what I want to do. These days, John and I work to live, not the other way around like before and, ultimately, the winner is Olivia."
Interviews by Melissa Balment
The time-out mum
Two years ago, when Katie Latimer, 31, discovered she was pregnant she quit her job as features editor of Marie Claire magazine, sold her Camden flat and moved to a cottage in Bath with her husband John, a carpenter. They have a 16-month-old daughter Olivia
"For about a year before I left my job, I'd become a bit dissatisfied with work. I couldn't really put my finger on what it was because, until then, I'd loved it. It might have been the fact that it was pretty relentless, quite highly pressurised and left little time for anything else in my life. I always seemed to be working to a deadline and, towards the end, I just didn't feel as if the effort I was putting in was appreciated.
I'm originally from Scotland and John's from Bath, so we decided that we'd leave our London flat and move down there. We both wanted a more chilled-out pace of life and a bit of greenery on our doorsteps. My friends were really surprised by our decision to move to the country. I absolutely loved London and am a bit of a shopaholic. We always had a busy social life in London and were happy, but as I grew disenchanted with my job I began to think I might be happier out of town. We also wanted to have a baby and felt it was the right time to move.
Everything happened at once. We moved not long after I discovered I was pregnant so, in the space of a few weeks, I'd left a nine-to-six (and beyond) job and a flat right in the centre of things, to go and live in a lovely sandstone cottage on the edge of Bath. Our kitchen window overlooks rolling green fields for as far as the eye can see and the nearest form of entertainment is the local pub at the end of our road. I had a very relaxing pregnancy and as I got bigger I was glad we'd moved because I just couldn't imagine coping with the stress of travelling to work and being there while pregnant.
I did the odd bit of freelance feature writing from home, until Olivia was born, then I became a full-time Mum to her. I love the fact that I'm there for her and I get to see every stage of her development first-hand. I can pop her in the pram and take her out for a walk with our dog, Tilly, whenever I like and I don't feel weighted down by the stress of work anymore. Working in London, and especially in the job I was in, places so much importance on material stuff, but when you take a step back you realise you can live without all those supposed 'must-have' things. Don't get me wrong, I still love to shop and recently bought a pair of Prada shoes in a sale down here - but it's not the be-all-and-end-all like it used to be. I don't even know where I'm going to wear those shoes now, anyway!
I made lots of new friends when I moved down here through joining the local mother-and-baby groups and we've got some great neighbours, too. Most weekends we have friends down to visit so I never really got the chance to feel homesick for my other life.
While I was working, I'd been trying to write a book in my spare time. After Olivia arrived I went back to that - more as a hobby than anything. However, I've now got a publisher and it's going to be coming out later this year. So I'm still pretty busy but it's all about what I want to do. These days, John and I work to live, not the other way around like before and, ultimately, the winner is Olivia."
Interviews by Melissa Balment
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Created: 23/06/2003 Updated: 16/11/2005
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