A traveling mum has revealed the four biggest culture shocks she has experienced since first moving into a home.
Heidi McDongh Clee is an Irish traveler married to an English gypsy, and the couple moved into their first home a few years ago, having previously lived in a caravan all their lives.
The mother of two posted a TikTok under her handle @h.mcccin which she outlines all the aspects of a house that she is not so fond of.
Heidi McDongh Clee is an Irish traveler married to an English gypsy, and the couple moved into their first home a few years ago, having previously lived in a caravan all their lives.
Her video has already been viewed by more than 44,000 people, who have given her some advice in the comments.
Heidi told viewers: ‘So here are some of the things I hate about living in a house, doing my eyebrows and eyelashes.
‘Context, I am an Irish traveler married to an English gypsy. We’ve lived in a caravan on a site for pretty much our entire married life and things like that.
“So this is the first time we’ve lived properly in a house and there are some differences that I’ve noticed.”
Nobody knows their neighbors
She revealed that the first shock to the system was that ‘no one really seems to know their neighbors and the people who live next door’.
The mother-of-two explained: ‘So when we first moved into this house we made it our job to talk to the people next door and luckily they are nice people.
“But in general, no one really seems to know who the neighbor is, if that makes sense.
The mother of two posted a TikTok under her account @h.mccc, in which she outlines all the aspects of a house she’s not thrilled about
‘Nobody I’ve noticed really talks to each other, everyone does their own thing and you see it regularly on the news about people dying in their own homes and it seems standard.
‘No one would have noticed. Someone has been lying dead in their own home for months, years even, and it’s standard, no one notices.
‘We could go to a completely different end of the country and not know who is on that yard or site, but if you go out and talk to people you get to know everyone.
“Then after a while you’re all mixing and chatting. People can live next to each other in houses here for years and not know who the neighbor is.’
Getting sick more easily
Moving on to her second point, Heidi added that her children have been suffering from minor illnesses much more often since moving into a home.
She said, ‘The next thing is illness here. So before we lived in a house, my kids never got sick, never took antibiotics or anything like that.
“But since we’ve been here, the kids have been sick with crazy things like coughs and colds and whatever, or they’ve had to go to the doctor and get antibiotics.
‘I blindly swear it’s the central heating that’s doing it, because obviously in the caravan and stuff you don’t have central heating, so it’s not a problem.
“Houses are not healthy for you, no joke, they are not healthy.”
Lack of freedom
Understandably, the traveler adds that she doesn’t like the lack of freedom that comes with owning a home compared to living in a trailer.
She told her 52,000 followers: ‘What also baffles me is that there is no freedom here.
‘If you’re in a trailer you can obviously drive a lot faster and go from one end of the country to the other if you feel like it.
“We still have the trailer and can just go anywhere, but now that we have the house, we don’t do that as much anymore. We don’t move as freely as we should have. It just feels a lot less free, it’s hard to explain.’
Less sense of community and no children playing outside
As she talks about her children’s experiences since moving into a home, she touches on another aspect of family life that confuses her.
Heidi said: ‘I never see children playing outside, that never happens.
“I don’t understand where everyone’s children are. Luckily we are within walking distance of the sites so my kids just go there and play all the time.
“They’re outside all the time down there, but I don’t see anyone’s children playing here.”
She adds: ‘When you’re at a campsite or campsite the kids are always in and out, so are the adults.
‘If you live in a caravan, you spend a lot of time together at home for a cup of coffee. Every now and then you just walk over and have a chat that way.
‘But that doesn’t happen here, I don’t think there is much of a sense of community. The women all just got into someone’s trailer, had a cup of coffee and stayed there for two hours.”
The TikToker concludes: ‘Here I never see anyone visiting each other and that is very important. No one really visits each other in the houses. Those are the main things I really don’t like.’
Commenters were quick to offer their own experiences and advice
Commenters were quick to share their own experiences and advice, with one writing: ‘Open your windows whatever the temperature for five minutes a day, it helps! I did that and my children stopped getting so sick.”
However, Heidi replied: ‘We live with them open and the doors, but I have noticed how unhealthy it is’.
Another wrote: ‘My whole street knows who is who. I’m in Scotland,” and a third added: “The area I’m from, everyone knows each other and if you don’t, someone else will – including Scotland!”
Meanwhile, someone else commented: ‘I’m from the US and this applies to us too, but when I visit my family’s town in Mexico everyone knows everyone is so nice.’
Others said: ‘I don’t know if it’s an Irish thing but I always make an effort to know my neighbours. It makes me feel safe’ and ‘I always have to know who my neighbors are. Luckily they’ve always been great.’
Another viewer added: ‘I live in a house. I can’t ignore the fact that people don’t talk to each other. I always talk to my neighbors, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them talk to each other.’
Someone else advised: ‘I agree, central heating is dry heat, I’m always coughing, always sick’.
It comes just after Heidi previously revealed some of the things she hated about living in a trailer.
She particularly experienced problems during the cold winter months, explaining how they usually got their water supply from outside through taps or cans and that simple tasks would become more difficult during the colder times.
Heidi admitted that even the simplest tasks, like making a cup of coffee, could be a challenge, especially if the water jug in the house was empty, which meant a trip outside to get it filled.