There are many reasons why one should live in the countryside, and this essay will highlight some of the major advantages of doing so. Of course there is always two sides to a coin, therefore this essay will also point out some of the problems which often reduce the pleasure of living in the countryside.

The best reason why one should live in the countryside, is the amount of free space available there. Unlike cities, where people live in congested areas with housing limited to apartments, the countryside offers us much more land to live on. We can live in our own house with our own private garden. This enhances the spirit of independence and helps good psychological growth. In a free space, whenever we feel like, we can easily go for a walk outside our house. The dense urban landscape is populated only by people, and there is a scarcity, and even non-existence of vegetation and animal life. Whereas in the countryside, nature is everywhere and abundant: there is a large variety of flora, fauna, and plant life. Due to this, the scenery in the countryside is marvellous in comparison with the jungle of concrete one sees by one’s window in the town.

In a city, vehicles, factories, and other elements, pollute the air, which can lead to asthma or other respiratory diseases. In contrast, the air in the countryside is much cleaner than that in a city, due to absence of certain pollutants. The availability of space as well as fresh air is beneficent to one’s health and healthy living. The city has quite a stressful environment, with all the hustles and bustles. But in the countryside, one can live in a calm and peaceful environment without the immediate stresses of work, noise, and pollution. Living amidst nature make us physically strong and stable. It also provides prevention of many diseases while medical facilities in urban areas provide only cures. One example proves the point: the smell and aroma coming to our lungs and body from plants and muck increase our immunity and enable us to fight many diseases.

Another advantage of living in countryside is that, people live in close knit communities and much comfortable social milieu. In cities, we do not know others, or wish to make acquaintance with our neighbours. But in the countryside, a social life is important. People there have much more fellow feelings and come to each others help in need and emergencies. It is beneficial to have a bond with our community members, as they will, in turn, offer us immediate care, support, and emotional comfort in life.

In economic terms villages are vitally important because a country’s food is grown in villages and supply of raw materials for industry comes from the countryside. Villages are a silent part of a nation’s commercial activities.

Of course there are some disadvantages of the countryside, some serious, and some less. There is the problem of communication. Communication here not only means telecommunication, but also travel. In this case, the countryside sometimes lacks both. Involving telecommunication, service providers do not usually provide proper TV or telephone reception. Only recently has mobile telecommunication reduced this barrier, as mobile phone calls can be usually done nationwide with minimal reception problems. There is then the problem of travel. Usually, countrysides are situated quite far from the cities, and road networks are not available or are quite poor. Of course these problems vary depending on terrain. Some villages are isolated, some are surrounded by a natural feature (e.g. A river, hilly range etcetera), while some are just on the outskirts of a town.

Other difficulties also arise due to the location of the village. If for example the village is distantly located from a city, there may be an inadequacy of commercial activity. Due to this, a wide variety of goods and services are not easily available. This is quite significant, as goods and services such as clothes, technology, modern and adequate healthcare, higher education etcetera may not be at people’s doors and for those they have to travel to urban centres. It is an issue because villages may only be able to provide a primary and secondary education, but students will have to travel to cities to receive college and higher education. There is also the absence of institutions of technical education. Because of this, locals are not able to learn different skills to be self employed and earn self-sufficiency without having to study at the city first. Another inadequacy is linked to absence of modern healthcare. There is also sanitation problem. Even today, there are some villages which have open air latrines, and this reduces the quality of hygiene.

In conclusion, living in the countryside has both its charms and its difficulties. Thankfully, the benefits gained from living in the countryside are far greater than the disadvantages. Furthermore, living in the countryside ensures that we live a healthy life amidst nature.