There’s No Place Like Home..

I’ve been away for a wee while and I’m sorry if you missed me..I’ll address the reasons behind that in a future blog post. Regular readers will recall my recent land drama which meant I ended up leaving Jasper Island. What a wrench that was, which was fortunately relieved albeit for a short while, by my renting some beautiful land at a place called Sea Rest. I really made it my own and had loads of prims to play with and lots of space, and was extremely content there, but alas, real life has this habit of biting you in the ass sometimes and due to a lack of real and Second Life funds I’ve had to relinquish the land. Moving twice in a month after being settled for the majority of my five years in-world has been a totally crap experience, but it is quite clear to me that I can’t survive in Second Life without somewhere as a base in-world that allows me to take my photos for my blog, hang out with friends, cultivate a few breedables and express my style. But would this be possible on a much-diminished budget and a significantly reduced prim-count?

I originally thought of returning to Pitcairn village, which was a beautiful medieval style town that became my very first home in Second Life. I loved it there; the houses were gorgeous and the landscape beautiful for strolling around. Utterly perfect for my newbie needs; it even had a stone circle to boot! But when I performed a search I found it had vanished from the grid. We live in a dynamic virtual environment after all, but I did feel sad when I discovered it was no longer around. However, I have fond memories of my time there. So now I needed to find somewhere that made me feel as welcome and secure as Pitcairn did, and look as beautiful to boot..

Being out of the rentals market for such a long time I didn’t know what to expect and it was just as I had anticipated..it’s overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to begin, but the most sensible places seemed to be checking out ads on SLUniverse and running in-world searches when SL search is playing nice. I knew in my mind what I wanted but whether I would be lucky enough to find it or even afford it was an unknown factor. So starting at the bottom of a very long list I went through various channels to try and find some new land, but to no avail. I’m not the fussiest cow in the cosmiverse by a long shot, but if somewhere doesn’t look right or if it’s filled with SLbuilds straight out of 2006 then I’m not going to move there.

And then I hit upon a smashing find, the homes for rent at Duzzclown, offered by KAMRAIN PROPERTIES. These dwellings vary in size, aspect and style, but each one comes with a beautiful vista guaranteed. In fact this particular community is geared towards those with a passion for sailing, with some of the houses equipped with small piers. There’s also a light-house and waves, gulls soaring into the beautiful blue sky and everything that the Second Life water-lover could wish for.
To be honest I was dreading the prospect of renting again, but the burden was made somewhat easier with the friendly assistance of Rain Coalcliff and Nathan Byron, who run Kamrain together. They must be doing something right, because they’ve been around since 2006 and offer a range of snow, ocean and beach homes to renters. Incidentally, the properties are all on the mainland, BUT because of careful landscaping you would never know. The view from my home is nothing short of spectacular, and I’ve enjoyed some wonderful Second Life sunrises and sunsets. So you won’t be bothered by griefers it’s reassuring to note that security is taken very seriously, with each home suitably equipped to remain personal and private. Each dwelling also has a radio, and the landlords are very open to prim limit negotiation too, something a prim whore like myself was delighted to discover. Of course it meant I could decorate my home in the style to which I have become accustomed….

Sadly all good things must come to an end, and I’m enjoying my last day as a resident today. I don’t have the Lindens to be able to afford to rent anymore, and from tomorrow I’m going to be a homeless Kitty. It feels like I’ve come full-circle, from being a noob new to the virtual property game, to renting my first home, then splashing the cash on buying land and renting almost a third of a sim, then owning lesser amounts leading me to rent again, and now, no home. I know this situation in no way compares to real-life, obviously, but I’m unsettled by it and very sad. I’m not looking forward to seeing all the wonderful new home wares filling the feeds and not being able to treat myself to them, but them’s the breaks. I’m not the only avatar out there skint in real-life as well as Second!

Hopefully this is a short-term situation and I’ll be able to share with you all the joy of finding a new place to live in-world in the very near future, but for now I’m leaving Duzzclown with some really gorgeous photographs of my time there, as well as some great memories, and I can heartily recommend renting there to any of my readers. If you want to see the rest of my pictures from Duzzclown I’ve a Flickr album that you can view, just click here, and don’t forget to contact Rain or Nathan if you’d like to rent!