On a boiling hot summer’s weekend Tash Koster-Thomas and her wife Marthe Koster-Thomas were desperate to escape the confines of their two bedroom flat in east London. An impromptu seaside trip to an unfamiliar town proved life changing. Within less than three months they had said goodbye to London and relocated to the Kent coast.
“It was the best decision we have ever made,” said Tash.
Tash, 36, met Marthe, 33, on a surfing retreat in Bali back in 2019. At the time Tash was working in musical theatre. Marthe was living in her native Holland, and working as an oncology nurse. Within a year Marthe had moved to the UK, moving into the Tash’s rented flat near the Royal Docks and London City Airport.
“It was a real desert hot weekend,” said Tash. “My wife found us an Airbnb in Margate and we came down for what was supposed to be two nights but ended up being five. We both love being by the ocean – it is where we met and fell in love - and we hypothesized what it would be like to live here. Then we looked at the rental prices and realised that we could get a four bedroom house with a sea view.”
The couple viewed a house that same weekend, loved it, and made an offer. Two weeks later Tash discovered she was pregnant with their first child, Sutton, now 15 months old. In September 2022 the couple made the move out of London.
“I had been in my apartment for 12 years so making the decision and moving all in nine weeks was massive for me,” said Tash.
Part of the decision to relocate was based on how diverse hip, arty Margate has become in recent years. Exploring the town the couple could not help but notice LGBTQ + bars, same sex couples walking around, and enough black and brown people for Tash to feel confident she wouldn’t feel isolated.
Marthe had stopped nursing when she moved to the UK, and is now a yoga instructor and life coach. Tash’s performing career had stuttered during the pandemic, when theatres closed, and came to an end when she became pregnant. “I was in a Spice Girls tribute band at the time, and you can only look good in a catsuit for so long,” she said.
She has now forged a new career as a diversity, equality, and inclusion consultant.
In London the couple’s rent was £1,100pcm. Their four bedroom, three bathroom house, with its sea views and courtyard garden, now costs them £1,500pcm.
Sutton was born last May and Tash feels confident that the coast is a better place for a child to grow up than the city. “It is 1000 per cent better and not just because of the fresh air and the seaside,” she said. “There is just this incredible sense of community here, so many free events and spaces to go to as a mum with a child. There is a sense that we are all in this together.”
The couple’s future plans include buying a camper van and taking Sutton travelling around Europe, spending some time in Holland, and having a second child. Eventually, however, they want to come back to Margate. “This is the place that I want to put down roots,” said Tash. Find Tash at @_breakingthedistance
