Will we ever get there.

We have been asked why we decided to look to Spain for our holiday home and I have to say I wonder why as well.

Could it be the weather with approximately 300 days of sunshine a year?

Could it be the fact that all the local pople we have met on our numerous visits have always been friendly and made us welcome?

Could it be the Spanish culture?

Could it be the relaxed attitude?

Could it be the wonderful food, wine and entertainment?

Could it be the convenience for travel from the UK?

Could it be simply that it is just a great place to be?

Well, if it isn't all of the above then we, and many before us, have made the wrong choice.

Like most of you who have made the move to Spain we have had a dream for some time now.

My wife and I are both self employed and have worked hard for many years to make a good life for ourselves and our children. Now our youngest child is fairly independent, well as independent as any 21 year old student will ever be, and we've decided it's now our turn to be spoilt. So we made the decision that once we are able to pay off our mortgage we would both give up full time work and downsize our home in the UK. This would release capital to enable us to rent long term in Spain during the winter months and return to the UK for the great British summers.

Now the worldwide recession has put our dream on hold. If we were fortunate enough to sell our home and downsize we would lose quite a large sum from our retirement fund so we have reluctantly decided to stay here a bit longer and hope for the early signs of recovery.

We are both fortunate that neither of us has been affected by the downturn in business, in fact I have to say that I am busier now than I have been for many years. Although this now means working even longer hours. As an aside I am a construction cost consultant and I have an ongoing contract with a specialist London refurbishment contractor and I prepare their estimates. I am amazed at how many £1,000,000+ residential refurbishment projects are about at the moment. Property owners are obviously taking advantage of the low prices currently on offer.

Not to be downhearted we have already been to Spain three times this year searching out the areas where  we will be spending our time in the future, and I don't doubt we will be coming back again before the end of the year.

We a great believers in the "Law of Attraction" and spend our time living our Spansh life here in the UK knowing that it won't be too long now before we can join you.