This must be the most protracted move to Spain ever.
We have completed one more small step by downsizing even further into a nice little house in perfect, as new condition, with tiny running costs, and excellent rental potential. .....tick!
James has spent two months at the house in Spain doing maintenance and seeing whether he likes being retired. It turns out he does, BUT, doesn’t like the lack of income, and when his finished the DIY what can he do all day?
That’s a bit of a sticking point....
James brought Tilly, our black Labrador with him, and was looking forward to long ‘yomps’ around the countryside, but in the first week in she tore her cruciate ligament and had to undergo a repair operation, which meant a 1000 Euro bill and a dog that could only hobble along the road for about 50 yards or so. Sods Law!
Still, on the plus side it would have cost £5000 in the UK.
We went dog walking for the local stray dog charity a few times, but you can’t wander off with a dog, they don’t like it!
I popped out a couple of times whilst he was in residence, but someone had to stay home with the cat and earn some money, and it was a busy time for me, and that’s the trouble....I have a busy, reasonably sociable work life in the UK which would take me a long time to to replicate in a Spain. I love it, but all my contacts are in England, and in my trade we need a lot of good contacts.
Perhaps I should explain, I am a dealer in ladies designer and vintage clothes and accessories, and I love it!
I know there are some dealers here and in fact I know some of them from home, but the market here is much smaller and not as far reaching. In and around London there are buyers and sellers of every style and quality and there’s the possibility to work literally every day if you want to, not that I do, but I’d miss that buzz.
The other thing of course is my Sons and my Grandchildren. I’m not a terribly maternal person, both my Sons will tell you that, in fact my eldest told me that he likes me lot better now he’s grown up, and I told him I like him better grown up too!
However, I do like to see them every couple of weeks. Not for ages, a couple of hours is plenty, but it’s not going to happen if we live in Spain full time, and I’d feel a bit as though I was deserting them.
So, at present I’m sitting here in Estepona by myself looking at a television with the sound muted, while James is in the UK., trying to make a life here, without losing my life at home by whizzing back and forth as often as possible, and hoping it will all come together.
I suppose it would help if I wasn’t an introverted teetotaller as well.
Time for another cup of tea!