They are probably living in gran canaria or tenerife ,? Am i right? No real difference from the mainland on thise islands . Like i mentioned the englush breakfast cant be fsr off from where they are living ,? I was in the small islands . But then again i lived a simple life with no kids . Nice apartment . Making good money playing music in bars and festivals .. Waking up at noon .. With free beer ,,,and sometimes food from the bars . I was quite succesfull. Just got burntout , from it .
"I was quite succesfull. Just got burntout , from it ." @dubsurftones Isn't that the same as being in a different type of work etc tho? We liked the lack of getting my tools nicked etc in Spain but we still worked steadily. There were pluses and minuses to the move. It was more laid back than living in Sheffield, but that's city life. There were things I missed too tho.
When we bought our place in the sticks in 1988. It was a wooden holiday chalet on leasehold ground. I spoke to the leaseholder about buying the lease at some point and he said that was fine, just let him know when I wanted to do it. I then approached the council about planning and habitable living- I knew full well they had to allow habitation as the place was built before 1947 and had been lived in. So with that hurdle crossed we moved into a wooden house 48ft above a flood meadow on the river severn. Lou worried about flooding until I pointed out we lived on a hill that overlooked the local town, and if we flooded there wouldn't be much left of the 1000 year old town. I immediately gave up my job to rebuild the chalet and worked part time doing trucking and site surveying for my old firm which paid our food and electric. The first year was a absolute experience. We had bats,rats, mice and squirrels living in the roof, no running water for a lot of the time only a standpipe in the garden with a hose connected. That winter was bleak. We moved in in Sept, the winter began in October that year it was as if nature was testing our resolve, by January we had had frost to minus 18, snow a foot deep, rain of biblical proportions and to cap it all a 80ft tree had fallen on our roof causing considerable damage and making the electric supply very intermittent throughout the whole winter. Even so by February I had built a proper sceptic tank in the garden, built a bathroom, connected water and installed a combi boiler that ran off a big calor tank I had installed on the drive. I had also dug out the footings for the new brick walls that were to enclose the old building. I worked all summer and by the next winter the old wooden chalet was enclosed by a complete new building including roof and all that we had to do over the Christmas period was to remove the old from within the new..... Needless to say we did it ( the rebuild) we laughed, cried, hurt ourselves, ran out of money, took odd jobs borrowed off mum and dad etc, but it was the best couple of years ever, we actually did something with our lives. After nearly 15 years there, similar to LEF I had built up a local building company rebuilding and repairing the 300 odd chalets that were scattered around that 10000 acres. I finally thought about buying the lease. The leaseholder had fallen out with his sister and brother who were the other leaseholders and told me he couldn't sell. The funny thing was, Lou and me had been missing civilisation at this point too ( we had kids by now and were having to drive a long way to school,Dr' s etc) so I put it on the market and moved into another house we owned in the town. It sold before the board went up and I have never regretted it. We did it though, opting out. And had the time of our lives. Do it, you only live once.
That is the key to the golden padlock... yeh they are on Gran Canaria ,been myself and Tenerife I could'nt live there too many tourists and island life is a bit bleak when you have seen everything ,Gibraltar for 12 weeks was not nice... How do you think you can make a profit or do you just like chucking money away ? Bet you cannot afford this side of the river...
I intend to do just this soon as my licence is returned (11 months) ,just gonna try it around Scotland living in the van then possibly go to Norway to travel as have friends there ,just need work to keep to their promise of making me redundant in 6 months, I am so missing the bus as well ,the weekends away and small holidays really help cope with the monotony of my job.
Doesn't matter what you do or don't do, if you are happy with your lot and are content, then money can't by that.
I think you lord congi have the dont know what youve got till its gone ..with your liscence .? And you realize it .. Ive seen many people like this , they say i cant do it , or come ip with excuses . On the couch . We all have a passport people are dying to get . And use . Its like the person who wants to clim the mountain outside there window looks at it every day . never does and then twists thier foot . And vow to do it .. Only Once the foot is better .they dont bother and say . "Tomorow". Tomorow is today . I watched both my parents wither away from cancer before i turned 20 . There was no looking back for me . Its a cliche but life's too short . Ive never belonged or posted ina forum in my life . But the thing i found with the latebay wasnt as much the Busses , yes a big part of course. But just kinda querky people who i coukd relate too . Through it . I know im a yank . But at least a new yorker , not your corn fed. Type. In america if you live outside a big city and have no drivers licence , your in big trouble financially .! Respect congi . At least you know what you lost .. And are counting the days ... Maybe you could drive both busses you have like a roman chariot at once ! Like this guy. Ouch !!!
Unfortunately my dream was cut short . I cashed in my chips in 2003 and was in process of setting up a chilled holiday getaway for the over fourties a retreat in the hills of spain. Walking , mountain biking , painting and cooking holidays . Id found the place and had done three sorties of 3 months a time one of 5months . I liked the hot weather and their way of life. It wasnt about making money from property for me , just a change in life and to get away from the rat race and chill and enjoy my later years , i would have come home prob twice a year to see everyone and restock . But the road i was on took a u turn and i ended up coming back to look after my sick parents . I couldnt have seen them go into care whilst i was out their, so needs must , i called a halt. Id say if its a dream do it before its too late ,but do your homework first and expect to live to their rules . Thats the one thing that bugs me about people who come here is they dont want to live by our rules . I dont have a problem with living buy a countries rules , i made some good friends out their and they were fine with my bad spanish too , olaaay.