Originally Posted by rugbymatt (Post 5097667)

You know its odd that you should say that because when I lived out there I used to see people come out on holiday and fall in love with the place, they would then move out there to start their new life in the sun, and they couldn't be told, if you tried to warn them or advise them on all the pitfalls and dangers all they would say was "you haven't been back to the UK for years, you don't know how bad it ia back there so you cant know what we have had to go through!"

Well time would pass, they would carry on like they had back home and life would become progressively worse, and at about 4-6 months usually they would be absolutely broke, miserable as sin and desperate to get the hell out of "this frigging country!"

The ones who survived hit the ground running, they fought hard to make a new life, they used their energy to make a new life, and if you asked any of them they would tell you that they worked twice as hard in Spain than in the UK..........but they wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

Originally Posted by spain (Post 5097734)

couldnt agree more - but sometimes when I say this to people they think I am being negative or trying to put them off coming when thats not the case - we had a nice life in England both earning decent money and doing ok, we think sometimes to ourselves "what was we thinking moving to Spain" " why would anyone want to put themselves under this much pressure"

but there are lots of plus sides to living here but it all comes down to the fact that no one really knows what its like ( or even if Spain is for them) until they live here - in the 4 1/2 years we have been here we have seen so many people come and go and all the friends we made when we first arrived have left to go back :(

Originally Posted by rugbymatt (Post 5097907)

Pjj I don't think Spain is being negative in any way at all, they are being realistic thats all.
It is a hard country to live in if you have to make a living, made easier by the sun and constant holiday feeling that people out there have, you ask anyone out there who has to work and I guarantee that 85-95% of them do more than one job to survive, even some of those who decided to move out to retire end up picking up some work just to supplement their living standards.

ask any one who has ping ponged or even moved away and they will tell you that they never realised how hard life could be out there, if you don't have to work then good on ya, but some of us will and that wont be easy.

Originally Posted by pjj (Post 5098524)

like ive said in my reply to spain early on in thread most of us on here know we going to have to work when we live out there ! :confused:

Originally Posted by Big Pete (Post 5095502)

Hmmmmmmm a better quality life ..

Well i would say for me a few key ingredients are missing in the Uk to make the quality of life right .

1/ Time .. Time to be outside for most of the year ,instead of a few days grabbed here when you can .

2/ Time .. Time to spend shopping at a time thats convenient rather than rush to catch the shops before they shut..

3/ Time .. Time to grab a few hours in the afternoon to pause the day and snooze (Siesta) , before the evenings activitys

4/ Time .. To walk out along a pretty beach or Marina during the evening and then have a meal outside at 10pm and watch the sun set

5/ Time .. To drive on roads that hardly ever jam up with over congestion

6/ Time .. To swim , fish , shop , barbecue , or whatever

7/ Time .. Time to grow your own fruits and vegetables in your own garden

8/ Weather .. Weather to allow you to do things ,rather than be stuck indoors every night like as in UK

9/ Weather .. Weather that allows you to use a boat in clear clean waters

10/ Weather . Weather that makes you feel happier

11/ Money & Cheap living expenses .. Money saved by the Spanish way of life , makes your money go farther

12/ TV access to full UK television stations plus European .

13/ Being able to be in the mountains in the morning , and enjoy a afternoon swim and a beach barbecue at night

14/ Being able to watch Uk news and thank god your no longer there ,and not think ohh heck what they gonna tax us with next .

15/ Being able to fly to and fro the Uk if someone forces you :mad: and know its only a 2 hour trip . and cheap .

16/ Being able to stick £ 10 worth of fuel in the car and drive for days

17/ Being able to sit down have your meal in a restaurant and have a smoke after if you choose to and pay £ 1.50p a pack

18/ Being able to escape the keeping up with the Jones and get of the treadmill of the Uk way

19/ Being able to clear the mind and find that new business venture , with a high influx of tourists all eager to spend money ,lots of possible business ventures are there for the grabbing

Will stop now or we will be here all night ..;)

Originally Posted by lynnxa (Post 5098415)

what she said:thumbsup:

and when it's bad it feels so much worse:thumbdown:

bad at least it's bad in a great place:thumbup:

Originally Posted by lynnxa (Post 5098415)

what she said:thumbsup:

and when it's bad it feels so much worse:thumbdown:

bad at least it's bad in a great place:thumbup:

Originally Posted by pjj (Post 5098524)

just answer this question rugbymatt you are making the move to spain your self WHY?:confused:

Originally Posted by spain (Post 5098537)

you see thats the whole point

working (and very hard at that) and speaking another language

as long as people are prepared for that then things will be a bit easier

out of interested pjj what area are you moving to ? and what work are you going to be doing ?

Originally Posted by pjj (Post 5098853)

hi spain im moving to costa tropical la herrdura :D well ive had a few offers so far job which sound quite promiseing so has my o/half i know someone who has a estate agent in the area and he mention to me that hes thinking about taking a back seat and chilling out and said he would like me to come and work for him running the place but i would consider any thing but who knows we i aint going to be out there till end of jan 08 and work wise for my girlfriend she has quite a few friends in the village who have bars and restaurants so i think she will be fine we aint got to work straight away ,we planned to put enough money away to live off for a least year so we aint got to put ourselves straight in deep end like ive said before on here its been are dream for a long long time we have work so hard to get this far when we get out there we are going to just take it in our stride enjoy and experience this beautifull country and see want it has to offer we will treat it as a working holiday and if we like it we will stay if we dont we will come back how bad aleast we will would have had a great time :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by spain (Post 5098886)

good for you, it takes a lot of balls to come over here - and very wise to have money to live on for a while (a lot of people dont )
I really do wish you all the sucess in the world - Spain is a beautiful place

Originally Posted by billgates (Post 5098900)

As for me, I've lived in Spain for nearly three years now and still work for a living. Do I have a better quality of life? I would say so, but I still speak hardly any Spanish.