life on the road
 

hi everybody, i am new to the forum, much prefer this one to expat focus, its all very negative on there.
Anyway my hubbie, myself and 8 yr old daughter(and my wee dog) are moving to spain next march. We are moving over in a campervan, think to the Valencia area(nothing to do with moto gp being there!!) Doing a lot of research and been learning Spanish.
Would really like to hear from anyone who has done it this way.
Quite an adventure for us, and hopefully a lot of good memories and experiences for my daughter.
Any advice on anything to do with the move appreciated. :):)

Re: life on the road
 

Hiya Scotlass

The F1 Grand Prix is there next year as well, and the Americas Cup is returning there also.

Re: life on the road
 

hi mitzyboy, thanx for answering. I know, I cant wait. t said f1 would br a street race at night, I am a big f1 fan..:thumbsup:

Re: life on the road
 

Watch out though, Mitzy is near by and he is a funny one...................



Oh and welcome to the forum.

Re: life on the road
 

Cheers Rugbymatt, am hoping all you nice people will be able to point me in the right direction with our adventure...

Re: life on the road
 

We too made the move here in 2003 in a motorhome - spent 7 months living "on the road" so to speak, though not the Valencia area. Great fun - if you want to ask anything specific, ask away!

Re: life on the road
 

Hi Scotlass
We are hoping to do something similar next year - 12 months in a caravan to see how the land lies before we sell up for good here.
Well i wish you loads of love and luck and the people on here are always ready with the advice.
Go for it girl may see you around.
Love Sam

Re: life on the road
 

Are you going to be living in the motorhome?
I only ask because you may have an issue with your daughters' schooling. For example, to get a child into the school, you have to produce all sorts of documentation showing that you are on the local Padron (similar to electoral register), you have to produce your NIE (Spanish fiscal number), you have to have a medical report from the local doctors, as well as being able to show that your child has private health cover or is covered under the Spanish system, and you have to produce proof that you have paid your local rates and taxes. This may all be difficult if you do not have a permanent address!
Just trying to help!
Regards
Tim

Ps, The Grand Prix next year is on a street circuit, but a night race is only a rumour!
http://www.f1-vlc.com/

Re: life on the road
 

Captain Sensible brings us back to reality :D

Re: life on the road
 

And don`t froget if you are now in Spain for more than three months you are deemed resident and have to apply for residencia and also matriculate your Vehicle.

Re: life on the road
 

Mitzy is still a hippy at heart, free love, free lifestyle, free everything............

Re: life on the road
 

Yeh but we need to know the sensibles as well coz us thats not there yet are learning from you guys that are. So keep em coming the more you tell us the better prepared we can be :thumbsup:.
Love Sam

Re: life on the road
 

Read the free beer thread and tell me if anything you want to know is missing.... http://bestsmileys.com/lol/4.gif

Re: life on the road
 

:unsure:Now that is something that I have NEVER been called!
It is a valid point though!

Tim

Re: life on the road
 

Thanks jdr
We've found out loads of stuff from off there that we hadnt even thought about - brilliant idea whoever set it up and well done to the people who have contributed to it it is invaluable.
Love to all
Sam

PS love the pic - got that on my msn but dint know you could do em on ere as well.

Re: life on the road
 

Our late friend jonsol suggested a bit where we could keep handy info so that people could easily access it. and various people have contributed to it.
Thanks to them....
Also if anyone else has got anything for it, please PM me.

Re: life on the road
 

hi, sorry was out walking the dogs.. what did you do hillbilly? did you have any kids? God theres a lot to do. Can I home school her until we get settled, her teachers know about the move and have promised to set some work for her x:confused:

Re: life on the road
 

if you are living on a caravan park does this count as a permanent address? x

Re: life on the road
 

From what I have read, In Spain, it is illegal not to send a child of six years and upwards to school.
http://www.anysubject.com/spanish-school.asp
Not sure about the status of a caravan park, sorry.
Tim

Re: life on the road
 

There are lots of caravan sites promoting permanent sites in southern spain so surely they must be classed as permanent addresses????? Well thats what we are hoping anyway coz thats were we are going to be living for the first 12 months.
Sam

Re: life on the road
 

I know Sam, thats kind of what we were thinking, also heard a lot of different experiences and prices to matriculate vehicles. Any body know the crack about that x

Re: life on the road
 

Of course it is ;)
I wuz avin a larf

Re: life on the road
 

No, I'm childfree, not sure that I would have done it if I had school age kids but that's a different matter!
Friends did come to Spain and were living on a caravan site in a caravan and were unable to use the site address or get on the padron to get their kids into school. They had to ahem "use" my address until they were able to rent somewhere in the area.

ps home schooling is perfectly legal in Spain

Re: life on the road
 

I knew that:rofl::thumbsup::cool:
Cap' Senseless

Re: life on the road
 

Type matriculate vehicles into search this forum..... happy reading.

Re: life on the road
 

Thats great thanx for the info.
ps. Are there any qualified tree surgeons in any of your areas? Also my hubbys great love is motorbikes, are there any expat bike clubs? We are flexible as to what area we move to so would need to weigh up a lot of things before we have a general area where we are going to settle x

Re: life on the road
 

Sam upload pics from BEST SMILIES I also use PHOTO BUCKET you can upload your own photo,s or browse the pics ,its free :thumbup:

Re: life on the road
 

I think home schooling for a period of up to a year is a great idea for a child of only 8 years old. She will learn more from you as her teacher and also from the experience of living a totally different life for a while. After a year, she really should then be integrating with other children of her own age so that she doesn't miss out on the "relationship" element of having to get along with other children. I think that you are going to have a great adventure and I wish you all the best of luck. Most of life's regrets are of things that you haven't done and not things that you have.

Please read rule 7 HERE

Re: life on the road
 

Re the re-matriculation of motorhomes - bear in mind that this can only be done (and even then it's not for definite) on LHD motorhomes.

Re: life on the road
 

Most motor home users along the coasts in Spain seem to just park on the sea front or in supermarket car parks for the duration.

what they do for sanitation, God only knows :eek:

Re: life on the road
 

Most motor homes larger than a VW camper have toilets and showers, every week or so you fill up with fresh water, empty grey water and empty the toilet cassette - it sounds awful, it actually isn't that bad at all.

My partner and I lived on and off for 2 years in a 16ft (quite small) Hymer in the UK, Spain and Portugal, amazing how little "stuff" you actually really need when you get down to it.

Re: life on the road
 

...and how good you become at stowing things in small spaces...after the first time you've done it you never again drive off with the kettle still on the hob. We used to find that the onboard WC was useful in traffic jams with neighbouring gridlocked drivers popping in for a pee!

Re: life on the road
 

I wish you lot would stop talking about this, its making me feel like buying another one myself :)

I really enjoyed the ability to be able to jump in the van and just go .... not having to worry about booking hotels, or how far we would get on a given day.

Re: life on the road
 

Hey Mitzy we all have a bit of gypsy in us

Re: life on the road
 

you calling Mitzy a pikey?

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Speak for yourself, I've never had a gypsy in me :D

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That's not what the toilet graffiti says!

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You seem to spend a lot of time in public toilets .... why is that? :D

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I have a weak bladder.

Re: life on the road
 

So who's taking the pi** then?:rofl::rofl:
Tim