painterhombre

Hi,using my husbands post so i will be paintermujer.
Next month we are setting out to do what I have wanted for the past 20 years or so. So after 2 other failed attempts, due to running out of money and bad planning, here I am for the 3rd time moving to Spain. We have structured our income so we earn anywhere in the world or on the moon the same as in the Uk.
I am semi fluent in spanish already, well aware of the spanish culture etc etc. Basically we know what were letting ourselves in for and we cant wait.
But what im really asking about is other peoples feelings of the time when they left and who they left behind.
I am leaving my 20 year old daughter behind (for now). she has already moved out and lives with her boyfriend so she will not be on her own.She is doing a degree. But i am going to really miss her. We have the video skype thing set up so I can see her when i talk to her and i think once we have gone it will get better.Its between now and when we go that it will get emotional. She was one of my reasons for a life in Spain and she loved it there. Loved school and her friends. But time flies and she grew up too quickly. My younger daughter is the one who will have the wonderful life in spain now.
Im sure somebody must relate to this.
Also im dreading taking our cat Jaime on that long car journey also. She is a spanish cat from Valencia city (la plaza redonda - a really manky pet shop is there if anyone knows it) and has been well journeyed before and she hates it. But she will be going home.

Mitzyboy

Well ... we left our 23 year old daughter at home in a flat. We bought our cat as well.

Daughter did very well and is happy, although she makes it clear she doesnt see us enough. Cat only lasted a couple of months I'm afraid, just never adjusted to Spain.

Reason we moved here was that we can get back home quickly and easily if we feel the need.

Your daughter will be fine ........ I cant vouch for the cat though

painterhombre

oh my dios mio.
If anything happened to Jaime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But she is a spanish domestic. She dosent look like an english cat - kind of like the strays you see only much fatter.
I just couldnt leave her, having been through so much together.

My daughter - thanks! Encouraging info. I know she will follow eventually. Her heart is in Spain too.

lynnxa

my cat has lasted nearly 6 years here...........

HBG

We had both lived in Spain before, but separately (we didn't know each other). When we got together in England, we planned returning to Spain within minutes of meeting, but it took six hectic months to get everything ready. We both had to leave loved ones behind, but they were all making their own, successful way in life anyway, and all wished us well, and have all visited over the years, the next visit is next week.

We had to leave one dog behind, he was too old to make the journey, and that hurt us, but he was left in loving hands. I remember some doubts on the Bilbao ferry, in the middle of the night, and getting lost twice while travelling across Spain, in Madrid and Alicante, and neither place was on our intended route, but we got there eventually.

We had chosen Denia as our first home on our return to Spain, a neutral place for both of us, she had lived in Barcelona and I had lived on the Costa del Sol, so it was roughly in the middle, in more ways than one.

On our first morning, it was in winter, we walked to Denia port and sat in a Spanish cafe, watching the boats come in. Our boat had, and we both knew it.

painterhombre

Thankyou so much for that. Yes, I know what you mean. I understand all those feelings.
I have also done those things and have felt those feelings.

baz259

Hi, one of the many memories of our move here fifteen years ago was bringing our beloved golden retriever (cassie) out here, I contacted a firm in London and had a large container made, to be delivered to Heathrow on the morning of our departure. Good to there word it arrived half an hour after us. Lovely thing meter high and nearly meter and a half l;ong, netting on both sides and front. Cassie went in quite happily sitting there like a queen of all she surveys she was loaded on the plane and we duly arrived in Spain for our new life. We disembarked one side of the plane and cassie the other, when she saw us she started barking so I put her on the lead and we all went through customs, the papers we nearly had a nervous breakdown obtaining are still in there envelope even now. We stood by the carousel and picked our cases up. Yes you guessed it the gigantic doggie box came round on the carousel. We ignored it for the first five laps but after a lot of looks we pulled it of and pushed it in to a corner took the labels of and left it there. She had a good life here in Denia, she new every inch of the mountain and every house where she had friends. We lost her seven years ago, we still miss her.
Barry

Chiclanagir

When we left our home in Torquay which we had sold and moved out of that evening (never use Bishop´s Removals, another story) and we were being waved off by our friends and neighbours I sobbed for the next couple of hours convinced that we had made the biggest mistake of our lives. We too had left children behind - our son in Bristol making a new life for himself and our daughter who had only just returned to the West Country from Oz and bought a place near to us. But by the time we were on the ferry to Santander it had all become a great adventure and continued to be for the next 12 months while we settled in. We had left our cats with our daughter to be looked after until we got a place of our own and settled. By that time they were too well ensconsed in the middle of the country catching rabbits to bring them over. However, life changes and last October our daughter and her new husband and baby decided they wanted to come to live near us here in Spain, so the cats came too. Whether we will stay here for always, I don´t know. Perhaps, perhaps not, only time will tell.

jackytoo

We came with our cat almost 12 years ago, she is 16 now and still brings in lizards. We arrived on the coast with car loaded up (and cat) 11.30pm. No plans (bought house but only paid the 10%). Went to a hotel we had stayed when we were house-hunting and stayed the night, the manager wouldn't charge us! Next day we rented a property until completion. Don't know if I could cope with it again

lynnxa

I wrote this
http://britishexpats.com/articles/sp...w-with-lynnxa/

nearly 3.5 years ago

still here & maybe time for an update!