Life and relocation to Spain

At the moment I'm torn between being absolutely certain that we're on the right track and all is going well and then being rocked by uncertainty that leaves me unsure of details and even worrying. The uncertainty is not about the move itself, but about the details involved with the move. It sometimes appears a logistical nightmare, especially when trying to move on what will be quite a tight budget.

A couple of weeks ago I started making enquiries about the physical moving to Spain. Is it cheaper to send our possessions or to travel with them in, for example, a hired lorry? The discovery of a firm that allows the customer to leave the lorry in Alicante helped in ascertaining the cheapest route but even so the figures involved are, to my smallish bank balance, huge. The lorry hire costs £110 per day (add another hundred to that if you want a driver) and the minimum hire for a move to Spain is four days. This actually fits in with my calculations too. Collect the lorry from Salisbury, where the firm is based, on Tuesday 5th August. Spend the rest of Tuesday loading the lorry up and be set to leave on the ferry from Plymouth to Santander which sails at midday on Wednesday 6th August. The ferry crossing will cost £512 for the lorry and also for the car that Sally would be driving over. The ferry would arrive in Spain on the morning of Thursday 7th August giving us that day to drive down Spain to Alzira and unload our worldly goods into our previously arranged rental property. After a good night's sleep the lorry could then be delivered to the hire firm's Alicante depot and the move complete with just four days of hire. However, having considered this I have other questions burning that need to be answered. As it stands with the optional (but in reality essential) collision damage waiver on the insurance for the lorry the move looks set to cost:
Hire of lorry - £440
Collision damage waiver - £40
Ferry crossing for lorry - £512
Ferry crossing for car - £512
Fuel for both vehicles - £150 (an estimate but probably not wildly out)

Total cost of all the above - £1654

This in itself seems satisfactory, however my email asking about the cost of the hire company supplying a driver has unearthed a hitherto unconsidered cost. If I take the hire companies driver the cost is as above plus £100 per day for the driver and also 'the return ferry crossing'. This wasn't in my original budget so there is some uncertainty. There is a distinct possibility that the hire company may well charge for the return ferry crossing if we choose to leave the lorry in Alicante, a move that would take the figure over £2000.

These uncertainties are irritating because they make it hard to budget for the move. More uncertainty arrived in the form of an email this morning however and this one gives more significant cause for concern. Our plan is to visit the area in the May half term and on that trip to pay down a deposit on a rental property from the start of August. This would enable us to move in on the 7th August as described above and have three weeks of Spanish summer to find our feet before having to start work. All the travel arrangements for our May half term visit are now booked and included is a rental of a villa from a person who is also starting work in the same school as us in September. I has asked whether she would be able to provide us with any help in finding rental accomodation for August during our May visit. This morning I received an email stating that she would do all she could to help but that most people with properties to rent would not consider long term rentals during August, preferring instead the more lucrative holiday market. This is a blow that I hadn't considered. We may not be able to rent a property during our May visit. That would prove a logistical nightmare as we would then struggle to know when to hire a lorry, book a ferry and where to go when we arrived in Spain. The difference in price between a holiday rental and a long term rental is siginifcant enough to make it unlikely we could afford the luxury of renting a property as a holiday rental throughout August and then switching to a long term rental. We are anticipating paying between 400 and 500 euros for a monthly rental and a holiday rental of a similar property could cost half as much again each week.

The only certainty it seems in international relocation are a host of uncertainties cropping up along the way.

On the positive side though Reuters today ran an article about the financial prospects of English professionals improving dramatically if they chose to relocate abroad. Although the middle east is the most lucrative, Spain did get a mention with the average ex-pat on a salary of £65,000 compared to £47,000 as the average salary in the United Kingdom. Whilst this is absolutely not a financial move for us as a family and the reality is we are taking a large pay cut, the report also mentioned some of the other advantages experienced by those that choose to relocate. In those surveyed almost 70% said that they felt healthier living abroad. "Expats who have moved abroad appear to be wealthier, healthier and happier and all these factors have contributed to a better quality of life." We might not have 'wealthier' in our initial package but as Meatloaf said "two out of three ain't bad".

One of the reasons many people in the United Kingdom are considering emmigration is the over-bearing 'big brother' nature of the state. Since 1997 thousands (quite literally) of new laws have been passed significantly restricting the freedoms of everyday folk working hard for a living. The demographic group that pays the largest percentage of their income in taxes is actually the 'middle income' group, white collar workers. They have become the new working class paying taxes to supplement a growing tail of people who no longer pay taxes. In the 1980s when people took to the streets to protest about the high levels of unemployment there where three million unemployed, mostly aged between 18 and 25. Now the number of students in higher education (mostly aged between 18 and 25) is nearly twice that figure from the 1980s, and as far as the economy goes those people are unemployed, making no contribution to the treasury.

Increasingly, working in an inner city area with considerable deprivation I find myself thinking that many people living in the United Kingdom today have a very clear understanding of their 'rights' but feel no 'responsibility' to society whatsoever. This may come from as a result of my perception becoming jaded by watching children having children and each claiming the maximum possible from the system to fuel a lifestyle that in some cases includes foreign holidays and the kind of white goods that middle income families simply cannot afford. On a number of occasions now I have had to fill in paperwork to enable a child to get a diagnosis that will lead to the parent claiming disability living allowance. In some (not all) cases the diagnosis will be successful and has been caused almost entirely by a lack of parenting. No parenting leads to dysfunctional children who can be labelled as ADHD or ADD and then the parent can claim disability living allowance. The obvious lack of fairness in the system is made real for me in that this is the same sum of money that my father received for caring for my mother when she was bed bound and required 24/7 nursing care.

So, how does this slightly political rant connect to the Spain move? Two days ago I was fitting carbon monoxide detectors to each floor of the house. This is a legal requirement in order to let property in the United Kingdom. The detectors themselves are not that expensive at £15 each and are easy to fit yet I still found myself becoming angry at having to fit them. The house contains a modern boiler in the attic which is a sealed unit and consequently not capable of pumping out carbon monoxide, and a modern gas cooker in the kitchen. Both of these appliances have been serviced annualy by British Gas. In the eight years I have lived in the property I haven't installed carbon monoxide protectors, nobody has told me I needed to, no law has enforced me to do so. I guess, consequently if something went wrong and there was a leak of carbon monoxide the only person responsible would be myself. How then, when renting the property, does the installation of carbon monoxide protectors become the responsibility of anybody other than the family living in the property? There is a 'right' to expect that all measures will be taken to protect the safety of the tenant who has no 'responsibility' for his/her own safety at all. If a device costs fifteen pounds and a person deems it a worthwhile investment for their family's safety then it seems reasonable to assume they will take the necessary steps to provide that safety device. We are living increasingly in a 'blame' culture that has the lawyers dancing in delight everytime somebody trips over a paving slab. If somebody trips over a paving slab they should have been looking where they were going! Not claiming against the council for the slab being slightly raised.

One of the best incentives for keeping young professionals in this country, working for this country and paying taxes to this country would be to take away a number of the laws that reduce personal responsibility and demand a whole lot more responsibility from individuals. I know the concept of central government not being responsible for everything terrifies Gordon Brown and his socialist colleagues but until they realise that the government's attempts at control have failed to provide the society for which they were aiming things can only get worse.

The long Easter weekend is upon us and instead of feeling buoyed by the idea of four work free days I'm instead energised by the possibility of completing some more decorating in preparation for handing the house over to a letting agency in August.

The day started far earlier than I realised. I had thought a note with clues for where the Easter bunny had hidden the eggs would be great for Emily, 6. I didn't realise it was so early but I woke to the sound of her calling for me at 7AM because she was terrified that if she had a note in her bedroom from the Easter bunny then he just might be still in the house. Now, the fear of Father Christmas is one thing - large bloke with a beard, but fear of the Easter bunny was something I hadn't expected. Once I had investigated the house and assured her that there were no rabbits hanging around downstairs with intent to harm, the hunt for the Easter eggs began in earnest. By about quarter to eight I was back in bed with a cup of coffee and my current read 'Guerra' - by Jason Webster. I have in the last twelve months read dozens of books related to Spain. A combination of the stories of folks who have relocated and also some history of the country and traditions. 'Guerra' fits into the latter category. Jason Webster having moved north of Valencia is shown the site of a mass burial from the Spanish Civil War. He takes this as impetus to research the Spanish Civil War, by no means an easy task as the Spanish have what is called the 'pact of forgetting', or, an agreement not to talk about the Civil War. In essence almost everybody in the country fought on one or the other side and the preference is to remember the time as a period of poor politics and not to talk for fear of unearthing feelings best left hidden. I did read another book that covered the subject in detail, 'Ghosts of Spain'. I feel Jason Webster offering may be slightly more readable in comparison. Once up, it was a case of balancing Easter family time with decorating. The decorating probably won more than its fair share of our time so we have made a mental note to take some time out tomorrow.

Easter is another one of those milestones that for us as a family leaves us realising this is a 'last' for us. If all goes according to plan and the move is a success, we have had our last Christmas in the United Kingdom and now, our final Easter. These somehow seem significant and help us to understand the timescale of our move. Alongside our 'lasts' in this country though is the excitement of some new 'firsts' in our new adopted country. I'm really looking forward to Fallas at about this time next year. The feast of St. Joseph (19th March) is the centre of the Fallas celebrations that in Valencia are reputed to be the biggest party in Europe and the second largest carnival in the world, only inferior to the Rio carnival. The following link gives an overview of Fallas.

Fallas

There are a large number of Saint's days celebrated in Spain. I haven't been able to reliably ascertain the total of public holidays tied to Saint's days but the figure of 18 that I saw on a website some time ago seems reasonably accurate. Closing off some of our 'lasts' in the United Kingdom is made easier by anticipating some of the 'firsts' that our adoptive country will offer. There are of course some celebrations that are shared by both countries but trying to celebrate those in the style of the host nation as opposed to 'how we used to back home' will be the key to establishing a new 'home'. Christmas, New Year and Easter will next year bring their own customs that will be alien to us initially but hopefully bring alive some of the excitement we feel when reading books about life in Spain.

I've completely lost track of time since my successful interview for the job in Alzira. I'm not totally sure whether it was three or four weeks ago. The time has flown by and today seemed a typical 'no work' day in our household. We started off by writing a list of some of the minor repairs we need to do. Small things that are broken or not quite right that we happily live with need to be corrected before the letting agency will place us on their guaranteed rental scheme. Consequently we launched ourselves into today with a trip to B & Q and then set about some tasks around the house.

I started upstairs trying to install the new bathroom odds and ends, towel rail etc. Sally began downstairs papering the living room. (It is sad but true that according to the rental agency getting rid of any colour in the house improves the prospects of getting a tenant. Consequently the whole house is turning magnolia.) The living room is soon going to join the bedroom, landing, stairs, hallway, bathroom as being a flash of white and magnolia. We are ripping through the house with an industrial sized pot of magnolia paint. Initially it felt like we were wiping out any character that we had put on the house but actually as we get further round the house it feels refreshing. Sally got to the end of papering the living room (with a paper that can be painted magnolia of course) and then asked 'Why haven't we done this earlier?' The answer of course is that if either of us had suggested turning the whole house one bland colour (sorry, not bland, neutral) then the other would have refused point blank.

We've also started boxing up some of the items that we want to take but can live without between now and our moving date of August 6th. It seems a long way away but both Sally and I are concerned that we have too much to take and seeing things packaged in boxes is part of organising in our heads the whole process of moving. This week saw some furniture being sold, items of camping equipment going and even a few bin bags to the tip of things that we really never needed to keep.

We also managed to arrange the mortgage so that we are now on interest only payments and all the additional borrowing we could take is sat in our current account. This meant the car loan got cleared and the flights are booked for our trip in the May half term when we hope to arrange accomodation for September and also get a chance to properly meet the people we will be working with for the first time. It seems a leap of faith to be moving to an area we have yet to visit but I think we are both confident that the area we have chosen will deliver as a good place to spend some quality family time.

The weekend then looks like involving a little more painting and fixing. It was a real blow this morning to wake up and find a chunk of the fascia board had blown off in the night and was sitting in the front garden. It seems like just one more task to have to find somebody to repair it whilst we are trying to actually reduce the number of maintenance tasks to do. I will feel relaxed if we can cut ourselves a month or two free of decorating and maintenance before we leave.

We have also had to start trying to tie visitors down to time. Neither Sally nor I want to turn down any friends or family visiting but so many people have a clear idea of when they want to come out and visit that we are having to start to calendar the visits before we even have a place for folks to stay. It's really important to us that we respect the fact that when people do visit it is quite possibly an annual family holiday to them so making sure they have the space and time to enjoy it is vital. That means trying to ensure we don't double book and end up with people on airbeds - altogether not the best way to spend a holiday. That said, it is really positive that so many people are keen to be a part of this adventure and the idea of sharing the first few months of our move with family and friends in a never ending stream is fantastic. The other positive is that we seem to have found a corner of Spain that can be reached from anywhere in the United Kingdom by budget airline. EasyJet fly from Bristol and Gatwick and Flybe from Exeter. With family in Plymouth and surrounding area, East Sussex and also London I think we have all necessary routes covered.

It is strange to be decorating a house for other people to enjoy but the purpose that moving gives to everything seems to be providing us with a real focus and as a pleasant byproduct both Sally and I are working towards the same aim and pulling in the same direction. It seems healthy to have this shared purpose at home and no doubt that will help sustain us when we hit the inevitable snags along the way.

Whenever I watch one of those frequent programmes on television where Brits have relocated abroad and the presenter finishes by asking their advice, the answer is often to learn the language. It goes without saying that to function effectively in any community you do need to learn the language. There may well be anglicised pockets in many European countries where one can get by with no intention of learning the language but I can't help feeling that those communities end up isolating themselves from mainstream society. Certainly part of our relocation to Spain is to integrate with a different culture, to learn from those that live in the country and to experience and enjoy a different way of life. When we started out discussing this as a project in September we couldn't see how it could be accomplished successfully without a big effort to learn the language.

We registered in September for a course in Spanish. It was slightly daunting because having entered the (to date, to us) alien world of adult education we found that Spanish lessons came in four different levels. Neither myself nor Sally were overly confident about learning a new language from scratch but we were both sure that as we had a purpose to learning the language and a determintation we would certainly be putting in 100% effort. Consequently when we learned that the Level 1 lessons took place on a night that we couldn't make we were easily persuaded into signing up for the Level 2 lessons. In retrospect I'm pleased that we did. The course, a practical language course validated by ABC, is similar in standard to a GCSE and is really achievable within a year. We are just going along tonight for our final assessment, a written test. Consequently as well as working this week we have been swotting up on a few 'tricks' to include in the hopes of scoring the necessary marks; trying to engineer sentences that use the conditional, preterite, future and present tense as well as providing a space for a reflexive verb to shine is tricky in English never mind Spanish.

We've been lucky to have a good standard of teaching though and I feel that we got conversationally comfortable quite quickly. In October, just six weeks into learning the language Sally and I took a trip to Madrid and deliberately didn't book accomodation until we arrived so we were forced into using the little language we had learnt in the first six weeks of our course. We are a long way from being competent but we're hoping that much of our language learning will happen when we move to Alzira as there really is no incentive greater than needing the language to communicate. My own memory of learning French at school is that I learned more of the language on my two week exchange visit that I did in all the rest of the years at school. Here's hoping that moving to Spain provides a similar experience and a similar boost to our language learning skills.

Emily is inquisitive about language and has picked up a few words and phrases from us as we have gone along but has had no formal language lessons. I think she would find language learning in a classroom environment tricky at six years old. She will however be in a school where most children are Spanish and where although, after the age of seven, English is the language of the classroom, the playground will buzz with both Spanish and Valencian. (Valencian, although those native to the city would argue differently, is in essence a dialect of Catalan.) Consequently all advice is that Emily will learn both those languages far quicker than Sally and I once we live in the country.

Those who have been following this blog will know that earlier this week we began to advertise some of our accumulated unnecessary items in the hopes of drastically reducing the amount of 'stuff' we needed to move to Spain. I had a really great conversation last night with somebody who came to buy the car roofbox I had advertised in the local paper. As I do when selling, I chatted in the hopes of finding some common ground. It turned out that they were buying the roofbox to take a visit to parents who had moved to Denia in Spain, barely 45 minutes drive from where we will be living in August. The coincidence of this and the feeling of the world as a small place was quite surprising. To Sally, Emily and myself this move to Spain is an 'out of the ordinary' adventure that seems to be well worth exploring and yet such a move is so common that when I sell my car roofbox it is to the family of folks who made the same move six months ago. I'm pleased to report that they chose to buy the roofbox, so in order to build up courage and strength for tonights exam Sally and I have cash in hand for a Weatherspoon's curry and pint over the road from the college where Spanish lessons take place.

Tonight was Emily's parent's evening. The head of primary at the school in Spain had asked us to pass on her email address to Emily's current teacher so that she could discuss where to place Emily when she starts school in September next year.

Placing children from the English educational system into the Spanish system isn't quite as transparant as might be expected. Spain uses the calendar year for all things so unlike the United Kingdom, the school year runs from January to December. (For those thinking of establishing their own business, the tax year also runs from January to December. This tax year makes for good earnings if you move out towards the end of the financial year. I officially start work on the September 1st and consequently will receive my full annual Spanish tax allowance for only three months of work. If my calculations are correct I will only be paying tax on the last few Euros earned.)

The January to January school year brings challenges to those moving to Spain who wish to place their children into the Spanish state education system. The system as I understand is good and it is unusual to hear English criticism of schools. Students do have to register at about this time of year though for a place in the coming academic year. Consequently, were Emily to be trying to get a place in a state school in Spain for January 2009 I would have to be applying in person at the school for that place now. Fortunately, Emily will be going to school in the International school where Sally and I will be working. The January to January school year still poses some small challenges though because officially she would finish Year 1 of school in the United Kingdom in July in this country but due to moving to Spain have a further three months of Year 1 remaining when she starts school in September. Consequently, as Emily is educationally strong we are keen to place her into the Year 2 class and avoid her starting in September feeling that she is redoing work - those first few weeks need to give the whole family some positive feedback because our experiences in September and October will colour our approach to the move as people begin to visit and the potential for homesickness increases.

Just to finish today, I remember hearing a tale once about a man of God who religiously checked his lottery numbers each week in the hopes of striking lucky and becoming rich. Each week he would watch as the numbers tumbled from the machine and then offer up a prayer to God "Oh Lord, when will my turn come - when will you reward my faith with the jackpot?" After many weeks of this he was one Saturday offering up his weekly prayer when the heavens opened and a voice boomed back "Meet me half way...buy a blooming ticket!"
The response to moving to Spain from many people is so similar to this story. I'm sure if it was one of my friends or colleagues going I would be saying the same but people joke with a longing look in their eyes like they might just mean it "save a bit of room in your suitcase for me". Emily's teacher said something similar and as I was walking away I thought how daft because anybody can do this - international travel is quite achievable these days. Then I though that in actual fact we have spent years considering whether or not it will work for us and it wasn't until we arrived at the decision that we would never regret having a go at living abroad, even if it doesn't work out, but we would always regret not having the guts to go for it, that we at last realised the time was right for us.

A shorter entry today but one which highlights one of the aspects of this relocation. It seems amazing how much 'stuff' a family acquires over time. Clearly keeping unnecessary items on an international relocation is an expensive business. The lorry to move to Spain is going to be about £500 plus the ferry crossing which will take the one Luton van to over £1000. It is vital that what we take fits inside one Luton van and therefore the grand family sell off has begun. If I'm honest the thoughts surrounding the need to minimalise our belongings were already there because the attic and shed have over the years filled with items we can't bear to part with but quite honestly will never need or use again in our lives. Consequently when we arrived back home from the London interviews that resulted in the job posting in Alzira three weeks ago we immediately started thinking about how to downscale.

This weekend the downscaling involved a number of items being listed in the classified section of our local newspaper. I'm pleased to say that I have a firm offer on our conservatory furniture (which is now not in the conservatory but scattered around the house) and also have the first set of grubby notes in my hand having parted with some camping equipment. Thirty pounds is financially not much of a kick in the grand scheme of international relocation but it did offload a couple of weighty items of camping equipment and put enough in my pocket to stand Sally, Emily and myself a meal out this evening at the local pub. Hence, tonight's shorter blog.

Shrugging off some of the 'must have' bling of modern life in Western Europe is both part of our necessary action towards moving but also quite a cathartic experience that signals the move towards a slightly less cluttered lifestyle. Living in Spain is intended to bring us more outdoor living, more fresh air and less consumerism and consequently less 'stuff'. We really do intend and hope that we can resist the urge to replace the clutter of modern living when we move because a simpler life is certainly a big part of the appeal of living in Spain.

One of the main reasons for moving abroad I guess is often the fact that financially the grass looks greener. Teaching fortunately is one of those professions that is in global demand and therefore my United Kingdom teaching qualification has the potential to travel to many countries. My own move however is not driven by financial motives. It is possible to move to the middle east and pick up a large tax free salary with numerous benefits including free accomodation and travel and often a tax free bonus at the end of each year. Our reasons for relocating abroad however are not financially or career motivated and consequently these well paid posts in places we've never yet visited don't currently appeal.

Having watched hours of televised relocation stories I am surprised at how much of a financial gamble many people take, even those who make the same relatively short hop we are making to Spain. The notion of trying to establish a business that I have no experience of in the United Kingdom really seems terrifying and therefore the financial bedrock of our move to Spain is my teaching post. Unfortunately, teaching posts in Spain pay significantly less than the United Kingdom, the job security is not as strong, and the pension benefits are also never going to match up to the public service pension that teachers can currently still enjoy in the Untied Kingdom. In the United Kingdom I am at the upper end of the teachers pay scale and my only possible promotions within education now are to be a deputy or a head teacher. It does seem a strange system that takes the best qualified and most experienced teachers and promotes them out into non-teaching roles. Consequently moving to Alzira in Spain is a good move in that I get to stay in the classroom full time doing the job I trained to do and love.

My job here in the United Kingdom gives me a take home monthly pay of around 2100 pounds. My wife has to work hours around school in order to drop off and collect Emily, our six year old daughter. Sally has been lucky in having understanding and supportive employers who were happy to adapt her working day to this role but clearly such adaptations mean a shorter working day and a smaller financial reward. She currently works as an administrator for a charity providing services to adults with learning disabilities and has a monthly take home pay of around 600 pounds. An initial glance makes this seem like a generous salary that a family can comfortably live off and in many ways this is true. We can afford an annual holiday and usually don't want for much. However a massive proportion of our money does go on the day to day bills and I will provide some examples for later comparison. Water rates cost 70 pounds per month, the mortgage (an interest only with an optional overpayment to clear it within the term) costs 511 pounds per month. Poll tax is currently costing 120 pounds per month, but expect the new bill to put that up by at least ten percent again when it arrives in the next few days. Running two cars as we have to do to maintain two jobs is also an expensive business - petrol alone for my car is currently costing in excess of 100 pounds per month. It's easy to see how 'middle income' earners in the United Kingdom find themselves struggling to make ends meet some months.

The decision on moving to Spain was underlined by the need for me to acquire a teaching post. We knew that it would be at a reduced salary and that Sally would therefore need to start looking for work as soon as we were satisfied that Emily was settled. We anticipated this may take a couple of months. However, when applying for teaching posts I made a point of describing our family situation and asking if there was any possibility of work for my wife. Consequently the school we will be working in from September has offered Sally a post as a teaching assistant as well as employing me as a teacher. Because it is the school that Emily will attend our own working day will naturally fit around her school day meaning the need for just one car and one run each day.

So, what about the Spanish salary? Well, to understand completely the financial picture you need to also take into account the cost of living. Most estimates put the cost of living in Spain at about two thirds that of the United Kingdom but this is a remarkably misleading and negative appraisal for reasons that will become apparant. My take home pay in Spain will be approximately 1400 Euros with Sally earning a take home of about 1000 Euros. Sally has therefore received a real term pay increase and I will have forfeited about 18000 pounds of salary to take the teaching position. The cost of living though is a significant factor in making this affordable. Having spoken to people living in the same region the poll tax recently rose from 24 euros to 27 euros ... per annum. The water rates are currently 3 euros per month. A four bedroomed air conditioned property with its own swimming pool can be rented for 400 euros per month.

The conclusion we have arrived at is heavily influenced by our decision to take on the challenge of living in a new country not as a career move but as a personal move. A move that gives us greater job satisfaction, more time to spend with family and presents new and exciting challenges. It is however supported by the fact that the money we earn in Spain, by current calculations, is enough to live comfortably. Consequently all we need to do to make the move affordable is cover the mortgage back home by renting our property in the United Kingdom. Our three bed semi-detached property on the outskirts of Plymouth will easily cover the mortgage through a guaranteed rental scheme.

The decision to rent the propety in the United Kingdom was made carefully. Whilst some might consider keeping the UK property as a bolt hole shows a lack of commitment to the Spanish relocation it does also provide us with some thinking space before we decide what to do with any equity the sale of the property would release. Coming back to the earlier comment about pension, the sale of the property in the United Kingdom could for example finance a small holiday let in Spain to help fund retirement instead of being ploughed straight into the purchase of a property. All ideas for the future. On balance if you wish to relocate to another country for financial gain then Spain is unlikely to be your destination if you are a teacher. However, if you are happy to accept a smaller salary then the potential to live comfortably is still I believe (we hope!) available. In September we will be able to confirm how the household accounts balance or otherwise.

Other milestones along the way will come at the end of May when we make a family trip to our new home town with the intention of securing a property to let. I will write soon about the practicalities of letting a property in the United Kingdom and describe some of the work we are involved in at the moment in order to secure a letting agreement that meets the mortgage payments in our absence.

Understanding the motivations for folks choosing to move abroad is probably a challenge because I think my own motivations have only really started to become clear recently. There are definitely people close to me who don't understand the motivations that clearly. I know some of my in-laws don't comprehend the reasons for the risks. They see a well paid job in the United Kingdom with reasonable prospects and a decent pension and can't understand why the need for a change that gives up on some of those items.

Over the past couple of years Sally and I both noticed work eating ever more into homelife. Time and pressure of work began to gnaw away at weekends until work was the dominating aspect of life. I suppose that there comes a realtisation that the treadmill you're on could possibly continue ad infinitum. If I get a promotion we may well be able to move house, possibly change the car, but ultimately we will still be working long hours to pay the bills to buy the house, the car and the other luxuries life affords us. For what purpose? Partly then one of the motivations becomes the need to step off a career ladder that brings lots of frustrations that cannot be changed - mostly due to the political climate in the United Kingdom, of which more later. Recognising that working hard to one day own a house and pull down a much worked and saved for pension is not a really valid way to live. There is a need to enjoy and taste life on a daily basis and not trudge away for years trying to achieve something by the time we reach sixty five years old.

Politically this country is changing too and that is reflected in all public sector work. The lack of trust in teachers' abilities to do the job has been clear since this government came to power in 1997 and the continuous erroding of the profession has led to in, my opinion, a stagnation. There are now teachers coming into the profession who have only known strategies for teaching that all research proves as a failure. Why the need for these strategies? The centralised control of education in the United Kingdom is stifling any creativity in the classroom and consequently creating a huge 'tail' of pupils labelled as Special Educational Needs. These pupils don't have (most of them) Special Needs at all. They have simply got bored by school at a young age and switched off. Being a part of this state run destruction of the education of an entire generation is painful and frustrating and wanting to opt out and use my teaching skills elsewhere is a big motivator.

Am I ranting - maybe. My wife and I have just started taking our Spanish exams at the end of six months of tuition. This is a result of realising that relocating to another country is made far easier if you have some command of the language. The examinations are a similar style and standard to the current language GCSE examinations. I was shocked to see how easy it is to prepare for the exams and even to abuse the procedure if you were so inclined. A written exam where not only are you allowed to take in the dictionary but are also given the topic a couple of weeks before the exam for example. It wasn't many years ago (1988) when I took my GCSEs and then the exam content was a mystery until you opened the paper. Never mind - standards must be rising because so many more pupils are passing the exams at a higher level!

Other motivations for moving abroad surround the lifestyle that a move to a mediterannean climate offers. Here in the United Kingdom we spend what little money we have left after taxes trying to entertain the family on wet weekends. This usually involves parting with a little money to purchase indoor entertainment. The notion of 300 days a year of sunshine and a life far more focussed to outside living is another big motivator. It is particularly so for my wife and I when we look at the way our daughter, now six, is absorbing television and fast becoming a part of the 'must have' consumer culture. Opting out of that as much as possible is certainly a big motivator.

If the relocation delivers on some of our aims then it will be successful. We aim to have more time together as a family, unpressured by the reams of paperwork demanded by the United Kingdom education system. We aim to have a lifestyle involving more outside time - time around the pool as opposed to time around the television. We aim to opt out of the consumer culture as much as possible and start valuing what we see and our time together as opposed to the trinkets of modern living. We aim to have a bilingual daughter who,by the time she completes school, has more confidence than her parents had at her age, in her abilities to live and work anywhere in the world. Any aspects of these aims being fulfilled will qualify the reasons for moving and find us satisfied that our motivations for relocating were correct.

I guess every blog needs some sort of purpose even if that purpose isn't quite clear at the outset. The purpose in this case is to document the practicalities, emotions, excitements and disappointments of a relocation from the United Kingdom to Spain.
There is a timescale involved and the blog should run only until September 2008 with the above stated purpose.
I am a teacher in Plymouth in the United Kingdom and together with my wife and daughter am relocating to Alzira, just south of Valencia in Spain. We are expecting to move on August 6th having already secured jobs. As a teacher I had the luxury of so doing but was fortunate to also be offered a teaching assistant post for Sally, my wife.
I hope that as this blog grows it will provide a window on the issues of relocating to Spain as well as no doubt highlighting those emotional highs and lows we will undoubtedly experience along the way.