Have you ever had that feeling of doubt creeping in when you are in the middle of preparing a change? This is how I felt when my husband asked me if I realised it was just going to be the two of us for a while.
To get you up to date, we are in the process of moving to a big estate to become the new caretakers of a property. It was sold earlier this year when we were there doing a house sit. The property we will call our new home is in the Ariège with only a few small villages close by and a few bigger towns approximately 30 km away.
3-5 years of settling in
My husband’s question made me think! I have always loved starting over again, meeting new people and exploring all the new things around me. From experience and I have a fair bit, I know that it takes me 3-5 years to feel settled somewhere. It takes that long to make friends and feel comfortable. One of the things that always strikes me most is to figure out where you can find random things like a needle, pins or nails.
This new destination in Daumazin, Ariège offers nature, gardens and plenty of land but going to a café for a quick drink will be a thing of the past. To be fair, we don’t even know if the few cafes that we found in surrounding villages will be open. French villages can be fairly sleepy during the winter months.
Naturally I am a very social person. I like to be in touch with people, meet and talk to people. Social media is from that perspective a god sent. My experience is that it has helped me to connect with many likeminded people all over the world.
Social Media helped me to reconnect with old childhood friends, even a teenage boy friend and I made many new virtual friends. With some I click so well that I am sure we would be friends in person.
Moments of doubt
I suppose it is fairly normal to have these moments of doubt when change comes closer. It may help to put things in perspective. My usual approach to change is to be openminded, have no expectations and walk into it with energy and guts.
I can remember that this is how I started a new life in Sydney in 1991 and it paid off. I found a job within a week and made ‘friends’ there quite fast. Australians are in general easy going welcoming people and embrace strangers without hesitation. Many of them were once in the same situation after all – being a land of immigrants.
The biggest thrill for me will be the outdoors. Stepping outside and being surrounded by nature is like a medicine for me. To put it in perspective – where I used to live the only thing I see is the house in opposite and the street is not much more than a car width.
There will be opportunities to garden, possibly start a vegetable pad. I like to eat organic and make foods such as pestos, chutneys and jams. How wonderful would it be to go shopping in your own garden?
So, after this little ‘awareness’ moment and writing it down is as always helpful, I put on my gutsy hat and steam forward to this new life with energy and zest!
When doubt creeps in!
If you are going through a change and see these moments of doubt creeping in. If you feel you need a little retune, why not reach out, tap into my experience and let’s evaluate it together.
A ‘new adventure looming’ was my caption today on an Instagram post. Since we have moved to Europe, we have welcomed many new adventures that crossed our path. Sometimes it can lead to a surprisingly different lifestyle as it has done for us now.
If you would have told me a year ago that we would be in this position, I would have never believed it. It has never crossed my mind we would commit to something like this.
How a housesit became a new adventure
We love doing the odd house sit, probably 2-3 per year. It is a lifestyle we can embrace because I work online and only need a stable internet. My virtual job has allowed me to work in 5 countries so far. To clarify, my job is based in the UK but I live in France.
During 2021 we have done three house sits – one in Spain and two in France. The housesit in Denia, Spain turned out to be much longer than we anticipated. The reason was that the homeowners could not return from the UK due to covid restrictions. In fact, they needed to find replacement sitters to let us go. It ended up being a 9-week house sit instead of 5 weeks.
After returning we decided we should concentrate on France as it would be more accessible as we live in France. The Spanish housesit cost us close to 600 euro due to covid tests for us and our daughter who came to visit for Christmas.
During the summer of 2021 we did two house sits and both were in a different part of France. New territory for us and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas. On the first house sit we replaced the couple that worked as caretakers of a rather big estate. The house was for sale and the people who came to view it bought it.
From house sitters to becoming caretakers
To cut the chase, they asked us if we would like to become the new caretakers of this estate. After a weekend debating with the help of visiting friends, we decided to prepare a proposal. We based the proposal on what we reckoned it would take to maintain this 16 HA property.
We proposed what we thought was fair but if it did not happen, it would be fine. Guess what, the new owners approved the proposal without a single objection. In fact, they even congratulated my husband on the quality of his proposal. I suppose as a seasoned IT project manager, writing big budget proposals is not new to him.
So, to finalise the story, the house will exchange in the beginning of December. We are moving there the same day to become officially the caretakers of this gorgeous property La Bourdette. I will keep my current job and assist in the gardening while my husband will be riding a tractor lawn mower, maintain a huge pool and tackle what else comes his way.
We will be living in an annexe of the main house and have our own outdoor area and views. I can potter in the gardens, grow vegetables and have an outdoor area – an exciting prospect to say the least.
Would you call this a new adventure or what?
Please leave me a comment and get in touch if you dream of making a lifestyle change, but do not know HOW!
The year 2020 was for many people a disaster. Many people lost their income and a large part of the year restaurants and cafes could not open their doors to the public. Kids changed to home schooling and university students had no choice than to study online. You could not travel unless it was essential. Several countries closed their borders, and many citizens were on waiting lists to return to their home country.
We stopped hugging and kissing, started wearing masks and dozens of people got ill. For some having Covid was a breeze while others are still fighting the aftereffects. The year 2020 – a year that many wish to forget and instead set our hopes for future years to come.
The year 2021 was not proving to be much better. Where I live, we were still wearing masks and cafes and restaurants seemed to be eternally shut. Non-essential shops closed, re-opened and were forced to close again. Certain parts of big shops were a no-go area.
The year 2020 seemed to go on……
We thought the pandemic was more or less over, but the little corona critter is a champion at mutating. More contagious corona strains were waiting to spread as soon as borders loosened their restrictions. Some countries kept their borders closed but in Europe it seemed that travel, albeit under certain conditions started to become easier.
It was understandable as for instance South European countries were close to bankrupt. They needed tourist income, and the hospitality industry all over needed a huge boost. Certain age groups have been vaccinated while others were still waiting. Test labs were churning out the PCR test results as many countries required that as a condition of entry.
Where is everyone?
The fact that travel would be easier was an attractive thing but also very worrying. The next mutation of the virus was only one flight away from entering Europe.
It must be very hard to be a leader nowadays because whatever they decided to do, it could be the wrong decision. The bottom line is that many people had had enough and were ignoring the restrictive rules more and more. Yet the danger of corona spreading further is not a thing of the past.
It is also interesting to see how Europa suddenly has become a continent with individual countries again. Every country seems to have different rules and criteria. Restaurants were open in one country while others are still in lockdown. In France, even in 2022, you still have to wear a mask when entering medical practices and hospitals.
How to adapt your lifestyle
Despite all what happened in the year 2020 and seemed to continue to some degree in the years after, you had the option to make the most of it. When you couldn’t sit on a terrace, you could always have a picnic outside instead. If there was a curfew, you could do things during the day. When the travel limit was 10 km, you could find a nice hike within that distance.
There is something to say about seeing the positive sight whether you agree or not…..
Having a picnic outside instead of a meal in a cafe
During 2020, we all learned to adapt and to live under different conditions even if we did not like it. Although many people managed to handle this forced lifestyle relatively adequately there are countless of people who suffered. Especially the elderly, but also young people and students who feel they have lost a few years of their lives. I also know of a few people whose relationships started showing cracks during lockdown.
In fact with a bit of imagination and following the rules, we even managed to fit in a few housesits!
Yet in the big scheme of things, the covid pandemic is by many seen as a thing of the past. However the little critter is still out there and only time will tell what is the impact…
