Tomorrow we will have been here for 4 weeks already. On the one hand, it seems like so long. On the other hand, time flies by. When we came here, we went with the intention of possibly already finding a place to live. This has the advantage that when we return to Belgium, we can already work on our future here from there. Either by saving money or hiring someone to do some work on the house. Yes, we know for sure that we are going to buy a house that will require some work. Our budget does not allow us to buy a finished house.
That said, the houses here are often very charming, have enormous potential but are also old. So you definitely have some work to do. House prices vary enormously here, but most of them, especially in comparisons with Belguim and the Netherlands are quite cheap. So there are plenty of gems to be found for a good price.
We would like to move to Cervera next summer to really settle. There are various options for how we can do this. As described earlier, we could buy a house while still living in Belgium. We could spend the time we are here on the house and we could call in help to make it habitable for the five of us as quickly as possible.
What we can also do is just move here next summer. We can then stay here in CASAdelDRAGON while we look for our house. The advantage of this is that we live in the village and can therefore perhaps get the cooperation of the villagers in finding a house. Many houses are sold among themselves and there is no real estate agent or internet involved.
We could also choose to place a mobile home in the garden of FamiliaFeliz and live in nature for a short (or longer) time to look further from there.
The whole search causes quite a bit of stress. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “just doing it” without really knowing what we are up against. (but can we ever really know for sure?) We really want to move here but we have to be smart about the decisions we make. Above all, we have 3 boys to take into account. So if you do not fully agree on certain things (such as financing), this can sometimes lead to unpleasant confrontations.
What I find complicated myself, and I will try to explain it in words, but it is mainly a matter of feeling, is that I do not seem to live in the “real” world here. What I mean by that is, in my comfort zone in Belgium, I feel all the room to come to myself and think calmly about what the best next step would be. This can be done through meditation or journaling or by simply retreating to my favorite place. Here I miss that comfort zone. That makes me feel like I’m constantly “on”. And from that state of being, making a hasty decision may not be the best option. But if at the same time you feel the need to act immediately, then that conflicts quite a bit.
A wise man said to me: The best you can do is nothing. Just do nothing.
I feel this! But applying it remains a challenge.
