How I moved to Spain

I’m in the UK this week, staying with my parents and one week in, I’m starting to itch for my Sunny island. I haven’t left Mallorca for over a year and in the lead up to my flight I was wracked with worry. I’ve only left the island twice since Ben first fell ill and the first time he was diagnosed with Leukaemia. The second time he was condemned to weeks being fed through a nasal tube. Going back to the motherland had started to feel like a curse, but I was damned if I was going to miss my cousin’s wedding due to half baked superstition. Plus, I really needed some sleep.

My parents arranged for me to sleep in their granny annexe while they did the nights with my frequently unsettled children. My children got the memo and were invariably up twice each night between the hours of 1am and 4am. My parents were broken but I have managed to deliver two newsletters in as many weeks for the first time in months. I will never take them for granted.

The way people have been complaining about the UK of late, I half expected to touch down in Chernobyl. From what I’ve seen from Instagram, Britain is an island in collective depression. Grim weather, grimmer far right rallies, a deepening cost of living crisis. Thankfully I landed to Scotland’s bi-annual week of sunshine. The daffodils are out, there are ducklings in the pond. My parent’s garden has practically transformed into farthing wood and my kids were delighted to spot rabbits and deer on the lawn while eating their breakfast. I’m not saying it isn’t bad - I sat with my dad for a few minutes to watch Question Time, but it helps to remember that complaining is the UK’s most popular sport. ‘Maybe I could live here after all,’ I thought, standing on the lawn of my mum’s friend’s Georgian manor. ‘Its really not so bad.’ Then I pictured the tiny, freezing cold cottage with single glazing which we’d fled and popped my rose tinted glasses in my pocket.

One day when I was hiding from my children, I decided to do my very first ‘ask me anything’ on Instagram. I was anxious that no one would answer and I’d feel like a tit but the questions trickled in and when they did, almost all of them were about moving to Spain. People asked me why, how and what to do when you get there, so I thought I’d write about how I moved and put together a little guide to move now. I’ll be opening up a chat for paid subscribers where you can ask me any questions about Mallorca, whether thats to move to or just to visit.