The F-Word Part 1

Tuesday 13 November 2012

F is for Fuerteventura and a strange new life for me and Dominick, escaping the ever-tightening noose of London which, with the commuting, over-crowding and grey skies, meant we were only enjoying a fraction of our lives and not living in any sense fully. Life was all about surviving the journey to work, surviving the daily stresses, surviving the combat of getting home and then trying to raise a smile for one another when we got there.

In January of this year we came to Fuerteventura, knowing nothing about it, except it was a cheap package holiday that promised a little space and sunshine, a reprieve from an exhausting 2011 work-wise. We loved it and we decided there and then that we would move here and learn to live, instead of just survive.

From the moment I came home I fantasised constantly about going back - permanently. In the meantime I wasted no time constructing my survival strategy for the rest of the year, namely booking another week in November. It's what we all do - come back from a fantastic holiday and immediately look to the planning the next one I guess, and the planning and dreaming is half the fun.

To both of us the desire to move full-time was not just a fantasy, but a firm goal. I started to live as if it would happen, not knowing how we would make it possible, but determined as I always am when I set my mind to something seemingly impossible ( a bit like marrying Dominick, which I decided pretty much in a couple of days of meeting him). I started packing up belongings and for every weekend of the last few months took a bag of clothes, shoes, ornaments, books, games and dvds to charity shops, gradually shedding everything I knew I couldn't take with me. I told everyone I met I was moving, I just didn't know when. I got used to the raised eyebrows and doubtful expressions, as no one really believed me...and sometimes I wasn't sure if I totally believed me either.

We thought we'd have to wait another year so Dominick could get British citizenship in 2013, having resided in the UK for the statutory three years since he arrived in 2010 and then we'd be able to live in another part of the EU. One frustrating afternoon at work, as the Olympic euphoria in London had finally given way to damp weather and spirits, I felt desperate for a quicker escape route so I did some more research into the legalities, impulsively employed an immigration lawyer and discovered that, as the spouse of an EU citizen, Dominick could move anytime. We'd still have to apply for residency and depending on whether we had jobs and a place to live and no criminal records, we'd be able to get it. Dominick engineered a way to work from home as his company began to outsource to Eastern Europe. I had just gotten my honours degree in late August (after 6 years of studying whilst working), so I hoped that might help with obtaining a teaching position, but with the cost of living being so low, we figured if we were prepared to live frugally we could manage on one income for a while.

Finally we had a way to be here forever or as long as we want to be (pending successful residency applications) and so I tore up our return flight tickets, handed in my notice at work (HURRAY!), found an apartment and we flew to Fuerteventura for our holiday in November with no plans to return.

It's exciting, a bit scary and so very much to learn, but we're loving it and am so thankful to be here with Dominick. Sometimes it seems if you wish for something very hard, plan as if there is no way it won't happen and live as if it is about to, then it will.