Finally in Spain

We were looking forward to our move to Spain. When D-day arrived, we were a bit scared.
Are we going to be able to learn the language? Is the house as nice as it was in our memorie,...  Many questions and few answers.

Yet we took the jump. We are very happy we did. The house is even nicer than we remembered. The people here are very open and helpfull. We chose the best place on earth to live!

Of course the move was not that simple. Loading the truck was physically and emotionally heavy, leaving Herentals and Belgium was not evident. Flying with 2 children and 2 cats was less evident, but we've all survived;)

Meanwhile, we allready live here for 2 weeks and it looks completely different than Belgium. The rhythm is a lot calmer. It was a huge adjustment  not being able to go to the store between 14 and 17 because of the Siësta, but we're quiclky adjusting.

We needed a lot of things to decorate the B&B, and so we went on exploration.  On this tour, we saw the most beautiful sceneries.  Spain is a beautiful country !!!

Moving changes people

With the move to another country, there is a lot of "junk" that you must discard. It is often a decision of: "Is this really necessary?", "Will I ever need this?",...

For the real junk, this is not a problem, that is just thrown away. It is harder when you're talking about objects with a history.

Such as the cradle flanges of the crib where my children slept in. This is something that nobody can use anymore (certainly because that cradle itself is gone), but they are of a huge emotional value. So that is a doubtfull case.

This is the same with letters, cards, photos, ... . You can't keep everything, but where do you stop? What do you keep and what do you throw away? Not an easy question.

The answer is : trust your feeling !!! If you're feeling says, that you want to keep certain things, then just do so !

This applies to "rubbish" at a removal, but also for people. There the message is the same : "Trust your gut feeling !"  Some people suck all the energy out of you and give very little back. Other people give you energy and those are the people you want to keep in your life.

Chose wisely !

Social Media : a good invention.

Since a few years I am working with different social media such as facebook, twitter, blogging,...

Sometimes I'm more active than other times, but at the moment, I'm really bitten by the virus.

Because I was working on the website for La Casa Blanca, I was automatically more online.  And what do you do when you need a break ?  Right, you log in to facebook or twitter.

I must honestly say that at the moment it 's a real addiction. Since the arrival of IPad and IPhone, the sky is the limit : constantly online! Fun, but also tiring sometimes!

I must say that due to social media, I have made some really good friends and great business contacts.

For me it's important that there is still a good mix, between real social life and social media.  This way you get the best of both worlds and become a little richer (throug the friendships you built)

A home abroad

A home abroad, and more specific, in Spain is not so simple. It takes a lot of administration.

There must be a certificate of this and then again from that, something must be inspected,  a paper of the municipality is still needed, ... Every day there is something else.

The problem is that we have a short-term sale (on demand of the seller).  Our time to buy is limited, we only have 2 months.

 And that's not obvious, certainly not in a country like Spain, where everything "manana" is. We hit the wall so often. After a while you just want to give up and call it quits.  We get the strength to carry on because it's our dream.

We run around like "chickens without heads" trying to retain the overview. Between all the hassle I'm working on the website, do the marketing,... . So you understand that it's very busy at "La Casa Blanca".


The beauty of this experience is that we get the chance to make our dream come true.  This is a real family project.

La Casa Blanca is a B&B where warmth, friendship and affection are the central theme. We want to ensure that people feel at home.

Why emigrate ?

Many people ask us why we emigrate to Spain. That is not  an easy question to answer.
There are many reasons for us to take this step in our lives.

For me it's a positive choice after a long negative period which I would like to leave behind me.
Some years ago I lost my husband after a long struggle. I stayed behind at that time as a young widow with 2 small children of 6 and 9 years old. My world collapsed.

 Fortunately I got a lot of help from my friends who helped me through this difficult period. My new friend has taught me to enjoy every day that is given to us. Together with him and my children we start a new life in Spain.

We want to enjoy life and share our home with people. Our aim is to provide our guests a fantastic vacation and together with them unwind in these hectic society.

 Emigration is a positive choice for a new life with our family. Our vision on society in Belgium is of that nature that we deliberately opt for a slower pace of life, enjoy each other more, the country, the weather,  our guests, ... and especially we want to share our joy of life with our fellow human beings.