hello

i can relate to some of the posts in this section

i am currently planning a move from Glasgow to Barcelona for early next year, jan/feb 2009 (this could change depending on how this year goes with the exchange rate), i’ll be moving out with my wife.

I run my own company, based in Glasgow, but my business takes me all over the UK, i tend to spend more time flying from Glasgow - London every 2 or 3 weeks, so the way i see it, there’s no difference flying in from Barcelona instead of Glasgow.

so all my clients will be UK based, paying in pounds, ive always had a love for the spanish lifestyle, and at the moment the business is doing very well, im my own boss, so this seems like a great time to make the change, if it works out, it works out, if not, we will still have a property in Glasgow we will still own so will move back

its all about being organised, i know at certain points of the year, i will have to pay a little more, but all in, im sure it will balance itself out, and i have enough friends in london, brighton, manchester, leeds and scotland that i should never have to pay for a hotel that much

andrew

Andrew, sounds like you’ve got a decent solution mapped out there. Even if the cost is slightly higher would you be too concerned? If your quality of life is better and you’re enjoying your new lifestyle then why question the ‘small’ increase in cost. Esp. if business is good for you.

I’m still toying with the idea of approaching my boss to ask if I can work remotely. Our next workload has been finalised and the whole department will be flat out for the next 6-12 months and deadlines will be very tight. This all makes good advantage for me, but the element of risk is still 50-50. They may just decide to let me resign and scrap 10% of the workload until the following year so I’ve got to be clever in my approach.

Now after Darling’s latest budget it looks like airport duty is being doubled so thats food for thought!

the way i see it, id rather be paying more each month on extra business expenses, and possible higher living expenses, (rent in barcelona isnt cheap), and live a happier and healthier lifestyle, than living in scotland

another way of balancing the costs out is that we wont need to go on holiday for the next 5 years, as we’d be exploring spain, thats saving us money right away…...................

i can imagine your problem, its all about the head count right now for most companys, you dont want to give anyone an excuse to get rid of you

Well, the time is nearly here to hand in my notice. I’ve thought long and hard with my wife about this. The company are tied to me in a way as I have all the business knowledge and they have just got rid of all the people with similar knowledge and left just me to rely on. I will resign and see what they offer. If its the door then I’m not too bothered although the extra income would be handy.

Plan B it will have to be and we are going with the aim of being in spain before september. This allows my daughter to start nursery (70 euros a month plus 60 euros for food as extra - couldn’t believe it so cheap!).

I’ll keep you posted if you’re interested, but lifestyle is about to change rapidly and we are about to embark on a new life. Can’t wait and our posessions are 60% packed in boxes now.

One prob I do have if Plan A is offered is that broadband in my in laws village is only 3mb bandwidth which could be a snagging point if I am to work remotely.

good luck with the meeting with your company, as you say, it feels like the balance has moved in your favour if you have all the skills they need AND most of your team have gone, maybe they need you allot more than you think

keep in touch, you’ve never said which part of spain your moving too ?

Handed my resignation in and they were shocked due to the fact that it is not common during a recession for people to leave the company.

However, they have said they would like to keep in touch so that I can contract for them remotely for the next phase of projects which is better than I’d anticipated. Everyone’s a winner baby! They just dont want to make it public in case everyone els edecides to leave and ask for sub contractors terms as well.

Now we’re frantically packing and organising things for the move down. Going to drive down thru france. The baby’s nursery place has been confirmed, but we have to be there for 2nd September else we’ll lose the place. Thats the only downer in this saga.

well keep update what happen on your move
jurdy

Good luck Steve!  Hope it all works out OK - keep us posted!

Maya

I commuted every few weeks for a year and a half from Malaga too the UK.

The novalty went on the 3rd flight delay.

15 hours was the worst one.Thanks to Easyjet system failure.

If your gonna do it I would recommend having the VIP pass, it costs around ?80.00 a year, but you get free drinks, newspapers and TV in all the airport lounges.

That helped a lot.

I was nice returning to Malaga every few weeks and not workin, like a holiday and the exchange rate was fantastic, every ?1,000 i earned in the UK at that time was transfered home to Spain and i was getting 1700 Euro`s.

Every month I`d make an extra 2,000 Euro`s.

With the exchange rate now though, i wouldn`t think the cost`s would be worth it.

The wife wasn`t to impressed either.

to be honest, thats whats holding us back right now, need to wait until the euro sorts itself out, all my income will be in pounds sterling

and i never thought about the lounges, good idea

so i take it you dont do this anymore, you full time in UK or Spain ??

thompson - 19 July 2009 03:24 PM

so i take it you dont do this anymore, you full time in UK or Spain ??

Returned back to the normality and sanity of the UK.

Spain didn`t tick all the right boxes.

I guess Spain is a bit like a Chocolate fountain, you go to Thornton’s, see the fountain and try it, it tastes really good. Then you notice in Argos a fountain for use at home, so you think that`ll be great.

You get it home and find that the chocolate doesn`t flow great and you need to mess about with oils, you never knew that.

Then it tastes ok, but after you realise you need to clean it and that is a real pain in the rear.

So you end up goin back to Thornton’s and paying for the great chocolate, your fountain stays hidden at the back of the cupboard.

Spain for me is the chocolate fountain.

Best left to visit than have it at home full time.

I guess you only really find out when you`ve tried it.