The Big Decision: Early Retirement
In 2005 Mr L. and I took stock of our lives - early fifties, no kids, good jobs, reasonably well-off, social life on the decline as all our favourite pubs got turned into sports bars - and decided it was time to start planning for an early retirement. Fortuitously, we shared the same dream; to move to somewhere warm, laid-back and beautiful, where we could live a simple and healthy life and enjoy the Great Outdoors. Spain was the obvious choice; we had been there many times on holiday and could speak a bit of the language. We didn't want to follow the well-trodden path; living in a community of ex-pats on the Costa Geriatrica, sitting round the pool drinking cheap booze, did not appeal. On the other hand, we didn't fall into the Chris Stewart/Driving Over Lemons category either - buying a ruined finca in the mountains and digging your own well sounded a bit too much like hard work. We wanted a nice house that didn't need any work done on it, in a Spanish community,