Kiki’s Spain Writings: ‘Madre mía, this insight is a game changer…’

Hello beautifuls, darlings, girls and my little hearts of the good life. Yes, you understand: more and more Spanish nicknames are being learned here. My life, another incredibly loving little rascal.

After the emotional rollercoaster of last week, a fresh wind is blowing through our Spanish daily life. While I type this, I am ‘watching’ a house in Benitachell. Villa Joah, a six-person holiday villa with a swimming pool and such. Very annoying, just look here. It's as if we are attracting it a bit with our troubadour existence without a fixed casa: more and more invitations are coming our way. And for someone who draws her inspiration largely from a change of scenery, that is incredibly nice.

And my goodness, so much has happened in those heads of ours again. It was mainly a week of enormous insights regarding the house process. The longer we are in Spain, the more we start to see things differently. At first, we mainly thought we wanted a grand, characteristic finca in the countryside (five bedrooms, three bathrooms, let's be crazy!), but we are increasingly realizing that A: we are way too young for a place in the middle of nowhere and B: the search for the perfect house can also be a process in which you can start to build.

So renting was an absolute no-go for both of us, and we are now somewhat reconsidering that. Because why completely rule out the option when you are still doubting which region you actually like best? We are not talking about buying a new pair of boots here, it is a freaking house you are buying. Are you even allowed to have your own opinion if you have heard nothing your whole life except that renting is ‘such a waste’?

Maybe I was thinking way too chronologically. Like: woohoo, we are moving to Spain and that whole adventure starts with… our dream house! Now I am increasingly thinking: what if it’s not about the destination, but the journey? What if you first stand as a house yourself? What if you first feel really good about where you feel comfortable, before you immediately go house hunting like an idiot? OMG Look, what if you don’t put all your money into bricks right away, but invest part of it first in all the business plans you have? We sold a house in the Netherlands, so in fact, there is now more budget than ever. So where does that tension come from?

Wow. Suddenly everything is open again. What if we first start building business? From there, we can realize two nice salaries, then approach the bank to apply for a mortgage, after which we can buy our dream house as the cherry on top? I thought I could just buy my dream. But what if life first makes you work for your dream? Does the dream then not suddenly become much more valuable? Some insights sound so simple, but turn out to be the biggest game changers in hindsight because your perspective suddenly widens from A to Z.

So yes, I’ll just start at this point (I believe in manifesting by speaking it out, woo). If you are someone or know someone with a cool (rental) house on the Costa Blanca North: feel free to send me a DM at @kikiduren. Who knows, our dream might start together!