Haha 45. Wise words indeed. You are, of course, completely right. The only sensible way forward is for us to employ professionals who know what they are doing. But here's the thing. We have worked hard all our lives to build up some kind of retirement fund. Well, maybe not all our lives, there might have been a bit of fun along the way. Perhaps. But we are retiring early (early fifties) and I do not intend for my business to continue to support us into this period, I intend for us to embark on the
next chapter! That means that we need to be careful how we spend. We have three options (other than to continue to live comfortably in the the UK for the rest of our lives - kill me now). We could buy a nice villa, perfect condition, pool, near a beach, couple of acres. I am yawning already. We could buy the property we
are buying and give $1m to architects, designers and builders to transform it. Boring and will lead to us needing to eat grass for the rest of our lives. Or we could live in it as it is, swapping a beautiful home in the UK for a crap falling down concrete monstrosity in a barren bit of Spanish rock.
No the reason, the
only reason, that we are investing the rest of our lives in this experience is because it is an absolute adventure and a blank canvas. Reality is, excuse the confidence, that I'm an intelligent 'scientist', reasonably competent with a hammer, strong and fearless. I'm not afraid to fail, it really doesn't matter, it is just a learning experience. Seriously, that's not some BS management workshop soundbite. What does it matter if something doesn't work really? I'll do it again. And again until I get it right, I learn fast. Spesh if it's something I don't want to do again!
I'm with you, even if you're with my friend. I believe in KISS. It might not sound like it but in my mind I
do know what I'm doing. This all sounds daunting but break it down into individual projects, it ain't no big thing. People achieve far more every day that I'm asking of myself.
The mould is only broken when we choose to do something different. We don't want ordinary. We want extraordinary. My property developer friend runs a business. He can't afford to take risks so like every other journeyman, he does what everyone else has always done. Solid, reliable ordinariness. Pah. We live in the 21st century - material and process innovations happen all the time. If you're open to explore the frontier of new opportunity then a world awaits you - seriously, a world away from what a traditional craftsman will tell you is possible. I don't need to concern myself with not being paid or being sued when it all goes tits up. It's on me. Do it again, properly, or at least more betterer.
Am I disparaging craftsmen and trades that have decades of experience and credentials - not in the least. I take every single opportunity to learn from these people - we need to keep these skills alive for the next generations. 95% of what I do will rely on these skills. I might not have them down right now but I'm pretty competent. 80%.
If I had to
drag my wife of 26 years along with me on this journey then we wouldn't even be embarking on it. We have been searching for our Shangri-La for more than ten years and when we found this property in January 2018 we knew that we had found it. It was a joint decision, it could not work otherwise. Since that time we have talked in detail about every aspect of the work for two years. She is completely onboard.
Re she - she can handle a wrench, drive a tractor, weld etc. Don't worry 'bout her.
Here is the love of my life, isn't she gorgeous? Everything I ever wanted. Just a bit annoying that some random woman got in the way when I took the photo. We bought this in December when I started posting here.
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