I have just sat back and re-read the posts I have put here since I haphazardly started this Blogging adventure whenever ago it was, and I have understood why a friend of mine sent me an email saying "Positive Thinking needs to be upped" ........ It would appear that the blog gets my attention when someone or something gets RIGHT UP MY NOSE!!
Saying that, I am only now seeing that using the Blog as well as my long Catch-up list of emails is another way of keeping in touch - and it may even give the incentive or lunatic encouragement to other single Mums, or anyone for that matter, to have the courage to listen to their hearts and dreams and GO FOR IT.
So I am going to share a little of me here, in the hope of inspiring you - because I honestly believe with my whole heart, that if I could do what I have done, from the non-person I was for the decade from 1993 - 2003, then ANYONE CAN..........
My dream to live in Spain started about fifteen years ago. It was a whisper, an itch ..... It was always the same : thoughts of Spain, coming to Spain - I would meet myself in the thought, or at the airport - but a happier, younger, freer self - and when I had to leave, I always had to say goodbye to that precious, free-spirited self. It was always there. But circumstances, truly awful ones that threatened my own survival, caused me to give up my dream, give up everything I ever believed in, instead compromising myself and my integrity in order to live a complete lie, pretending it wasn't as awful as it was .....
Until November 2003, when a woman who to this day I trust with my whole being knocked on the inpenetrable shell of protection I had built around myself in order to survive, with a love and belief in who I had been and who I was underneath all the ghastliness - and with her unfailing support and belief, I began the process of setting myself free - free from myself, free from an unspeakable relationship that had brought me to the edge of reason, free in a way I had never dared to allow myself to imagine ........
And little by little, piece by piece, I started to pick away the broken pieces, dust them down, polish them up, and put myself back together again. Through this process, which was in turns both joyful and agonising, I found that dreams I had long since buried started to pop up - and little by little I found ways of making those dreams come true - dancing til dawn, food fights with my son, climbing little Welsh hills, pancakes for breakfast at the weekend, and even owning my own campervan. Then, one day, THE BIG ONE returned ...
THE Dream I had always had for as long as I could remember as a grown up -
The Dream to Live in Spain ........
And when I whispered it, I felt a flutter inside me that I had forgotten existed. And when I spoke it out-loud, EVERYONE who truly loved me and cared for me simply shrieked with joy, pouring their positive energy into what I thought was an impossible and stupid idea.
With more help than I can possibly either describe or thank enough, the absurd idea began to take shape. Together with my family, friends and support network, we drew the lines around the abstract idea - which bits felt right, which bits felt wrong, which details needed more attention ......
And with every step I took, I grew. With every obstacle I overcame, I bowed down to myself with pride at my new found ability to HANDLE IT. It was, and continues to be, the Adventure of a Lifetime - and I truly believe that there is no such thing as fate now - I found the courage to make my own luck, I have created the Dream day by day, sometimes scary moment by scary moment, but I have learned, and continue to learn that with each new experience, no matter how seemingly hopeless or unresolvable, I CAN HANDLE IT! I BELIEVE in our wild and crazy adventure, in swimming naked in unknown rivers at dawn, in lying on the cold earth watching the majesty of the vultures playing in the eddies overhead with their magnificent grace - and the greatest gift in all of it is that I get to share this with the most beautiful child - my son - who is learning more than I can ever imagine from this experience, good and bad, rich and scary, and teaching me a lot about remembering how to play and trust this amazing world in which we all live .............
So thank you to all of you - friends I know and friends I have yet to meet - and may you all find your own star to follow - I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.
With LOVE xx
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Where Living the Dream can be a NIGHTMARE!!!!
I am dead on my feet this afternoon - and I think I could write a book on the hideous, complicated process of changing the identity of a vehicle from English to Spanish ..... I would have preferred to stab myself repeatedly in the eyeballs with chillis in hindsight ............!!
It is, without doubt, far easier for a European to change their residency, or to have dual residency, than it is to change the "residency" of a motorhome - and that is what I have been doing my uttermost to achieve.
It all looked so simple to begin with - I went to Trafico in Teruel where I had to pay 60+€ tax and a fee of 17€ to start the process of re-registering (it's called rematriculacion here for anyone thinking of doing it). That gave me green temporary Spanish plates which I was told gave me permission to circulate for two months, and that I needed to take with me to the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) so I could pay another tax - annual road tax this time of another 60+€. Trafico also told me that I needed to have an up to date ITV - think MOT in the UK and you are about there - only it is the most facile and pointless series of tests that actually make a mockery of the safety of vehicles on the road in Spain if you want my opinion.
So off I went with all taxes paid to the ITV centre in Sarrion - the closest to where I live, with a spring in my step thinking that I was moments away from having my Spanish plates and all done.
IDIOT!!!
After ages, the man who worked there told me that I had to have a particular number - on the V5c In the UK it is K, Type Approval Number - which I do not have on her V5C. On writing to DVLA, I learned that all motorhomes are exempt from Type Approval Numbers, however they helpfully gave me the address of somewhere were I could get a certificate to this effect. The address was for people bringing a motorhome INTO the UK, not for exporting it!
Fingernails getting more and more bitten, I spoke to the wonderful people who sold me the motorcaravan in the first place - South Hereford Motorcaravan Centre - and the lovely Des gave me the number of a local Fiat garage, as my motorhome is a Fiat Ducato - in the hope that they could help me with this number - and ........... no.
(Not so silent scream) ...........
So I rang Fiat in Teruel, my closest city, and was told that well, yes, they sort of could help, but I would need to take all the papers to them, they would look at them and then send them off to Fiat in Madrid and in 2 weeks or so, I would have the papers ........... But I NEED TO LEAVE NOW!
Rafa, in Sarrion ITV, had told me that I needed a Homologacion Individual - and I found out today that to have that done would cost me 1,600€ and that I would have to drive to Zaragoza IN the motorhome - 3 hours each way - with my son in school from 9.30 - 1.30pm and then no-one to collect him .....
So instead I drove the motorhome to the coast - to Sagunto ITV - and presented my papers in the vague and distant hope that they would say that everything is in order - BUT - no!
I am still missing one vital and essential and crucial piece of paper - I COULD SCREAM AGAIN! I drove from the ITV centre in Sagunto into the heart of Valencia - NO MEAN FEAT in a 6m motorhome - and tried to find somewhere to park her while waiting for an Inginiero - someone who could measure the distance between the wheels, the height, depth, breadth, attachments, type of wheel, engine capacity, weight, you name it. I found a spot and put my hazard warning lights on, waiting for the police to tell me why I couldn't park there, and sure enough, just as I was falling asleep, up drove two police motorbikes! So I jumped out and said I was waiting for them as I had been driving around for half an hour looking for somewhere to park - so they let me park in a no parking place! Within 20 minutes (and after a coffee and a pee in the pub opposite), I went back to find ANOTHER police bike circling her with a tow truck alongside!! OH YIPES! He was really nice though - he was actually there to tow away the car behind me and just wanted me to move the wagon in order that he could pull out the car behind! I only found that out after apologising and explaining for about 5 minutes!
Finally, the Inginiero arrived, established within minutes that I was single (!) and did what I mentioned above. He told me about the normal cost for the Homologacion being 1,600€ - and then charged me 120€ for what he had done......... He now has to send that off to some office in Valencia who stamp and officialise it, and he then sends it back to me and with that, I am led to believe that I can pass the ITV without further ado. Saying that though, he also said that my reversing light is on the left, and it should be on the right - so at least I can put that right before I go back and HOPEFULLY get this blithering test passed!
Say a prayer for me = it is enough to make me grey overnight, especially as we want to leave for our summer holiday within two weeks!!!!
Don't forget to visit the website by the way - or my other blog which is accessed via the website under the link News - www.amanda-hamilton.com
It is, without doubt, far easier for a European to change their residency, or to have dual residency, than it is to change the "residency" of a motorhome - and that is what I have been doing my uttermost to achieve.
It all looked so simple to begin with - I went to Trafico in Teruel where I had to pay 60+€ tax and a fee of 17€ to start the process of re-registering (it's called rematriculacion here for anyone thinking of doing it). That gave me green temporary Spanish plates which I was told gave me permission to circulate for two months, and that I needed to take with me to the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) so I could pay another tax - annual road tax this time of another 60+€. Trafico also told me that I needed to have an up to date ITV - think MOT in the UK and you are about there - only it is the most facile and pointless series of tests that actually make a mockery of the safety of vehicles on the road in Spain if you want my opinion.
So off I went with all taxes paid to the ITV centre in Sarrion - the closest to where I live, with a spring in my step thinking that I was moments away from having my Spanish plates and all done.
IDIOT!!!
After ages, the man who worked there told me that I had to have a particular number - on the V5c In the UK it is K, Type Approval Number - which I do not have on her V5C. On writing to DVLA, I learned that all motorhomes are exempt from Type Approval Numbers, however they helpfully gave me the address of somewhere were I could get a certificate to this effect. The address was for people bringing a motorhome INTO the UK, not for exporting it!
Fingernails getting more and more bitten, I spoke to the wonderful people who sold me the motorcaravan in the first place - South Hereford Motorcaravan Centre - and the lovely Des gave me the number of a local Fiat garage, as my motorhome is a Fiat Ducato - in the hope that they could help me with this number - and ........... no.
(Not so silent scream) ...........
So I rang Fiat in Teruel, my closest city, and was told that well, yes, they sort of could help, but I would need to take all the papers to them, they would look at them and then send them off to Fiat in Madrid and in 2 weeks or so, I would have the papers ........... But I NEED TO LEAVE NOW!
Rafa, in Sarrion ITV, had told me that I needed a Homologacion Individual - and I found out today that to have that done would cost me 1,600€ and that I would have to drive to Zaragoza IN the motorhome - 3 hours each way - with my son in school from 9.30 - 1.30pm and then no-one to collect him .....
So instead I drove the motorhome to the coast - to Sagunto ITV - and presented my papers in the vague and distant hope that they would say that everything is in order - BUT - no!
I am still missing one vital and essential and crucial piece of paper - I COULD SCREAM AGAIN! I drove from the ITV centre in Sagunto into the heart of Valencia - NO MEAN FEAT in a 6m motorhome - and tried to find somewhere to park her while waiting for an Inginiero - someone who could measure the distance between the wheels, the height, depth, breadth, attachments, type of wheel, engine capacity, weight, you name it. I found a spot and put my hazard warning lights on, waiting for the police to tell me why I couldn't park there, and sure enough, just as I was falling asleep, up drove two police motorbikes! So I jumped out and said I was waiting for them as I had been driving around for half an hour looking for somewhere to park - so they let me park in a no parking place! Within 20 minutes (and after a coffee and a pee in the pub opposite), I went back to find ANOTHER police bike circling her with a tow truck alongside!! OH YIPES! He was really nice though - he was actually there to tow away the car behind me and just wanted me to move the wagon in order that he could pull out the car behind! I only found that out after apologising and explaining for about 5 minutes!
Finally, the Inginiero arrived, established within minutes that I was single (!) and did what I mentioned above. He told me about the normal cost for the Homologacion being 1,600€ - and then charged me 120€ for what he had done......... He now has to send that off to some office in Valencia who stamp and officialise it, and he then sends it back to me and with that, I am led to believe that I can pass the ITV without further ado. Saying that though, he also said that my reversing light is on the left, and it should be on the right - so at least I can put that right before I go back and HOPEFULLY get this blithering test passed!
Say a prayer for me = it is enough to make me grey overnight, especially as we want to leave for our summer holiday within two weeks!!!!
Don't forget to visit the website by the way - or my other blog which is accessed via the website under the link News - www.amanda-hamilton.com
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Holidays, holidays, holidays
Hello!!!
I have a lot of excuses for going so quiet ....... !
We have been doing the most delicious quantity of travelling these past months - taking ourselves off to Benidorm (hmm ....... !), on to Alicante (smiles), on to Cartagena (remembering hail stones beating down on the ocean), and on to the delicious Mazarron and Puerto Del Mazarron, which were utterly breathtaking in their beauty. I can recommend the Hotel Bahia not for its food, but for the unspeakably beautiful views if you can get a room on the sea side of the hotel ..... LOVELY to wake up to and to walk along.
I feel as though I owe about a thousand blogs for those experiences, but the reality is that they will come in bits and bobs as time allows - so keep coming back for now!
Also, do visit the website ongoingingly - my wonderful website designer, Georgina, is soon to be putting on a modest expansion of the paintings I have done inspired by Rubielos de Mora.
Other than that, we are soon to be embarking on our wonderful summer holiday - a campervan trip down to and around Andalucia - so any recommendations or contacts would be well received.
Love to all,
Amanda
I have a lot of excuses for going so quiet ....... !
We have been doing the most delicious quantity of travelling these past months - taking ourselves off to Benidorm (hmm ....... !), on to Alicante (smiles), on to Cartagena (remembering hail stones beating down on the ocean), and on to the delicious Mazarron and Puerto Del Mazarron, which were utterly breathtaking in their beauty. I can recommend the Hotel Bahia not for its food, but for the unspeakably beautiful views if you can get a room on the sea side of the hotel ..... LOVELY to wake up to and to walk along.
I feel as though I owe about a thousand blogs for those experiences, but the reality is that they will come in bits and bobs as time allows - so keep coming back for now!
Also, do visit the website ongoingingly - my wonderful website designer, Georgina, is soon to be putting on a modest expansion of the paintings I have done inspired by Rubielos de Mora.
Other than that, we are soon to be embarking on our wonderful summer holiday - a campervan trip down to and around Andalucia - so any recommendations or contacts would be well received.
Love to all,
Amanda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
