I suppose the best way to start any kind of blog is to outline a little about ourselves and tell people why we want to make a move to Eastern Europe.
I am Ian and my wife is Sally we are a middle aged couple who both live and work in Liverpool, England.
Starting with me I am fifty years of age and originally a domestic electrician by trade and then slowly but surely a weekend property developer although I am multi skilled and competent in electrics, plumbing and joinery, this is not my current job.
I currently work as a driver for a national waste company, not an exciting or challenging job but it does actually pay the bills.
My wife Sally has enjoyed working in Customs and Excise now for very nearly 30years based mainly in Liverpool city centre.
We have now been married for just on 26 years and have two grown up children one grandson and of course two dogs.
We live in what was two large Victorian terraced houses that have been consolidated into one property over three floors.
So for the moment we live a standard unconventional life both working and paying bills with a rather large splash of renovations added to the mix.
We are well and truly caught up in the great British rat race so it's not surprising that we have a viable plan to retire to greener less demanding pastures as soon as is practical.
We have both worked hard full time now for the thirty years we have known each other and also have a home from home apartment close to a Spanish golf course, but this is not a retirement option as that would be far too easy...
So you've probably got it now we are both driven and a little crazy.
This will hopefully become a story of our mission to move to a remote Bulgarian village locked in the past with all of its cultural challenges there will no doubt be blood, sweat and tears with lots and lots of fun.
You don't just wake up one morning and say "you know what I want out of here" so why would I leave Liverpool? after all Liverpool is a vibrant city with lots of work and everything you could want nice shops, restaurants, iconic buildings and heritage. A truly state of the art city with added bling,
on the other hand Liverpool like any city has more than its fair share of crime and grime.
I am only 50yrs of age but when I was a child things were very different.
Firstly nearly all children walked to and from school, there was a lot less traffic on the road but more importantly there was a greater level of respect towards everybody.
I understand that this may sound like a rant but with all the advances in technology some people have become lazy and with the increases in wealth over the last few generations some people have become greedy not a good combination.
Gone are the days when as a child if you wanted something you just had to wait and save up your pocket money, which wasn't very much anyway so if you really wanted something you had to work for it by gardening, car washing or getting a milk round so you could save up quicker.
Good old fashioned values have also totally slipped by the wayside, now if you let discipline, respect slide your on a slippery road and this in my opinion is what has happened.
Anyway lots of water passes under the bridge and I now find myself middle aged and things have changed totally over the last 35-40years
Lots of the changes are great and make everybody's life easy and nobody wants to go back,
just take a look at food there has never been so much choice, and technology has come on in leaps and bounds.
So unfortunately I find myself now living in a beautiful city with terrible litter problems, you struggle sometimes to find a place to park your car, the children seem to be getting fatter and respect is more often than not a thing of the past.
There was a time that on a summers night in a leafy middle class area you would hear the sound of lawnmowers and children playing out on their bikes in relative safety.
Now it is still fairly quiet until you hear the sound of idiots on scrambler bikes being pursued by the police helicopter.
Lots of ignorant anti social kids join gangs and dress up in black uniforms, respect has been replaced with anti social behaviour and its just not cool to put anything in a bin or clean up after your dog.
I know this is a greatly exaggerated view but when you get up at 4am everyday to work in the service industry for 50hrs a week and still find time to be the nice guy who cleans up, says hello to passers by and makes the street cleaner a cup of tea then this in reality is how it feels and relocating to Eastern Europe becomes paradise.
Bulgaria, is our chosen destination and I will go on to explain this fully
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