A very happy new year from sunny Asturias!

We received a lot of reactions to the broadcast on December 10. of ‘Ik Vertrek’ about our emigration to Northern Spain, in the spring of 2023. Most reactions were positive, but of course there were also people who did not like what we were doing: we do not speak Spanish, we do not know Asturias, we have no idea what we have started etc. etc. The usual.

But how do we look back on the broadcast and being followed by a camera crew during our emigration?

 

Like everyone else, we were only able to watch the broadcast online for the first time on December 3. That was very exciting because we had no influence on the content, and it was entirely up to the makers of the program to tell our story. They did that reasonably well, but the story that was told on TV was dramatized and there was no room for any nuance. But hey, some things simply yield high viewing figures, so yes, certain choices are made. We expected that, but I do feel the need to add a bit of nuance to our story.

 

But first let’s take a few steps back. Why did we participate in ‘Ik Vertrek’? And how did that go for us?

Because we were moving to an area that is unknown to most Dutch people, and because we had a very special house in mind, we had already jokingly said to each other a few times that we should participate in ‘Ik Vertrek’, a very popular TV show in The Netherlands. But neither of us thought that was a good idea. We didn’t have a strong business plan yet, and therefore no idea what we would need potential visitors or customers for.

 

In March 2023, less than a month before leaving for Spain, a friend forwarded the ‘Ik Vertrek’ registration form, and I filled it in and sent it as a bit of a joke. It seemed like a very short notice to me so close to departure. But the very next day we were approached by the editors with the question to submit a short video (our screentest?!). After that we had an introductory meeting, in which we made it clear that a future business would not be able to operate until well into year 2 at the earliest, but that this was very optimistic. That was no problem for the makers.

 

We did have some doubts, but we thought it would be nice to have a document of our emigration. It would also give us the opportunity to put our future business on the map, and to show the beautiful surroundings. And it is an incentive, because every time the camera crew comes by there is of course a deadline!

 

It was very hectic just before we left. At the end of March, we had both had corona for the first time, and despite being quite ill, packing had to continue. Our belongings were spread across several locations because we had moved from a larger house in Rotterdam to a small house in Zierikzee. The house in Zierikzee was actually intended as a pied-a-terre in the Netherlands, and renovated entirely to our own taste. Due to the rising costs in the Netherlands, we had ultimately decided to sell it after all.

 

In addition to the things in our house, we also had a storage facility in Zierikzee. There were also things at my parents’ house, and there were things at a friend of Rob’s in Rotterdam. In addition, a large sofa that we had bought for Spain would be delivered, and a large scaffolding. And everything had to go into the moving van in Zierikzee on the same day (April 20). The next day we would drive with our own car with trailer with the cats and the things that we needed immediately in the first 3 weeks until the moving van would arrive.

 

In between, the camera crew also arrived. The movers were super professional, and everything was loaded quickly. That afternoon, we filmed a farewell with our parents on the square in Zierikzee, but there were no tears – unfortunately for the tv makers.

 

The next morning, there were tears, but there was no camera crew. We had slept badly on air mattresses that were leaking, and we had to get up at 6 am to leave the house a little bit clean. All our neighbors helped with cleaning, making coffee, and cooking those last few days: it was heartwarming! When we finally left at 10 am, I was completely exhausted. Then it finally hit me, and I did cry really hard driving out of Zierikzee.

 

After a long drive of 2 days, we arrived in Asturias where we had rented a house until the moving van would arrive on 10. May.

The transfer of the house was on 28. April. That almost went wrong because the 8 owners had had a huge argument the day before the transfer. Fortunately, the estate agent and our lawyer had managed to calm things down, but it could easily have happened that the purchase would not have gone through. It is also a well-known fact that large, beautiful houses are collapsing all over France and Spain because the heirs cannot agree on the sale. That is why it is a small miracle that it finally worked out in our case.

 

After the transfer, we immediately went to the house with the camera crew. There we met a neighbor who did not know that the house had been sold. The only problem was that the good man spoke Asturian, a heavy dialect. Even if we had spoken perfect Spanish (Catalan), we probably would not have understood him. Our neighbor, who comes from Malaga, often cannot understand the people from the valley either…

 

We both speak Spanish quite well now, but the dialect remains difficult. We are doing our best to learn Spanish now (we actually do speak fluent French, German, and English), but we didn’t have much time for that in the first year because we were working so much. If you’ve been emptying spaces all day, or working on a 350 square meter roof, you don’t have much energy left to learn Spanish as well… We try to talk to people we meet every day, and that’s going reasonably well. I understand almost everything that is said and written now. Sometimes we don’t know words, but we manage very nicely.

 

The broadcast of ‘Ik Vertrek’ focused very much on the business we were going to set up in Asturias. We had indicated that it was not yet a foregone conclusion for us what we wanted to do, and whether we wanted to start a business at all. Our idea was to explore the possibilities first. What would Asturias bring us?

 

We found out that the wooden monumental sheds on our property are not allowed to be rented out. It is also not possible to just start a mini campsite in the whole of Spain, so not here either. That was all a shame, but we have plenty of buildings that can be converted into holiday accommodation. Contrary to what was said in the broadcast, we have not yet applied for a building permit. That may come later. Or we can buy a ready-made house to rent out, that is also an option.

 

Our priority was to make our house habitable; a monument from 1712. In addition to clearing and cleaning, that meant renewing the roof, renewing the electricity, repairing and painting woodwork, renovating the old bathroom, installing a new bathroom, renovating the kitchen, installing heating and much, much more.

 

We moved into the house almost immediately after the moving van delivered our stuff on May 10. There was hot water from a very small boiler, and everything worked reasonably well. The roof was also less leaky than we feared.

 

In a year and a half we have already made a lot of progress and we actually live here quite comfortably. We are now working on the new bathroom, and the next thing we are going to do is renovate the kitchen. In addition, we are going to fix the sewer system next year and build a terrace with a view of the valley. On TV the layout of our house was not very clear, I will soon give a tour on film.

 

We will also continue to work on our business plan in the coming months, because we haven’t really gotten around to it yet. The broadcast of ‘Ik Vertrek’ was therefore quite premature for us. The makers absolutely wanted to finish the episode in 2024, while we had indicated that we were far from finished with the renovations, and did not yet have a definitive business plan. In that respect, we were less happy with the broadcast; it gives a somewhat messy impression, and we did not have the opportunity to get customers or guests for our eventual business – given that the episode was watched on TV by more than 1.6 million people…  

 

What was clear though on TV is that we certainly do not regret emigrating to Asturias, and that we really enjoy the beautiful nature, the spectacular landscapes, working on the land, our house and all our lovely neighbors in the valley!

 

In the upcoming blogs I will write more about how we live here (do we really have a money tree in the garden, or do we live very frugally? – this was an actual question in an editorial about our tv-show!!), and how we think we will earn money in the future. So stay tuned!