We had made it. Ten months after taking the momentous decision to change our lifestyle we finally stepped off the plane into the Spanish sun.

Had we made the right decision? We certainly hoped so. We had sold up totally in Britain and going back would be difficult. We would certainly not be able to afford to return to the London area, even if we wanted to.

How long would it take for us to feel totally at home in our new environment? There was a little nagging doubt that we would never feel at home. After all, we were now in another country with different attitudes and lifestyle.

We were going to be in a semi-retired situation. Would we be bored? We did not enjoy some of the things that retirees to the Costa del Sol usually do, like playing golf or bridge. Would the days seem too long? How would we occupy our time?

How long would it take to come to terms with the fact that Spain was now our home? We were not in Spain for a holiday. We were here for good!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The first few weeks were strange and we definitely felt as if we were on holiday. There was also the fact that our own furniture was still in transit so we were essentially living in what had been someone’s holiday home. This was added to by the fact that we moved from the UK on the 1st August so we had arrived in our new home at the height of the tourist season. The roads were very busy since the new coast road was still under construction. The restaurants were busy, the bars were busy and there was that buzz which you always experience in an area where people have come to escape from their everyday life.

Our new apartment was in a complex (an urbanisation, as we described earlier), but we very quickly realised that this should not really be a problem. We had a wonderful swimming pool but there were no restaurants, bars, tennis courts, football pitches or anything like that around the complex. There were people on holiday in August but apart from the sound of children enjoying themselves in the pool during the day (some children do scream a bit) the mornings and evenings were generally blissfully quiet. Overnight it was even more quiet and when we woke up at three in the morning it was almost as if we had died. There was just no sound at all.

This was a major change from what we had been accustomed to in London. We had lived for 16 years under a take-off flight path from Heathrow airport and suddenly there was no aircraft noise. In fact we hardly ever see an aircraft and when we do it is high in the sky and all we see are the vapour trails. The only thing we see flying now are birds. Since we are not on a main road there is no passing traffic and we are far enough away from the coast road to escape the noise of through traffic.