Location, location, location

In the last week, we have sealed the deal on three apartments in San An: two for the long term team next season, and a new home for us!

This is the perfect time of year in Ibiza to be moving house, as the seasonal rents have finished and available apartments are easier to find. Each year, in August, Charlie and I have long conversations about how different aspects of the teams are working; one of these conversations is about the team apartments, and whether to stick or swap the following year. We reckon that in the heat of August and the height of the season, it is normally quite clear what needs to be done – the aim is that the following August is made more manageable than the year before! We talk again at the end of season, and then make our move.

We have a fabulous landlord for the team flats, who is kind and helpful, professional and relaxed. At the start of the week, he showed us round a variety of options. Charlie and I have very different approaches to viewing property: I am a closed book, making mental notes and taking the odd picture of each different place, with a view to mulling things over post-viewing. I imagine the team living there, get a ‘feel’ for the place, and say very little. Charlie, on the other hand, paces round the flat externalising his thoughts as he goes…I think our landlord has become used to hearing him start one sentence and finish it on a completely different train of thought. Charlie goes through all of the different configurations, options for shuffling furniture around, checking in every cupboard and wardrobe to see what is there…he even tested the shower in one of them (just with his hand)!!

The main consideration in apartment hunting, other than ‘is it nice, clean, spacious?’ etc, is ‘ what is it near to?’. The nature of the night work in San An means that we are well acquainted with most of the hotels, and have a good idea of the noise levels/ temperaments of most areas of San An. One of the flats we were shown was pretty much next door to an old favourite from the season – the English translation of the name would be ‘little white house’ (if you’ve worked it out and were on team, you may feel the cold sweats coming on) – and as we began to climb the stairs to view it, Charlie and I exchanged a ‘we just can’t do it to them’ look. I had visions of meltdowns and many sleepless nights being had by many at the prospect of being neighbours to this particular hotel; before we’d even made it to the front door, I had made my mind up that this was not a go-er.

We have settled on two lovely apartments, both within a 5-10 minute walk of the West End. They are clean, spacious, more modern than we have had previously, and both have great communal living spaces. The people we have on long term team are gifts to us and to 24-7 Ibiza, and we want to do our best to provide a home that is as safe and restful as possible.

The view from our home

Unfortunately, over Christmas last year, we received an email from the landlord of our home, saying that he was selling the flat and that we had to move at the end of this year. We have become so settled in our lovely flat, which many of you have had meals and meetings in, where some of you have stayed; it has taken me quite a while to get my head around leaving the place where I have lived the longest in years. When we returned from a holiday in the UK a few weeks ago, we began to have a look, and there were various options, but only one that really fitted the bill. So, on Wednesday just gone, we signed the agreement to move in on December 1st.

The flat is, in many ways, much better equipped for life with a baby than the one we are in now; the only thing we lose is the terrace, the view, and being slightly further out of San An. We will be actually living at the back of the town in the new place, and whilst I think I will miss the spaciousness of the place we are in now, I know I will be grateful for the convenience when we have baby Clayton. We have also been able to drop our rent, which was one of our goals for the house move, and this should hopefully cover a few of the gaps in our support which have emerged recently, and the added cost of a third member. We are really excited to be moving into town, and I think the change of location will be helpful for us as we prepare for lots of change in March, and a sense of new things to come in the new year.

I am so grateful for the flat we have been living in; it has been the perfect escape and shut-off place when we have needed it, an ideal space to house visitors, and assist in country moves at the start of the year. But I am also ready to leave aspects of the last few years behind, and this house move feels symbolic of that too.

Please pray for us as we pack up life and shuffle it over the other side of town! Pray for the paperwork and contract/ deposit bits, that it will be a smooth process. And pray for us as we settle into somewhere new, that we quickly make it home.

Abby x