We exchanged this week. It had been such a focus of our lives for a number of weeks now. The sense of relief, tinged with sadness, was enormous. We loved our little cottage, and it has so many beautiful memories for us, it is going to be sad to leave. But I know Maria, it’s new owner, will love and cherish it, just as we had. We were now about to start our new adventure.

The previous weeks had been a tug of war between ‘will we?’ or ‘won’t we?’ Days passed into weeks, which seemed like months. Thoughts of just having to stay put, and re-starting the process went through our minds, but we were so close we didn’t want to give up. What we had done though is use the time to sort meticulously through our cupboards and loft. Sorting out what we needed to discard, what could go to charity and what we wanted to take with us.

Lockdown had given us the luxury of lots of time at home to focus on getting ourselves ready, but I’m not sure any amount of time can really prepare you for selling your home that you’ve lived in for over 20 years, giving up your jobs, and moving to a new country – all during a global pandemic.

We have many lists, with many jobs to do, and boxes starting to pile up everywhere.

First things first, let’s load up the car and take the charity bags. Challenge is, will they want it all? When I called, they were quite overwhelmed with all the donations post lockdown. Let’s see what they say.

Exchange