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About Paul ...
Moving abroad is a big step, and oftentimes it can be difficult to know if it’s the right one. Which is where I can help.
Emigration has been a feature of my life for as long as I can remember.
Both my father’s sisters emigrated before I was born – the elder one to South Africa, the younger to Canada, where they raised their respective families. But it wasn't until adulthood that I got to meet any of these relations. As a result, I grew up with a feeling of distance and separation, that there were people out in the world closely linked to me by blood but otherwise total strangers.
Yet it also instilled in me a sense that a different kind of life was possible, that there were other opportunities waiting for those willing to look for them. This understanding was further reinforced when two of my best friends, brothers who lived three doors up, emigrated to Southern California when I was ten years old.
Just after the Millennium celebrations I too moved to the States. I was working as a journalist in London with a New York-based financial publisher at the time. Out of the blue I got a call to say my boss was leaving and did I want to transfer over to take her job. A month later my wife and I were on a plane crossing the Atlantic. We lived in New York City for the next year and loved every second.
On our return to England I left my employer and started up as a freelance journalist. Then, in 2003, fed up with the UK’s grey weather and exorbitant house prices, we moved to L’Escala, a small fishing town on Spain’s northern Costa Brava coast, where we have been ever since.
Here we are blessed by year-round sunshine, summer days at the beach with our two young daughters, the thrill of visits to Barcelona, and close proximity to the ski resorts of the Pyrenees. But over the years we have also had to endure our share of the sorrows, hardships and frustrations that come from being away from family, old friends and the familiarity of “home.”
As I’ve discovered, living abroad can offer many great joys and opportunities. But it is not always easy. So if you’re considering moving overseas too be prepared – benefit from my years of experience and let me help you make the right decision.
Best wishes,
Paul
Expat Living 101
Email: paul@expatliving101.com
© 2008 Paul Allen. All rights reserved.
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