I feel like Santa…(you can sing the rest of this sentence) making a list and checking it twice trying to make sure I get the best price, Brenda soon will be living in Spain. Can you believe it!

Part of the excitement of travelling is the anticipation. For me this has been building for over two years as it has taken that much time to squirrel away enough money to travel and live in Europe for three months. Crazy, I know, but that’s the reality of a single woman on a retirement income. Come April 1st, 2016 my dream comes true.

I want to gather experiences in both Spain and Italy with my focus being “living like a local”. Living like a local means staying in one place for a bit of time.  I have chosen to live in Malaga, Spain for the month of April and in Florence, Italy for the month of May.  And, since I am a heart and soul beach bum, June will be spent on the Island of Sardinia exploring the many magnificent crescents of sand along the western coastline trying to soak up all that glorious sunshine before I head home.

Will I do some touristy things? Of course I will, but mostly I will live day to day in much the same way I do now as a retired person living in Vancouver BC.  I will shop for food at the local markets, go for coffee in the square each day – perhaps at the same favourite place I discovered immediately upon my arrival, watch the tourists and locals go about their day and hopefully adopt some of the local habits which may include eating dinner at ten o’clock instead of six. I might sleep until noon, stay up until the wee hours of the morning, or sit on the beach and read a book all day knowing I have many tomorrows. I won’t feel compelled to race about trying to see it all. I delight in just thinking about it!