Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone else do this? I buy soo many things to do with my special interests-like Lego I've got so much to do with Lego-I have dvds, books, pictures, sets, cards and mimifigures! And it's the same with my other special interest which is the Titanic! I love everything to do with the Titanic. I've got dvds, books, models, cds, blueprints and research it whenever I can. I first heard of it at school-about 5 years ago-and I've been obsessed ever since.
Today I looked in the charity shops as I happened to be in town looking for Vaseline-and in one charity shop I found yet another Titanic movie dvd. I've got several versions, each one is different whether it's a different cover-or with different special features. I hadn't had this one sooo I decided I needed it straight away!
As a bonus I picked up a book called The Starless Sea as I've heard good things about it-and both were only £1.50 together. Bargain! ️
Another special interest for me is dvds and I own soo many it's hard to store them now but when I see a dvd-or a limited edition I become obsessed and have to get it-asap.
I do my special interest shopping once every 6 months when I'm back in the UK - fantasy and sci-fi books have been the special interest for the last 3 years and I've been building on my existing collection largely thanks to eBay.
I've read about 15% of them so far and getting through 3-4 a week, so they will last a few years yet.
Wow! That's a lot of books-big collection, you've got a lot of reading to do! I own a few sci-fi books-though nowhere near as many as you. That's a really cool special interest to have and it means you can get enjoyment from it repeatedly if you want to read them again in the future.
One of the nice things about it is when I complete a set of books then I can pass them onto people here in Brazil who are working on their language skills and are also into the genres. This gives them a great motivation to read and expand their vocabulary.
And it makes space for me to fit more books in...
Wow, it sounds like you're living quite the adventurous and fulfilling life in Spain! Your passion for refurbishing apartments and mentoring autistic school leavers is truly inspiring! That's such a wonderful-kind thing to want to do, just helping others, we could do with more people like you in the UK. It's wonderful to hear that you find the climate, food, and people in Spain so delightful. The low cost of living and high interest rates on savings definitely sound like great perks of living there, something we need more of over here-for sure. Sounds like you have immersed yourself there and settled in to that way-pace of life. It must be amazing to experience the diverse climates and cultural influences that Spain has to offer, from rainforests to European climates. I've read up a lot about Spain but all the reading I bet-doesn't do it justice!
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences here, I find it really interesting and it's clear that your positive outlook and adventurous spirit have brought you a lot of happiness and fulfillment there-thank you for being so open to sharing your experiences of-life in Spain. Also super appreciate your offers of help as a guide which i would undoubtedly need lol. When I visit a new place I'm like a lost sheep! One day I will def visit there-though I need to get my anxiety sorted out first. Your post has literally made me want to visit there even more now.
Paige said:Do you live in Brazil
I live here now - semi retired in my 50s but keep active buying derelict apartments and refurbishing them. I also mentor some autistic school leavers to help with the transition to work which feels really rewarding.
For me the climate is great (it is currenly the same season as the UK in Jan and is 27C / sunny), the food is awesome (nowhere near as challanging as some of the Far Eastern cusines with the level of chilli and spices) and the people are really friendly.
I bought my one bed flat for £20k and have renovated it to live in while doing other, more special properties in old, famous buildings - and living here is really cheap while having a 12% interest on my savings in the bank. I don't even need to work to have a good income.
You do need to speak Portuguese to get by here as English isn't spoken much at all, but it is fine if you stay in the big hotel chains and go to upmarket restaurants.
I try to live as the locals do and it works well.
A return flight from the UK starts from about £650 direct so it is affordable for long haul (6,000 miles) but the 11 hour flight direct is a pain in the bum, especially in economy class.
The country is so big (something like the 5th biggest in the world I think) that it takes up to 6 hours to fly from top to bottom, but this leads to lots of different climates from rainforest, desert, grassy plains down to very European climates in the south.
There are big cultural groups from Africa, the Middle East (especially Lebanon and Syria), Europe (French, Italians and Germans especially), Japan and Korea.
These groups are mostly well integrated and the fusion of their cuisines with the awesome ingredients out here makes eating a wonderful experience.
It is a long way to come for just one country, but you can experience so many wildly different things when here that you don't need to go elsewhere.
If you are ever considering coming out then I can either give tips or be a guide to help you find your feet here.
Do you live in Brazil or are you there for work? I've always wanted to go to Brazil-I love the history there and it's always looked appealing to me. That's really good of you to lend your books like that to help others learn and improve. What a cool thing to do.