What great times these are…
Time moves on, is relative, sometimes it goes fast.., sometimes slow… But it always moves inexorably forward. Now we move fast.., take a big step.., or rather a leap. A leap the size a lot of us never take and some of us take because our lives move into a certain direction.

We made decisions which guide us into that direction.., the direction is easy.., clear.., the steps to get there are more difficult to grasp. So we search, we taste, we feel, we pry and we try.., and then all of a sudden.., boom.., a choice is made and our momentum is guaranteed for some time to come.

Job

I have a job.

Obviously.., as it would seem with everything we do.., not just a job. The universe granted me exactly the job I was looking for.
I’ll be a Web Communication Specialist, an Advisor and I’ll be working in and for the Brussels-Capital Region.

This means that in time we are eligible for a mortgage and that will give us the opportunity to start building in earnest.

Contractor

So, back to business.., we have found a contractor.., or rather.., a consultant. It’s a Dutch speaking professional who’s lived in Belgium for a while now and knows his way around. He’s exactly what we need. Through him we’ve started communications with (sub)contractors and we are receiving our first estimates.
It surely does seem things are moving.., slowly at first I’m sure.., but once the momentum gets hold of the project things will speed up, which is good and scary at the same time. Time will tell…

Migration

Another big deal is that we have officially left The Netherlands behind us.
In the coming period we’ll be cancelling all subscriptions, bank accounts and other ties with Holland (other that friends and family of course).
We will be living in Belgium and slowly we’ll become absorbed by the Belgian way of life.., and let me tell ya.., that’s is an interesting journey of it’s own. But I reckon we’ll be writing about that too at some point.

Strange.., writing this. Things move so slowly sometimes and you work on it for so long that when it is finally here it seems almost surreal.

It is however very real.., I am in Brussels starting a new job (career).., Laila is in Chenogne finding contractors and guiding the preliminary estimates.

Building a house is an enormous undertaking but building a house in a country with a different language and culture almost sounds ludicrous.

At this point it is safe to say that is brings its challenges. Of course we knew that it would be hard, we have prepared ourselves for extra battles to fight. We were also informed about the bureaucracy of Belgium with its many laws and quirks.

Bureaucracy

For now we don’t seem to be bothered too much about the bureaucracy. Of course it is a bit weird that when you filed for a building permit that they keep coming back for more information. You almost think “Couldn’t you have come up with that in first place”, but we try not to think that and just go with the flow.

The most frustrating part on my account right now is that people are not really Internet savvy in the South of Belgium and they hardly of reply on an email.

It is still very difficult for me to speak French on the phone. A few weeks ago during a very busy time at work someone from the electrical company called on my cell and started talking rapid French, the only thing I could do is say a lot of aaaahhhhhmmm’s.

What we can do right now is drive over there, speak with the person in question, me searching for words and Rogier pointing out stuff like a steward on an airplane.

Ludicrous

Driving 3 hours to talk to a contractor for half an hour and then drive 3 hours back will probably fall in that ludicrous category.

We can’t wait for the temporary house to get to Chenogne so we can do more research there and not have to drive back home again.

I am pretty sure my French will get better when we can spend more time there.

A while ago, actually almost two years ago, I posted about our decision not to travel through Africa and why. The reasons for this decision also made us reconsider where we wanted to end up living. New Zealand and Spain were traded for France which eventually became Belgium. Not to far from Holland, and not to far from Margo, our mother(in-law).

Bad News

Margo had to be admitted to hospital due to respiratory problems, that is where she died 2 days later. We (Leo, Laila and Rogier) were with her.
We are now more determined than ever to make it all happen.

Goodbye Margo, we’ll miss you…

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As mentioned before, things change.
I guess everybody comes to a point in their lives were they have to make a decision, go left or go right. Maybe even several times.

Well.., here is ours. This year.., 2007, or rather.., now. I’m not going to be to dramatic.., to theatrical. Hmmm.., I guess by writing that down it becomes just that. Let’s just say that everything has it’s place, there’s a place for everything and anything can happen.

We will build an Earthship, we will go live in Spain and we will find our place in Space and Time.

So what does this all mean. Of course we’ll keep updating the Site with the story.
But for now it means that we have to find a place to settle down, we have to sell the house and build a new one. Also we have to find other means of income. Either by finding a job or get Studio Lagor going properly.

In the end all we hope to be paying is a minimal mortgage. The Earthship will be self-sufficient so no utility bills, and we wil grow as much of our own food as possible.

So, what is the first step? Vacation!

September we’ll go and investigate the area were we want to end up. See if we can get used to it. Visit other Earthships and visit some properties for sale to get an idea of what we can buy.

Stay tuned…

Life is unpredictable. Not that you didn’t already knew, but you’d be surprised how unpredictable it really is when you start to take notice.

We were planning on an enormous trek across a continent and we were struggling to get our monetary funds in order. In the meanwhile we were thinking more and more about permanently migrating south.

And then the unpredictability kicks in and decisions are made for you and, consequently, your path is determined for you. You start to roll with the punches.

My mother-in-law has cancer.., in the lungs.., stage 3b. Can’t get much worse…

So our plan of traveling for Africa is, sadly, canceled. There is simply no way we can be somewhere on safari with not knowing what’ll happen. It will take to long to get back.., time is precious.

But.., gladly for us we are who we are and we do what we do.., which is.., we adjust and change our plans. We’ve moved up the timetable for our southern migration. We found our perfect future home, we just have to go and build it…

We have to disappoint those who expected an adventurous expedition through Africa, but I can assure you that our coming adventures in Spain will not bore you.

George will be part of all this throughout everything and we will start the adventure September 1st. During our holiday we will head to Valencia (Spain) and work our way back to Holland visiting a few Earthships on the way.

The whole trip will be documented and the eventual “docu” will be posted here.., of course…

That’s all…

Rogier