Who Are We

We are Alan & Michelle. We are both 53 years old and from Northern Ireland. We each have a grown up son, who are now independent and living their own lives. We are often asked if we are married to which we reply “Yes, but not to each other!”

How Did we Meet 

We met via the dreaded internet dating sites after we’d separated from our previous spouses.  A very common occurrence now, but 13 years ago it was a bit of a taboo subject 🙂

Luckily I didn’t have to wade my way through many frogs before I met my prince – not sure how Alan would describe our first meeting but suffice to say I convinced him we were meant for each other.  The rest as they say is history.

From Then til Now

Since meeting in 2004 we’ve jointly run several businesses – we were both happy to leave the corporate world behind in exchange for a more lifestyle orientated existence.

I worked for a large telecommunications company for 16 years and Alan was a Financial Adviser for 17 years. When we got together we agreed that whatever we did we would do it on our own.

We sourced and sold diamond jewellery for a few years before Alan told me he had always wanted to go and live in Spain.

Spain

After a few trips to get an idea of the lifestyle and work opportunities we moved to the Costa Del Sol in June 2008. Alan’s son Adam lived with his mum so stayed in Northern Ireland.  My son Jack was 13 and lived with us so he came too.

Originally we had intended to open a Subway Franchise in Puerto Banus, near Marbella. We had all the arrangements made with Subway prior to moving, but as is often the way, within two weeks of arriving a combination of bureaucracy and Spanish life meant that wasn’t going to happen. Coming back to Northern Ireland wasn’t an option so we needed to find another source of income pretty quick.

After considering and dismissing a few options I came across an idea that was taking off in China – huge inflatable plastic spheres that an adult or child could climb inside and then float, run jump etc on top of the water.

We knew there was nothing remotely like this in Spain and as a holiday destination for families, a totally new leisure activity would be welcomed.

We set about making our idea a reality and by Easter 2009 we had negotiated contracts with 12 large hotels on the Costa Del Sol to bring AguaSpheres to their swimming pools once or twice a week during the Summer season to entertain their clients.

The response was fantastic and we spent a few years working hard during the summer and living the Spanish lifestyle in the winter. In September 2011 family circumstances meant we needed to return to Northern Ireland.

Since returning to NI we’ve continued to be self-employed. Alan restores and sells vintage and antique smoking pipes which he sells all over the world.

We still felt the draw of living away from the UK and with the boys now grown up and living their own lives, we felt that this is our time to explore the world so we decided to buy a motorhome.

We have spent the last year renovating it and hope to begin our travels very soon, starting with France, Spain and Portugal and then wider Europe.

We are building the blog with our initial experiences which will grow over time, especially after we hit the road later in 2016.

Hopefully we’ll gather a few followers along the way – enjoy the ride folks, feel free to tell us what you think – we’ve never owned a motorhome before so it will be an experience.

Are we Going Mad…… quite possibly. Are we Going Nomad….. most definitely!