At this beginning of this year, we took the decision to sell our house and move to the west of Ireland to be closer to my wife’s family. We were in a very fortunate position because our employers are not concerned where we physically are in the world as long as we are doing the work. Moreover, the property market is such that we were able to sell our house in the Netherlands and make enough money to live mortgage-free in Ireland. What I want to do here is try to capture the process as we go along.

A good bit of this has already happened. The house sale in the Netherlands went through quickly. It was on sale for about a week, and we got more than twice what I paid for it in 2006. The new house is just about affordable once we have paid the mortgage and other costs of selling a house. We have enrolled the children in a new school. We have a moving out date, a moving in date and a rough date when our furniture will arrive.

So far, so good.

What I thought this series of pieces would be about is the stuff that has to be sorted when we get the other end. For example, opening a bank account is seemingly more complicated than I remember anywhere else. It is still not sorted and is likely to be a chapter all of its own.

What are the kinds of problems that I will come across? How will this city boy cope with living in rural Ireland? What are the obstacles that will hit us when we are there?

My flight to Ireland is on the 6th of July, so that is officially when the adventure begins. So, I will see you after that with another update.