Hello, I’m Kerry and my partner is Paul. We’ve been together for about 11 years, and we both share a passion for kitesurfing around the world whenever we get the chance. When we first met, Paul had already been kitesurfing for 6 years and gave me some basic lessons in kite handling, but it is an adrenaline sport and to learn you must invest in professional training, which Paul was not qualified to teach back then.
We have worked full-time all our lives and have extended families (children and grandchildren), so the chance to travel has been limited – for me especially – to odd holidays.
However, an opportunity has arisen – something we thought might never happen – has been developing of late, into a plan.
About a year ago Paul had a wistful thought about becoming a Kitesurfing instructor. I replied that he should have a go, take it one step at a time. So, he did.
First, he obtained his Powerboat level 2 qualification, which he said was a fun 2 days. Then he completed the Royal Yachting Association First Aid Course, followed by enrolling in the British Kite Surfing Association Instructors Course in Poole, UK, which lasted a week. Finally, he had to complete at least 30 hours of shadow instructing.
When Paul and I met, I said that I would love to work in another country. So that I could see what it was like to live in Europe, or anywhere in the world, rather than view it through the eyes of a tourist. Neither of us had done a gap year when younger, unlike so many young adults nowadays. Paul has worked abroad in the past, but that is still not the same as a gap year.
We completely renovated our house 5 years ago which took 3 years to complete because we were working on it at the weekends only. At that time, I wanted to do a blog about that lengthy process and how we learned to do so many things ourselves (like roofing), and the hundreds of decisions we had to make along the way, including the compromises. However, to be honest, I was too exhausted most of the time to consider this.
Paul has just reached retirement age; I should have another 4 years to go. This time, as we are contemplating another great change, and periods of learning and revelation, I am really looking forward to sharing our experiences with the world.
When lots of the Kite Surfing companies worldwide started advertising for instructors in January this year, Paul applied for some of them and was offered a role in Portugal. Since then, I have handed in my notice at my work and Paul has wound up his self-employed business. I will still be working part-time as an associate but on-line for the company in the UK – a digital nomad. Paul will be working part-time as an instructor. We have let out our house in the UK to fund our new lifestyle
So here we are, at the start of an amazing opportunity…