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So! All you would be Bulgaria bound people!
Do you really want your Bulgarian Dream to be a dream? If you do,then stay in the UK and just do that! The reality of this place beggars belief in so many ways. NOW,before someone jumps on me from a great height,let me say i have been a resident here for nearly 5 years,and to a great extent can speak with honesty about this Country.
The main problem here is the majority of the ethnic population. They cannot lie straight in bed! So if you insist on joining us over here,please be prepared to be conned,robbed and deceived like you wouldn`t believe. And as for animal cruelty,a lot of them have it down to a fine art. Especially in the villages,where most of you would like to realise your dreams. Yes,i do live in a village! Yes,i do know what i am talking about too. My work with poor creatures over here bears witness to my words.
So,if you do get here,please remember to get yourself a really big and nasty dog first. This i assure you should be a priority,to protect your property from all the thieving chappies that abound here. The chances of you being done over bigtime is very very good! Being English/British makes you a target from day one.
Now,as for the driving around,well thats gonna really do your head.In my opinion,they are one of the worst drivers ever. Once again,i speak from experience. In my life,i have been to over 80 different Countries,so can speak with authority on this one. I swear that in Varna,there must be a Driving Licence shop. It works like this. A BG goes into the shop,exchanges his/her brain for a Licence,and roars off in a 100mph car with a 10mph mind! Simple eh? 20miles down the road,they join the pile of bodies in the morgue in Varna.
As for the local Bobbies,well thats a laugh too.Make sure you carry some 20lv notes with you.This is their wages dont you know! Like most things here,corruption is rife.Sorry,i mean corruption is life.
Builders! what can i say? They dont exist! Jobbers do!
Real Estate Agents? 99% are as crooked as they are in the UK.
For God`s sake folks,dont come here and get a "
Builder"
to work on your property while your in the UK. And NEVER pay up front. Cos when you return,the job aint been done,the "
Builder has done a runner with your hard earned cash. Ah! i hear you say,"
I have a contract"
,well just remember this, people. The word Contract starts Con,as does the word Conman! A bit similar actually to the word Builder. That starts with Bu, as in Bull****.
Oh you poor people over there in good old Blighty,your Bulgarian Dream is waiting for you.
Dave Smith

PS. Dont forget to pick up your big and nasty dog from the nice honest man at Varna Airport.

I agree with you guys here I guess it what they call progress ? but unfortunately progress always has a price and its never really progress in the sense that it makes life better, I do hope that its many years before Bulgaria starts to change in the same way that I have seen Cyprus change which was my dream paradise but not anymore so fingers crossed it will take its time, I know that some of you will want changes quicker and so do I but only in certain places ie Government. great posts here by the way [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oldun, you know me so well that yes I think we both think the same. Life will change and us in the area that we live it has changed much faster than for people living inland. Will it change for the better I have my doubts as having lived in the UK where money is the most important thing, to living in a country that money is not, or should I say was not. Many many things are now better for some people but for some not. Lets just wait and see 10 years down the line

You are younger than me Fletch so I wish you luck whether you go or stay. For me I will be staying because I am really and truly an oldun now (nearing 70) and although I am still fit and have all my brain cells I feel that Bulgaria will do me for my old age. I just hope that people take on board what you and I write because we are not 'negative' as people often say when we try to put life here in perspective. Personally, I wish everyone could fulfill their dream. However, some have very unrealistic ideas of that dream and such high expectations that the dream may become a big disappointment. Many have been returning home this last year and this is sad. Even sadder if people have spent their life savings following a dream and are now stuck. These are the scenarios I do not want to happen.
So cheers to everyone who can't wait to come to Bulgaria. It can be a wonderful opportunity and place to live but come with your eyes wide open and please do not call us 'negative'.

Chris, Elinite is now joined onto Nessebar, so basically its built up right round the bay, sorry a little confused about the cliffs???

Hi Its Darrell

These last few post,s have been great, I did nearly 28years in the Army man and boy, went all over the world, saw the remarkable change that happened to Cyprus, where did it all go, took my wife to see Fig Tree Bay where did that go, it was surrounded by houses.

Spent a lot of time in Bosnia and Kosovo, despite the problems I loved the country side and a lot of the people, never dreamed that one day I would be living in an eastern European country, but I would not swap my life for anything at the moment.

We love our village its not perfect, what is, 99% of the people are friendly the other 1% just dont know what to make of us I think.

We love to entertain in our house, our Bulgarian is not brilliant but we get by, and it can add to the fun, you wouldn't get away with calling your neighbour a pig in England around the table, this happened to me when trying to ask if one of my neighbours kept pigs, his wife could not stop laughing for an hour, what an ice breaker.

We have just spent a whole afternoon in the school in Sandanski, talking to three classes of children about Halloween Celebrations. It was great, the kids were polite,stood up when another member of staff came in the room, stood up when they spoke to their teacher, and loved playing the Halloween game bobbing for apples.

We are going back to talk about an English Xmas next.

We see some of the kids now when we go for our Bulgarian lessons and they all speak.

There are lots of things that could improve our village, and they are slowly getting there, but funding is a problem, as it is anywhere else.

I hope things dont move to quickly as some of the traditions and every day events that take place here make it just that little bit special.

Its not for everyone, but you wont know until you have tried.

Yes,

Sometimes the sad part of progress is the loss of traditions, lets hope they survive.

Hi all I have to agree a most interesting thread.

Not everyone's Bulgarian dream is to live here full time or even to retire here.

We love Bulgaria as a holiday destination and might even ,if work permits try to spend a month here during the summer but I know in my heart we will never live in Bulgaria even though we own property here.

To live here I would need to speak the language (I can't),the winters are too cold and the bureaucracy ......well it's not for me.

However for holidays I love it.

Just another view,
bigsal

I guess its like anywhere really you either like it or you don't I have a lot of friends who love span but I hate it and wouldn't live there if I was paid

I have read several post from Brits now that say they simply just cannot live in BG any more - For various reasons ie because it has become too expensive, the people are causing them problmes, they cannot cope with the language barrier or the red tape. Now I am beginning to wonder, did they actually think they could walk into a stress free country and live the dream [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Fair play to many of them for trying and almost succeeding, but it's sad to go through all that and then realise BG is not for you - This is why, in my opinion, people should not sell up here in the UK, give yourself at least 2 years in BG to see if you can live the life - By than, you will know and you can weigh up the pros and cons and of course you still have your house to come back to.

It's not an easy decision and unless you can read the future, you have no idea what you would do 2 years down the line. As I have said previously, we just love BG and think we could actually live there long term, but we will not risk loosing everything here until we give it a 2 year trial.

Oddy

Yes Oddy,

All very sensible stuff.

Unfortunately, for some people, the financial problems of keeping a base in UK and living in BG would prove insurmountable.

So the only way they can try the life is to do it. Or spend a lot of time wishing they had tried.

So although I agree there are some dreamers and moaners as you say, I've got to admire the people who have tried, and, for whatever reason, decided it's not for them.

Always ask myself "
What's the worst that can happen?"

We never thought we would be risk takers but after 5 years of wishing we took the biggest risk of our lives. We both gave up well paid jobs and although our UK house hadn't sold we (and our son and dog!) made the move last year.

Ideally we'd have kept our house in the UK as a bit of a bolt hole but financially this was not an option for us. Thankfully we completed our sale on 6th November which now gives us a bit of breathing space for 2-3 years while we work hard to build up our livelihood here. We are well aware that some people think we have been completely mad to do this because we lost thousands on our UK property and our first year here has been a huge financial drain. However, we weighed up the risks before the move and just did it.

We came with open minds knowing all is not rosy in this country and have experienced all sorts of problems and worries in our first year. Sometimes, we questioned our own sanity for doing this especially as we'd uprooted our son (now 13) from the UK into a none English speaking school. We've had ups and downs but have found that as time has gone by we've gained our confidence back (this was bashed out of us in the first couple on months!), things are getting easier and we've realised we've had more good experiences than bad.

If we ever decide to leave here or if we have to return to the UK for some reason we'd deal with it and be glad we'd had the chance of trying the life here.

Anyone moving here should be prepared to adapt and learn. Even though things have changed dramatically here in the last few years it is still so differant to the UK so be prepared for the ride of a lifetime!

Yes baxter,

Really heartening to read.

Hope everything continues to go well for you.

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Delighted for you and your family Baxter [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] It's great to hear a success story Well done! keep us updated, as we only learn from people like yourself. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oddy

Great story Baxter and I admire you for the risk you have taken well done and I hope you are still enjoying all things in life.

baxter wrote:

We've had ups and downs but have found that as time has gone by we've gained our confidence back (this was bashed out of us in the first couple on months!), things are getting easier and we've realised we've had more good experiences than bad.

That sums up the lives of most folks in Bulgaria baxter ... well said!