Hello UKphiles! So I am in a bit of a pickle at home. We moved from Spain to Somerset, UK 2.5 years ago. My husband is English and loves it here, we live next door to his mum! There is certainly much about England to love but for me anyway winter is not one of them! I am desperate to move back to Spain but my husband won’t have it, and I am trying to find a fair compromise that allows me to escape some of the coldest months here.
Btw I understand of course winter is tough for everyone! And my ideas may be harebrained but hear me out. Basically I really struggle in winter…I grew up in southern Africa and spent most of my adult life in hot countries because I get so miserable in the cold. I get pretty depressed and self-isolate, I stop eating/eat too much. This year for the first time I’ve asked the GP for medication, but this is something I really would rather avoid doing on a seasonal basis. More recently, i had spinal surgery and 8 rods and screws in my back and the metal hardware can be excruciating in the cold.
My ideas are:
Could I take my daughter out of year 1 in the UK and spend January to May in Spain? I could homeschool her so she doesn’t miss out on anything. Is there any way I could justify this and have a regular arrangement (I know prolongued absence from school in teh UK is punishable by fines of up to 2,500 pounds and prison!).
Could I register as a traveller and homeschooling for part of the year?
Is there any way this arrangmenet or something similar could work? I know it may seem really spoilt, having one’s cake and eating it etc., but I’m trying to avoid my children having a depressed mum or no dad if we went back to Spain solo…:(
Thank you for any advice!
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No, please! Your poor child shouldn’t be dragged out of school for such a reason and for such a long period. Somerset must be one of the loveliest parts of England in winter; is there nothing more you can do to improve your experience of it at all? Nobody adores being cold, but winter living isn’t impossible in England’s climate, surely. Not dismissing your feelings, I just think tearing the family apart (annually) over this would be a very bad idea indeed. (Didn’t you discuss this antipathy to a different climate with your English husband before the move?)
When you say ‘register as a traveller’, what exactly do you mean? The term is ambiguous and I’ve probably imagined the wrong meaning.
Why not instead spend winter and summer break in Spain? There are people who homeschool and live 6 months in one country and 6 months in the next, but you should know homeschooling isn’t legal in Spain. You’d have to always be registered as living in the UK and if you don’t have a Spanish passport you wouldn’t be able to stay there longer than 3 months.
If you book your October half term, do Christmas, February half term and maybe Easter in Spain, the winter isn’t as bad as you’ve always got some sun coming around the corner.
Obviously the cost increases with the additional flights, but it’s only workable compromise. You really don’t want to disrupt your kids schooling too much.
To be honest I"ve been almost doing that - just heading back to Spain at any opportunity. The problem is their dad won’t travel more than once or twice a year, he thinks its extravagant. So it means the sun breaks are these fraught, frazzled, stints of solo parenting and just too difficult.
Thanks for all the comments everyone! I know I’m trying to think out of the box for ways that would be minimally disruptive…or not at all ideally! Somerset is indeed lovely but I just find the winters unbearable and soo long. My ideal would be to spend school year in Spain but come HERE for every holiday - you get nearly three months of summer holidays in Spain and that’s when England’s at its best. But their dad refuses to agree to that one :(