A mother who had a “dream life in Spain” with her children has described living in the UK as a “nightmare” and is desperate to escape the high-pressure lifestyle.
Amanda Surringer, 42, who lives in Wales, told i she is fed up with the British culture where people are exhausted from working themselves into the ground and constantly worrying about money.
She says life in Spain is much more relaxed, laid-back and youngsters have a better childhood as there is not the same “obsession with mobile phones and technology” as there is in the UK.
Ms Surringer’s vision of life in Spain is not just a fanciful notion or a romantic perception, but based on her experience after living in Spain with her children for a couple of years.
“I had a taste of my dream life in Spain and it has actually made it harder living in the UK now as I have experienced and know there is a better way of life,” she explained.
“I hate being in the UK back in this high pressure lifestyle. Life in Spain feels like a dream now and being back in the UK is a nightmare, it’s like a grey cloud.”
Ms Surringer, a mum-of-three to children Taran, 19, Jasmine, 17 and four-year-old Sonny, left Wales and went to live in Spain for two years in 2016 when her two older children were aged around 12 and 10.
“I had always wanted to live abroad and had a dream of living in the sun and growing my own fruit and vegetables,” she said. “It all came about as my son was playing football here and doing well and one of his friends who went over to live in Spain suggested we go out there so he could train and play football there.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity and that my children were the right age. We booked a one-way flight ticket and went out to Castellón de la Plana first and fell in love with the place.
“We then looked around Valencia staying in B&Bs and hotels getting to know the area.
“We found a house in a small village which was very rustic and beautiful. There were olive trees in the garden and every time you went outside, you would find a different fruit. We all fell in love with it.”
After returning to the UK, Ms Surringer found someone to rent her house, bought a van and packed up her life into the back of it and headed off on their new Spanish adventure. “I literally packed my kids, my dogs and our life into the van and we did the 29-hour road trip to Valencia.”
Initially, Ms Surringer says that things were difficult as her children didn’t speak Spanish. However, they went to a Spanish school and picked it up extremely quickly with both making “amazing friends.”
At the beginning she felt stressed and rushed like she did in the UK, but soon embraced the more leisurely and relaxed pace of life.
“I was used to British life and when I first went to Spain, I would always be stressed when I was late for something and it took me a while to adjust,” she recalled.
“When I took my kids to activities such as sports and gymnastics, I would arrive flustered and say: ‘Sorry I’m late.’ But it is such a relaxed pace of life in Spain, people would say: ‘Don’t worry, calm down Amanda. Don’t be so stressed.’
“I soon adjusted to that beautiful way of life which was so much more relaxed and we were all happier for it.”
Ms Surringer says while living out in Spain, her children had a proper childhood and played out safely at all times of the day and she says they weren’t obsessed with mobile phones and technology like so many children in the UK are.
“Children in Spain are living a proper childhood and not always on mobile phones or tablets,” she says. “My children had a wonderful childhood in Spain and built treehouses and went to the beach and played in rivers.
“My daughter actually had her mobile phone from the UK but she hardly ever had it charged as she never needed it and would always be with other children.
“In Spain, school would finish earlier in the winter and we would go back to the house and all the kids would get together and play in the pool or have a BBQ. We’d also spend our free time getting in the van and visiting different parts of Spain. It was fantastic.”
Ms Surringer and her two older children lived out in Spain until the end of 2018 when they returned to Wales after she met a new partner. They now have their four-year-old son Sonny together.
“My partner is from London and we met through a mutual friend when I was back visiting the UK. He came out to stay with me in Spain for a while, but we ended up moving back to the UK as his work and family are here,” she said.
Ms Surringer says returning to the UK has made her realise how stressful life is over here and she longs to escape the rat race and return to Spain.
With her older two children having experienced life in Spain, she would love her youngest son to enjoy the same encounter.
Ms Surringer runs a health farm selling juices, smoothies and holistic products, while her partner is a manager of a garage. She feels life in the UK seems even more hectic and stressful since she has returned here from Spain.
“The culture has gone absolutely insane,” she said. “Now, even more than years ago, everyone, even children seems hooked on technology. I believe it is down to complete and utter stress on the family unit.
“Everyone is working themselves to the bone and is constantly stressed worrying about bills. You don’t actually get quality time together as a family as you are so exhausted all the time.
“Myself and my partner are both successful and do incredibly well at our jobs. But our bills have all gone up so much and sometimes, it is a battle. It was much cheaper living out in Spain and you got a lot more for your money and food was fresher.
“My two older children have been happy since we came back to the UK and have excelled at school and I believe this is because of the experiences they had in Spain.
“They are both fluent in Spanish and I am so grateful that they had the opportunity to learn another language. Children adapt and pick things up so easily and I feel it is very important for British people as there is a lack of education in languages. We go to every country expecting people to understand us and speak English, but we don’t put any effort into speaking languages such as Spanish.”
Describing what she hates most about life in the UK, Ms Surringer says: “I don’t want to be here. Everyone is stressed out.
“Children are all sitting around on their mobile phones and everything is about social media and Instagram. There’s so much pressure on young people.
“I hate the rat race, the pressure and the taxation. Everything is designed to get money out of you. It is rip-off Britain.”
When living in Spain before Brexit, Ms Surringer managed to get residency and is desperate to go back.
“I miss everything about Spain,” she said. “The way everything is so relaxed and family orientated and the way you are forced to take a break when everything closes.
“The food is so fresh and healthy and I feel this is why the Spanish live longer than us. I think a lot of our health problems stem from stress and unhealthy food on the go.
“I had a taste of my dream life in Spain. A lot of people who live here are complacent with their life as they don’t realise there is a big world out there and something other than the strive for pressure.
“When you are living out in Spain, life is so simple and it’s not like you are in a competition. Life is just beautiful and relaxed and you can be happy in your flip flops. I want that again.”
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