A Bargain Bulgarian Lifestyle

It was with deep reflection last night thinking about what has happened over the last four years. Four years ago I didn't even know where Bulgaria was. There wasn't any reason for me to know at that point.

How did I find out about Bulgaria? Well it was an accident. It had always been a dream to be self sufficient with a smallholding, the intention was 30 years ago to do this in England, but got priced out straight away. Then the idea was to go to France, again this idea was always there but family and career held the plan back and of course, we were priced out again!

Then by a quirk of fate a search on eBay was made with the word 'smallholding' and a property came up in Bulgaria. It was an auction of course and there was only 8 hours remaining at the bid, without reserve, was a mere £1,800.

My instant reaction was of total disbelief looking at the property and land. I put it down to a scam but curiously followed the bidding to the close. The property was sold for just over £2000! It was mind blowing to me that conceivably you could buy a property for the price of a two-week family holiday, or the price of a jalopy second-hand car!

The seed was sown as I set about searching for other properties that were for sale and found that these prices were commonplace in Bulgaria. It was at that point that my whole world was turned upside-down and the opportunity to live a self-sufficient life on a smallholding came alive again. There was no way I was going to wait and be priced out again!

Four years on form that day I am now living a life in Bulgaria and produce most of the food we eat here. I have a Bulgarian partner and can now get by very well with the Bulgarian language.

The luckiest part of all is that I absolutely love Bulgaria, the Bulgarian people and the way of life that is led here. It is living in poverty but I’m happy and will never go hungry. We work together as a family and a community to make ends meet. There is never a time where you are ever isolated. In reality, it wasn't only a home I bought that I could just afford outright, but a bargain way of life of which no amount of money could buy.

Bulgaria is not for everyone though. Other expatriates who have come here have not settled as the only reason they are here is because it is cheap not because they like the country or the non flamboyant lifestyle. They may not be honest or brave enough to say so, but from what I see, that remains a fact.