My dream

I have a dream… And I’m ready to start working towards it! I have a dream and I want to start building it. I have a dream and I’m just gonna put it out there and let it grow!!!

I dream of creating a place where people can come for a holiday, for a retreat or for a special business meeting. A place where you come to escape the hectics of the Western world and where you live with just the basics. No wifi, no connection for your mobile phone and no radio or television. Instead there will be lots of sunshine, food fresh from the land and a peaceful energy all around you.

I want to create a place where we live close to nature and close to our own nature. Where we truly connect to each other, without any technology standing in between us. Where we eat food that’s produced by nature and nothing else. Where we mostly live outside, without devices that take away our attention, focus and time.

I want to create a beautiful place that doesn’t harm the environment. A place which is largely self sufficient, which uses durable materials and sustainable energy sources, reuses old materials, recycles as much as possible and doesn’t create (a lot of) waste.

The perfect place to start?
I found out that in Spain there are small villages (containing about 6 houses) that are for sale, because everyone left to live in the big cities. I would love to buy such a village (or just a big piece of land), fix everything that’s broken and create a special place for everyone who needs to catch his or her breath. For everyone who needs to get away from their busy schedule at home or work once in a while. For everyone who wants to connect with nature, outside and inside.

I need help

To build this dream I need help. I won’t be able to do it all by myself and I don’t have the intention to do that. I know that it’s a BIG dream, but I know it WILL come true! But I need your help… So if you’ve read so far, I’m now gonna ask you to help me :) Don’t worry, I’m not gonna ask for money (yet – haha), just a little bit more of your time and then you decide whether you want to help me or not!

Good… you’re still reading this! That means you’re curious if or how you can help. Already thankful for that!! I’ll tell you what I think I’ll need and even if you can’t help me with any of what I’m gonna write down below, you can help me with one thing: share my dream! Maybe you’re not able to help me with what I think I need for now, but sharing my dream might get me to reach the people that can. So please please please, just share the link to this story on your Facebook or any other social media, write an email to your friends about this, tell everyone you know about my dream, or just tell it to one person… Every thing helps and I will be very grateful if you just take the effort to share my dream. THANK YOU!!!

What do I need

What else do I need, apart from as many people as possible sharing my dream? Well, to be honest: a LOT! I’m just starting to build on this dream, so there’s a lot that needs to be done. If you know anything about the following subjects or know someone who does, please get in touch!

Real estate agent in Spain
If I want to buy a small village or a piece of land in Spain, I need to find someone who can sell me one! I’ve read about it on the internet, but I don’t know how to get in touch with a reliable real estate agent that’s specialised in selling villages/land. So if you know a way, get in touch!

A village or piece of land in Spain
Probably my real estate agent is the one who’s gonna help me to find the perfect village or piece of land, but I thought it wouldn’t matter to take some space to explain more about what I expect the village/land to be like. A few requests regarding the village:

  • The village/land is in the south of Spain, so the weather in winter is still warm and (mostly) dry.
  • The village/land is max. 2,5 hours driving distance from an airport and from a major city.
  • If it’s a village, it contains between 5 and 10 houses and some acres of land. The construction of the houses in the village is still safe, the houses just need a renovation.
  • There’s running water and electricity or it’s easy to fix.
  • There is a water spring, a river or a lake in or close to the village/land.

In case you’re the one who knows the perfect village/land for me, get in touch as soon as you can!!

Crowdfunding
As I won’t be able to pay for the village/land myself, I want to raise money by crowdfunding on account of payment in kind: coming over for a holiday, a retreat or a business meeting. If you know anything about crowdfunding (more than I can Google myself), have experience with setting up crowdfunding or know anyone who does, let me know!

Someone to teach me Spanish
As I will be living in Spain, I need to speak Spanish! I do know the basics of Spanish, but I want to be fluent. Do you live in Breda and are you able to teach me everything I need to speak Spanish as a local? Are you willing to meet with me every other week (for now) without getting paid yet? You’ll be one of the first guests in my village in Spain as soon as it’s ready to welcome guests!
Interested? Send me an email!
UPDATE (October 2016): I live in Ibiza now, so I can learn Spanish here! :)

The right guy/woman in finance
I don’t like to do my management accounting, it makes me agitated and stressed… And this is even gonna be WAY bigger than what I normally do. So I need the right guy/woman who can help me to make a financial business plan, explain everything to me with patience and preferably even make it fun! He/she needs to know everything about doing business in Spain as a foreigner and has to work for free – at least at the start. ‘Accounting costs’ will be part of the expenses when everything is up and running. Let me know if you know or are that person! :)

Volunteers
I’m gonna need lots of volunteers, for all different kinds of work.
Things I can think of right now are:

  • Communication: promotion, publicity, communication with people involved (volunteers, crowdfunders, people who are interested), social media, website, help with the crowdfunding campaign.
  • Feedback group: brainstorming for creative ideas and solutions, helping to keep me focused.
  • Renovation: help with everything that needs to been done as soon as the village is bought!
  • Maintenance, gardening, cleaning, cooking, guest transportation and so on… Anything useful as soon as the first guests are arriving!

Do you love my dream as much as I do and do you want to be part of it? Get in touch!! Even if you’re not sure what you can do to help, I’m thankful for everyone who wants to join and I’m sure there’s something for everyone!

Stories
I would love to hear stories of other people who tried something like this and succeeded! Or failed… There’s a lesson to learn in everything. So if you know people who had a similar dream and they tried to put it in to practice, please let them get in touch with me or tell me their story.

Money
I said before: I’m not gonna ask for your money (yet), but the thing is: I do need money! I need a LOT of money. So now you’ve read all the way down to here, I am gonna ask you for money. I’m not gonna ask for your money, but if you know anyone who might be interested to invest money in my dream, please tell them about my dream and let them contact me! Thank you very much!!
And if you yourself are interested, feel free to contact me as well, of course! :)

Pictures

A picture says more than a thousand words… So I’ve started to upload the images and pictures I’ve been collecting over time. Curious how my dream looks like? I’ve created an album for the village & surroundings and one for the houses & furniture.

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