Between travelling and living - our month in Andalucia, Spain

 August 2022

Torrox, our view from the terrace

Between travelling and living

There is something that doesn't stop us thinking of trying life in another country again and although we are not ready to move countries yet, this summer we decided to explore one of our possible future destinations. Andalucia in Spain has always had a special place in our hearts, we've visited it many times and always thought it may become our home at some point. 

Torrox, an authentic experience

Even when we travel for short trips we're always more into local experience, so for a monthly stay we were looking for a less touristy, not a beachy place, and definitely not a hotel. We chose Torrox, one of the Andalucian white villages, one that is not yet so popular with expats and tourists as some other white villages (e.g. Frigiliana or Mijas). Torrox is divided into two parts: 'pueblo' - old town located on a hill, 7km into the land, and 'costa' - a touristy resort along the beach. We lived in the centre of the pueblo, in one of the oldest houses in town, located on one of the narrow, steep, cobbly streets. By the middle of the stay we already felt at home, greeting neighbours on our street, buying figs and avocados from the same stall, baguettes in the same bakery or going for ice-cream to the only ice cream place in town. We were lucky to see the festival of the town, with traditional processions, dances and music. Beach was close enough to quickly get there whenever we wanted to. Torrox pueblo was THE perfect location.

It also helped us with some considerations for the future. Living in an old house in a small town like this was always my dream for the future. We're now more aware of its pros and cons for everyday life and what we should pay attention to, e.g. being able to get to your house by car (some of the streets are not accessible for cars as too narrow) or the possible challenges of refurbishing and maintaining an old house like this. Lots of food for thought!

Andalucia - what to see and do

We will write about it separately :)

Logistics for a monthly stay 

Accommodation

Airbnb currently offers long-term rentals, for a minimum of 4 weeks. Prices can be very attractive as compared to short-term rentals, but usually the full amount is non-refundable. If you book well in advance, your deal can be very good. There is however a big risk, that we didn’t realise at the time of booking: the host can cancel your stay at the very last minute, at which point it can be difficult for you to find a reasonable alternative. We heard that Airbnb hosts’ cancellations weren’t unusual this summer, because hosts were able to get much higher deals based on current prices than the ones they offered to people a year in advance. Ending up with no accommodation just a few days before your monthly trip can surely result in no trip at all!

While we didn’t have any bad experiences with our hosts this time or in the past, just being aware of this risk makes us question if we would plan another long stay using Airbnb. Will be looking into alternatives, for sure.

Transport

That was a tricky one! Taking into account:
- the massive flight cancellations at that time, 
- the fact that we were going for a whole month to a place where a car was needed,
- and also our past experience of having to postpone the start of long holidays because of our child’s illness...
...we decided to travel by car from Poland. It looks like an insane decision, and it was the longest car drive we ever took: 3500km, divided into 4 days (3 nights’ accommodation on the way), but it was still the most flexible and cheapest option (as compared to flights and car rental for a month). It also let us visit some friends and family on the way :).

Torrox - impressions