* We’re nominated for an award. Skip to the bottom of this post to vote for us in the Amara Interior Blog Awards! Or click here.*
It’s no secret that things have been a bit quiet around here lately.
It’s not because we’ve been lazy (okay, so maybe a bit but I blame the hot hot hot weather) or because we’ve not been doing any improvement (we have loads to share – more soon). If I’m completely honest, it’s because we’ve been feeling a bit lost.
There’s no denying that moving across Europe from Manchester to Berlin was a huge step and we always knew it would bring a lot of changes with it.
As much as we’re very slowly starting to get used to our new lives, we have come to realise that Berlin will not be the forever destination that we thought it might be. I’m pretty sure that spending way too much time on Rightmove (or the equivalent in random other countries) is a good indication!
So, what’s next?
Honestly, I don’t know!
Berlin is a fabulously vibrant city with so much to discover that it can sometimes feel overwhelming (in a good way). We’ve been making an effort to do one new thing every weekend (more on that, soon!) and we’re still excited about seeing lots of exciting new things.
We’re not in a rush to make any big decisions about our future but we have decided that in the long term we probably won’t stay in Germany.
In the short term and even mid-term, there will be no changes in our lives or on the blog and most importantly, regular blogging service will resume from now on. Our plans for the (very) long-term are a different matter.
At the moment, we have no idea what will happen. We’ve been looking at destinations to move to like we’re looking at somewhere for a two week holiday. Currently on our list of options are Melbourne, Siem Reap, Costa Rica and Amsterdam (although some destinations are more serious than others!).
Are we losing our minds? Or are we slap bang in the middle of a midlife crisis?
Well, quite possibly! Either way, I guess you could say we have no idea what we’re doing or even when we’ll be doing it!
So what’s the plan? Well, that’s where things get difficult. We don’t actually really know.
So, here’s what we do know.
- As much as we love Berlin, we don’t enjoy living in Germany and will be moving.
- We will finish our apartment renovations (or at least get very close to) and next on our list is a full-on guest bathroom makeover (we’ll be sharing our makeover plans soon)!
- We do like the idea of dropping everything and moving to somewhere new and starting a completely different and new adventure (although I’m not sure we’ll have the balls to do so).
- We’re in no rush and as much as we know that Germany isn’t the country for us, we want to make sure that we make the right choices when we do finally make a decision!
- For now, nothing will change except that we’ve got our mojo back and we’ll be tackling some big and exciting home improvements soon! We’ll also be sharing our regular home updates here on the blog and Instagram (which I’ve also been ignoring).
As you can see, there are a lot of uncertainties ahead of us!
I know that we’ve not been in Berlin for a long time but ultimately, there’s no point in sticking with something that in your heart you know isn’t right. We’re excited about what lies ahead even if we have no idea what that is!
We’re even more excited to announce that we’ve been nominated for an Amara Interior blog award!
It’s such an honour and I’m so grateful to whoever took the time to nominate us! Being up for an award is probably the one big thing that has kickstarted our motivation again.
We’re nominated in the Best DIY & Home Improvement Blog category which is for blogs that tackle large-scale DIY projects and share helpful do it yourself tips (we hope we do!) so we think this category is pretty perfect for us, don’t you agree?!
As always, there are some fantastic other blogs nominates, and to make it to the shortlist would be a huge honour. So, if we’ve ever shared anything that’s helped you with your DIY projects, we’d love your vote!
Voting only takes seconds and it would mean so much to us to make the shortlist! You can even win yourself a camera just by voting for your favourite blog!
The awards are also a great place to discover new blogs in all sorts of different categories. So, even if you don’t fancy voting for us – you should of course! ;) – it’s a great place to find some fab new blogs to follow.
To vote all you have to do is pop over to our page on the Amara Interior Blog Awards site and enter your name and email address. It only takes seconds and would mean a lot to us!
Click here to vote for us!
Oh, and if you’d like to check out some of our DIY posts here are some of our favourites!
Don’t forget to vote!
You can vote for us by clicking here!
Thank you! x
Maaike says
I completely understand what you mean. I felt the same when we lived in Germany. I do admire that you will continue improving your home. Since we decided to move I find it hard to finish even small projects. Maybe you can write a post on the emotional side of DIY knowing you’re leaving and how to leave a home behind you put so much effort into. I know I’ll be so sad to leave our first home next March. But Brexit means Brexit ;-) and hopefully we’ll find a lovely place in the Netherlands!
I’m glad you’re posting again, I missed drooling over your accomplishments and finding inspiration!
Christine says
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Maaike! It really means a lot and it’s comments like yours that keep us going and sharing our adventures here on the blog! I totally know what you mean about the struggle to finish projects – it’s why I felt like I had to take a break during the summer. Motivating yourself to keep going when you know you’re not going to stay is almost impossible. That being said, we’re in no rush. Having made the decision that this won’t be our forever home has weirdly taken the pressure off. We might stay another 6 months and if I’m completely honest we might end up staying years! There’s just no point rushing into anything!
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve also decided that moving is the right thing for you. It’s a sad and uncertain situation to be in but it’ll also be a new adventure. The city I’d most love to live in is Amsterdam (I absolutely love the Netherlands), so you never know we might be neighbours, soon! (or at least within a couple hours drive of each other) ;)
Cx
Claire says
Another vote for Ireland here! Yes, the cost of living is relatively high (well, in Dublin it is – outside of the capital you’ll get better value) but from the things you mentioned that were bothering you about living in Germany, I think you’d find Ireland a much better fit culturally. And Sunday is one of our busiest shopping days!
Christine says
Go Ireland! Maybe we’ll have to look into it or at least visit again, Claire! I can’t help think that complaining about not being able to shop on Sundays makes me sound really shallow but it’s more indicative of everything that comes with it like customer service (don’t even get me started on trying to have a food delivery last week – total nightmare!) flexibility and adapting to change. And a girl’s got to buy shoes – or in my case, power tools! ;)
Cx
Lins @ Boo & Maddie says
Ahhh well done for making this decision and opening it up to the Universe, I know we spoke a lot about it when we came to visit in June . And you know what? From making my own big decision to finally leave work, even though it won’t be happening for another few months, the RELIEF and zest for life has returned. I too was in the doldrums with the blog and everything for a good few months earlier this year, now I’ve made that huge decision it really feels like everything is falling into place. I genuinely think for you now you’ve put it out there, something amazing will come along OR as you mentioned you may decide to stay. But it’s all about being open and honest and not afraid to state that something has to change XX (PS and from an entirely selfish perspective if you DO move somewhere else that will give us a reason to visit!
Christine says
It’s weird how finally making a decision can be so freeing – even if we still have no idea what will happen. I love the idea of all of the possibilities that lie ahead and it no longer feels like we’re stood in our way! You never know, by not stressing we might even decide to stay in Berlin (although I’m not sure how likely that is). I’m so happy to hear that you’re excited about what’s to come and I can’t wait to see what your new adventure will be! You already sound much happier!
Cx
PS. You’re welcome to visit wherever we go! x
Deirdre Hegarty says
Have you considered Ireland?!
Christine says
It’s not somewhere we’d thought about, Deirdre! If I’m completely honest, I don’t really know much about Ireland other than that a weekend in Dublin was very expensive ;).
Cx
Sue says
Hmmmm. I was considering Berlin, Germany for myself.
You’re usually very forthright about your views, (probably one of the reasons you’ve been nominated for an award) so I noticed that you didn’t give any indication why Germany doesn’t feel quite right.
Maybe it’s personal in which case forgive my curiosity and ignore my email, but it would be good to have a sense of what led you to your decision.
Best Wishes to you. I think once you’ve made the decision you’ll want to get moving!
Christine says
I really didn’t mean for this post to sound miserable, Sue. Berlin is a fantastic city and we don’t in any way regret moving here. It’s vibrant, multicultural and exciting. We could easily stay here and would probably be happy in the long term. There are a lot of small and niggly things that mean we aren’t enjoying living in Germany as much as we should. It’s things like rudeness, inflexibility and not being able to shop on Sundays ;). Obviously, there is more to it than that and I’ll try to put it into words and share a full post about the things we love about Germany (because there are lots of things to love) and the things we don’t.
We’re in no rush and for the next year at least (probably longer knowing us) nothing is going to change. You never know, we might get so settled that we won’t want to leave!
Cx
J says
Well Berlin / East Germany is much more rude than other parts of Germany, believe me.
As a German I find Berlin horribly rude. Not at all e.g. the Rhineland region or Bavaria though.
Christine says
Haha, yes, I know that Berliners can be “particular”. Someone actually held the door open for me today, so they’re not all bad! ;)
Cx
gtb says
Can I ask why you’re not enjoying Germany? I’m currently considering a move and have some concerns myself.
Christine says
There are lots of reasons that we’re not sure it’s right for us. Don’t get me wrong – there are lots of things to enjoy about Germany – and we do love Berlin but it’s a lot of little things that could be better.
I’ll send you an email with some information.
Cx
Gerry says
Bet you wish you’d stayed in England where now! ;)
Christine says
Nope, that’s the one thing we are sure about! ;) We had a great time in the UK but it was right for us to move on to a new adventure.
Cx