Rock Roots Retirement
(The) ‘Rock’ – local nickname for Barbados
‘Roots’ – family history on this island dating back to the 1600s
‘Retirement’ – 2021, radical reboot 2024
This is our story. A story of stumbling on an opportunity. An opportunity that was not in the plan. The plan changed!
In the Beginning
February 2024
There we are sitting on the verandah, feet up. The last of our guests have left. We have five glorious, peaceful days in the paradise of the wild east coast till we head home. Neither of us could ever have predicted what was around the corner.
He denies being bored, but something has niggled. “The commune house” he says “it’s still for sale”. For two years the concept of a commune for us and our friends has been an entertaining topic of rum-fuelled conversation: we will get in nurses and physios to cajole our aching bones out of the planter’s chair and down to the beach. “I’m booking a viewing” he adds.
I ignore him until, gobsmacked, I hear him pick up the phone. “I’m sorry, that property has just sold” says the real estate agent. Inevitably, she entices him into viewing a couple of others.
That was the beginning of the adventure. Neither of us saw it coming.
Another Rock –
- Bathsheba – East Coast Barbados
More Roots
- Morgan Lewis Historic Sugar Mill – Cherry Tree Hill, East Coast Barbados
“Despite never living there, Barbados has been part of my life for as long as I can remember”
It’s all my fault.
I thought we’d achieved the perfect equilibrium – spending six weeks a year in a property we loved, surrounded by nature, rented from wonderful owners who gave us first refusal. It was large enough to accommodate mates from the UK for a week of partying here and there, but reasonable enough for us to block out chilled liming time for ourselves too. No ownership, maintenance or management worries. Sorted!
I certainly wasn’t bored, but had time on my hands – and who doesn’t enjoy poking around other people’s houses, especially in the West Indies? MACO magazine c.2002 has a lot to answer for.
When I told her I was going to see two alternative properties to the ‘commune’, but didn’t want to waste her time by dragging her along, she replied “Well, you’re not going without me”. FOMO! So – first place just up the coast – ingenious split level design, rooftop plunge pool, but a very ‘beach house’ feel – didn’t float our boat. Second place – much more our cup of tea. No pool, but inland among lush gardens, very tempting despite being under offer already and at the top end of our (very hypothetical) budget. But hang on a minute – this is all just a bit of fun anyway, right? Then she says “To hell with it, why don’t we sell up in Blighty and move over here?” My turn to be taken aback as well as laughing out loud – but that comment planted a seed in both our minds. Before we know it we’re going to see another place – a real wild card – and the rest is history (check out the blog). So maybe it isn’t all my fault after all…