Fulfilling Our Dream: How a Climbing Trip Changed Our Lives.
It all started in January 2014, when my climbing coach, Michel, who was regularly scaling the crags of Tenerife, invited me to join him.
Every year we’d go climbing somewhere in Europe, and in 2014, it was Tenerife.
I initially refused. “No way,” I said, envisioning nothing but tourist traps.
But Michel was persuasive, and I caved in, thinking, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Turns out, the best happened.
Within 24 hours of ditching the touristy spots, I fell in love with the island’s rugged nature, the ocean, the mountains, and the untouched, clean environment.
I called Vered that evening, full of excitement, and announced, “I found our island!”
She was skeptical.
For seven years, we had searched for our dream retirement island in places like Greece, Thailand, Malta, Spain, the Antilles, and even other Canary Islands, always coming up short.
So, she responded, “Maybe you found your island, but it’s not my island.”
I asked her to check it out, and we visited together in April.
It took her all of 24 hours to fall for Tenerife too.
We contacted a real estate agent, and the second house we saw had us hooked.
The views of the ocean, the surrounding mountains, the rough nature, the aviary, the koi pond, and the off-grid setup with its own solar energy and water sources were simply amazing.
We exchanged glances and whispered in Hebrew, “How do we keep our faces straight so they won’t know how badly we want this house?”
Our vision for this place was big yet simple: to create a sustainable life without supermarket dependencies.
From city dwellers with plastic plants, we transformed into ambitious gardeners.
The soil, full of volcanic minerals but lacking organic material, coupled with scarce water and harsh weather, posed a challenge.
We planted, failed, and replanted.
We discovered the power of teamwork and creativity through Workaway volunteers who shared our dream.
Moments of pure joy sprinkled this journey.
Watching seeds sprout, butterflies emerge from cocoons, harvesting our first honey, and tasting the first fruits from our trees were incredibly fulfilling.
We named our home Casa Alegria, the “house of joy,” and that’s exactly what it became.
Our adventure taught us a valuable lesson: dream big and go for it.
If we’re not living fully right now, we’ll regret it later.
We chose to live our life to the fullest!