One Year in Tenerife: A Rollercoaster Ride

When we touched down in Tenerife a year ago, it was all part of a grand plan: spend more than a year here to see if Annika could finally be pain-free and if the kids would find their groove in a new setting. Our university back in Stuttgart generously allowed us this trial year, with our contracts running until August 2024. We sublet our apartment in Stuttgart, packed our bags, and set off on what we hoped would be a year of sunshine and new insights.

Well, it was definitely a year of sunshine and insights. Two months in, just as the kids were settling into their new school, we were thrown a curveball. The free school and kindergarten we had meticulously arranged from Germany were abruptly closed due to a misconduct incident among the children. Cue the scramble to enroll the kids in the local “village school.” Easy on paper, but in reality, it involved a maze of bureaucratic hoops. But hey, we managed it, and the kids adapted like champs.

Just as we were getting our bearings, our tenant in Stuttgart announced he could no longer pay rent. Perfect timing, as we had a seven-week trip back to Germany planned. That trip quickly turned into a full-scale apartment clear-out. We sold everything we had and returned to Tenerife owning just the stuff that could fit into our caravan and Passat. For a family of four, that’s quite the minimalist achievement.

September brought a brief respite. The kids started their new school, and we enjoyed a rare moment of calm. Actually, we always wanted to offer our children an alternative form of schooling (Montessori or a free school), but the local school here is truly fantastic. The teachers are incredibly warm and genuinely embrace their roles as educators. This level of dedication is something we didn’t see as a standard back in Germany.

Then, another surprise: the university informed us our contracts would end not in August 2024, but at the end of the year – 2023. A bit of a shocker, but we rolled with it. We’d been freelancing since 2017, though it was more of a side hustle. Suddenly, we needed to turn it into our main gig and build our business anew in Spain.

Despite the twists and turns, we decided to stay on this beautiful island. The kids are thriving at their new village school, Annika’s pain has significantly diminished, and I’ve taken up more surfing and started wing foiling—my new favorite pastime. Honestly, you couldn’t drag me away from the waves now.

So here we are, a year later, more settled and content than we ever thought possible. Tenerife has truly become home, not just a year-long experiment. Here’s to more sunshine, waves, and the beautiful unpredictability of life!