Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Expat life and DIY (do it yourself) aren’t compatible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about us expats as spoilt - not at all! It’s just that the DIY of home improvements simply slips out of our lives whilst on the expat road.
Since embarking on our expat life, I have lost count of the array of rental properties we have made into our home. It’s been both exhilarating and stressful but, to be honest, on the whole I have also found it liberating. Why? Indeed you may ask. It’s the freedom that comes with being a tenant instead of a landlord.
No more home maintenance, the landlord and his army of employees now take care of that (well, they should and normally do … although on the occasions it doesn’t happen will provide fodder for a column for another day).
Memories of back-breaking work as I slogged it out in our Scottish garden through all weathers, with leaky wellies and frozen fingers, springs to mind!
The husband, of course, would be busy at work and our four delightful young children loved nothing more than scurrying around my ankles crying ‘mummmmmmy’ above the roar of the lawnmower.
I no longer go into a panic when the washing machine packs up or when the toilet blocks.
Those days of searching through the classified advertisements in an absolute frenzy and pleading with plumbers or electricians to take on the job are a thing of the past too, thankfully.
With the husband’s DIY skills as good as my knowledge of the offside rule in football, our marriage has benefitted from the expat experience for sure.
Do I miss those weekend trips to B&Q (for the uninitiated, that’s a British multinational DIY and home improvement retailing company which families feel the need to regularly flock to back home for supplies)? No!
