“here’s what happened when we built part of our year around snowboarding.”
And just like that, we’re packing the van once again for the Winter season. It’s bizarre that after the Summer of visiting friends and family and enjoying a holiday or two in our van, the Winter always seems to creep up on us.
Packing up the house to move into another rental for the season has it’s ups and downs, the continuity of the same resort but it’s never quite ‘home’ as we don’t have the same place we rent each season.
But I do take the small Christmas tree I purchased when I had my first home 20 years ago, and my fave Le Creuset stock pot, because, there are just some things a girl needs. Not forgetting the Clipper English Breakfast tea and the Green & Blacks chocolate.
Andorra had my heart over 15 years ago. It began with third wheeling a holiday with my sister and boyfriend in Soldeu, as they’d been the previous year and loved it so much.
Despite previous ski holidays in Italy and France, Andorra just seemed to ‘fit’. Relaxed, warm and friendly (and cost less) with the most patient of instructors (and how I met my partner), left me securing the following years holiday before I’d even arrived back home!
Yes, the Alps has all the ‘glitz and glamour’ of skiing, but Andorra I felt was just a more chilled vibe, like it wasn’t trying to be the cool kid, I suppose an air of nonchalance without the ego.
Year after year we’d return, still third wheeling with my sister and her husband and my love for this place remained.
Why? The community here is like no other. You can walk into the local Irish bar (The Harp) and be greeted with such warmth from the owners, Mikey & Mary who will remember your name and your fave tipple. You can sit on a chair lift and begin chatting to the person next to you about what run you’re doing next or strike up a conversation with someone you see in the breakfast room.
Drop into the lovely supermarket in Canillo (Ametller Origen) for the freshest of local produce, sushi and be greeted with a smile from the helpful staff. I love that it feels like a village wherever you go.
Although I’ll be honest, making friends took a little while. As I was a ‘punter’ for over 10 years before becoming a ‘seasonnaire’, I don’t work on the mountain or in a bar, I really struggled to fit in. But after a couple of seasons I’m happy say I found my people, the ones I’m able to call good friends.
And it’s not the kind of surface level conversations of ‘what runs did you do today’, but those who I can chat business and life with, as well as throwing ourselves off the side of runs and into fresh powder. That I am grateful for.
I adore that the outlook the people have here. Not just waiting for the next pay check or their Summer holiday, but genuinely have a different perspective on life; like ’life is for living’ but on a whole new level. Maybe it’s being in the mountains or the love of the outdoors, but the freedom this lifestyle brings is so different to what I had expected.
Andorra is becoming a different place to what it was 15 years ago, there are many pro cyclists here now (training at altitude), you tubers and influencers and my hope is that it’s charm and community remains to the one I fell in love with all those years ago. It’s also not included in the 90 day Schengen rule for UK citizens (at the time of writing this).
One of the downsides of being here is finding somewhere to live. It really isn’t the easiest of tasks, which we have the hunt every September. This is down to the number of people who are choosing to live in Andorra and gaining residency, which of course has increased demand and rental and property prices are reflected.
Winter rentals can be challenging to find, as many want all year round or longer term tenants for their properties, but the local Andorra Expats group on Facebook can be helpful if you’re looking to stay here longer than a winter.
Being here can help so you can meet with agents and property owners, and we’re very lucky that we’ve managed to get a place through friends or associates (my partner has done almost 25 seasons here). If you’re looking to book a trip here, you must speak with Andorra Travel Service, they are the Andorra Experts.
Running my coaching business remotely from here is pretty stress free, there is wifi everywhere but using your UK mobile isn’t an option (or it costs the earth to use your data). So it’s much easier to buy an ESIM from Andorra Telecom or there are some others like Holafly or Airalo which are competitive too.
There are lots of co-working spacing in Andorra La Vella (I use Monday with a friend of mine) and nice hotel lounges you can work from or lush coffee shops. With many digital workers here, they really are catering for this type of working. I do enjoy getting out of the house and have a mountain views as I work, because it’s just sometimes what you need!
Andorra is one of the safest countries in the world to live, world heritage sites and I’m so grateful I get to call it home, for several months a year. Who knows how long we’ll be here, but for now, I’m enjoying every day of this experience.
