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8 Things To Know About Ireland Before You Move Over

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With the ease of restrictions, and Ireland finally coming out of a lockdown, the usual questions about moving over to Ireland have been popping back into my inbox. I thought I would slowly start adding back some content around expat life in Ireland again. Hopefully this info will help people who are looking to make the move, as some things you you need to know before you make the big decision to immigrate to Ireland.

1. Secure a job before moving over

We might have an ease in restrictions but the pandemic and effects of it are still unfolding. Many, many people have been living on government subsidies after losing their jobs for over a year. I have been saying this one long before there was a global pandemic – but if you are looking to move over, please secure a job with a work permit before you come over. Now is not the time to come over and then look for a job.

This luxury of job hunting here is really only for those with UK/EU passports – South African passport holders need a work permit first. However with the pandemic and loss of jobs, there are a lot more people looking for employment here, more than ever before. Also its worth noting that there is currently a backlog of 90k people waiting on receiving their Irish passports. The bureaucracy and paper admin of being an expat has just lengthened and delayed, be prepared that these things may take longer than normal.

If you do need a work permit, then check that your job/skill is not on the recently updated ineligible for work permits list. This is unfortunately a said reality for some expats – some jobs are not eligible for work permits, meaning they are jobs only available to people who have Irish/EU/UK passports. Professions like hair dressing, fitness instructors, book-keepers are on this list.

2. The housing crisis is dire right now.

Pre-2020, rent was expensive and hard to find. Pet friendly rentals are like unicorns – incredibly hard to find. Now that construction was paused for a short while, means that there is a heavy delay on building new homes. This means the rental market is even tougher to navigate. If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy a house here, due to the housing crisis, its a definite sellers market here – house prices are ramping up.

3. Consider your costs for transport.

Most people want to live closer to work, to save on the commute, however some opt to move out into the country where rental prices are a bit lower. The reality is yes, there is public transport here, but its not as great as other places. I find people who have experienced public transport in the UK are dismally disappointed but Irish Public Transport. Sure its set up OK in the city, and there are trains and busses available in neighbouring commuter towns – but its long, sparse and can turn out quick expensive. I guess the one benefit of working from home for over a year, there is a definite shift in perspective with companies leaning into creating work from home policies etc. So perhaps you find a job, get a work permit, and are able to move to the countryside and work from home. That would make things a lot easier for sure. Buying a car is generally OK, its doable, but car insurances as an expat is absolutely mental. I wrote a post all about our experience of buying a car. Most families either don’t own a car at all, or opt to one car in the household. Its not like in SA where everyone that can drive in the house owns a car.

4. Eating and drinking out is expensive

OK so pubs are still closed, outdoor eating is only opening up in a few weeks – but when eating out is something you are used to doing, you may find when you live here that this is a bit of luxury. I like to bring this up because I think its really important for you to try match the lifestyle you have, don’t sell yourself short by saying you are going to cut back and sacrifice to move over to Ireland, because changing your whole lifestyle to make it work is hard. If you are the kind of family that is used to travelling, taking holidays, eating out weekly, etc. – then you want to make sure that your new budget here is able to at least try maintain some of that here. I wrote a post about things to budget for, which gives you an idea on some of the costs to live here.

5. Health care is not free

A common misconception is that Ireland is the same as the UK, we do not have the NHS here. You will need to consider GP visits, dental costs, etc. Depending on the type of stamp you have when you arrive, you may be required to hold private health insurance, which is really pricey here.

6. Education might be ‘free’ but childcare is very expensive!

This is going into unchartered waters for us, as we haven’t had to consider education or schooling yet for Riley. We are however paying 1000 euro for creche fees, per month. A lot of South African families looking to move over, first look at private schooling. I guess there is a perception that private is better? Like I said, we haven’t thought that far ahead yet, but its likely that we will look into sending Riley to local, public school. I think depends on the area that you are, but some of the best schools in Dublin, are actually public schools – the schooling issue is a crisis too though – there are seriously crazy waitlists. I had to secure creche for Riley my first week of maternity leave, 10 months before it was needed! I know of one person who secured creche for her baby and she is not due till later this year! The school year starts in September and ends end of June – so that is another factor you will need to consider. Once we go through this issue ourselves, I will share more on this.

7. Litter is a serious problem.

Maybe its because Dublin is a city, and cities are generally quite messy, or perhaps because there are public gardens, public areas, walking pavements – but OMG, the litter here is UNREAL. Sure its green, and beautiful too, but if you look closely, there is ALWAYS way too much litter.

8. Bureaucracy – it takes ages

I know this is similar to point 1 – but its worth noting that things are confusing, setting up appointments, getting a job offer, applications for work permits, visa requirements, applying for Irish Residency Cards, setting up a PPS number, taxes, opening up a bank account, swopping your drivers license, heck even figuring out your groceries – then you throw in new challenges like mandatory quarantines, covid tests, restrictions, uncertainty, nevermind the feckin weather – its mentally a long game. And you need to be prepared that most of it is sorted out slowly, frustratingly slowly and almost all of it you are figuring out on your own. Being aware of this before you move, helps, but also prepare to unlock a whole new appreciation for patience – because you are going to need a bucket load of it.

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU DIDN’T REALISE BEFORE MOVING TO IRELAND THAT OTHERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF?

With love from Ireland,

~Meg~

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The Ultimate Checklist to Move Overseas

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The Ultimate Checklist of things you need to do before you can move overseas!

The Ultimate Checklist to Move overseas

I decided to write this ultimate checklist to move overseas to help you identify things you need to do before you move abroad. Is this the year you are moving overseas? It can be overwhelming when you think of all the things you need to do before you move over. Creating a checklist is something we did before we moved, but I have added some tips that we learnt along the way. Truthfully in hindsight there were a lot of things we would do differently if we had the chance to do it all again. We learnt the hard way through trial and error, but hopefully with this checklist to move abroad in hand, things will be easier for you and your family.

BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO MOVE OVERSEAS

Before you start the moving abroad process there are some things you should consider and research. This is a key step and it should not be skipped over. Moving overseas is a big step, it should not be decided on lightly. There will be lots of things you will need to weigh up and decide, and it’s important to get all these areas covered and figured out before you take the giant step forward into becoming an expat and living overseas.

  • Research the new country. I have spoken about this in previous blog posts, on why we chose to move to Ireland. For us, Ireland ticked a lot of boxes for us. For starters, my husband got a job offer and work permit sorted out before we leave our home country. Secondly, we found out that I would be able to apply for my own work permit, and find a job too. Third, we knew our dog would be able to make the move with us.
  • Have a job offer before you leave. The reality is looking for a good job takes time, and if you leave it till you are in the new country to find a job you could land yourself in trouble. If you are looking to move to Ireland, then I suggest you figure out if you need a work permit, and research job opportunities in your field. 
  • Get an idea on cost of living. If you managed to find a job then before you accept the job offer, figure out if you will be able to afford to live on the salary they are offering you. Cost of living in Ireland is at an all-time high – rent is scarce and expensive, and cost of living is generally quite high here. I written two posts on cost of living in Ireland; one blog post compares costs between Dublin and Johannesburg which I wrote when we first arrived. More recently, I wrote a post about how to figure out how much you need to earn to live in Dublin.
  • Save as much as you can. As much as your new job will keep money coming in, there are some unexpected costs to moving overseas. When we first moved over we never fully realised how long it would take for me to find a job and get my work permit sorted out. So we were left with over a year on living on one salary. Thankfully we managed to cut our grocery costs, and we had a small savings to fall back on when times got tough. People often ask how much should they save, and the answer is never going to be a rounded figure – the answer is: save as much as you can, then try save even more than that. We also knew that moving over, our lifestyle would have to change. There will be sacrifices you might need to make when you first over, and we learnt a few tips on how to save money when you first move overseas, maybe these tips will help you too.
  • Get your important documents updated and filed. Before we moved over we made certified copies of everything. Things like marriage certificates, insurance policies, wills are important to keep and file copies separately. Later on in this post I will suggest a few other documents that are important to get in order before you move overseas.
  • Update your passport before you leave the country. If your passport is expiring in a year then it’s worth updating it before you leave the country. Rob is in the process of updating his South African passport through the embassy here in Ireland and he has been told it takes 6-7 months to process!! Besides if you want to travel, you will need at least 6 months left of your current passport to be able to visit most countries. Another thing to consider is that if you decide to move to Ireland and you require an Immigration Residence Permit (IRP; formerly called GNIB), you will need to get this yearly, and they will make it valid for as long as your passport is valid. So if you move over with less than a year in your current passport, then your IRP card will be valid for the same time. Save the stress, get your passport updated.
  • Get your driver’s license updated. The same goes for your driver’s license. Ireland allows certain countries the option to swop out their existing driver’s license for an Irish one. This option is available for South African driver’s license holders. However, if you arrive with an expired driver’s license then you will not be able to swop out your driver’s license. So make your life easier and get it updated before you leave.
  • Do you own a house? You will need to decide if you will sell your house or put it up for rent. Since we only recently bought our house before we left, and for the fact that we were not sure how long we would be overseas; we decided to rent our home out. We went through a company called Just Letting in South Africa. In all honesty, they are a pretty shit company to work with. But they do make it easier to live here, knowing that there is someone managing our tenant and home back home. I think the reason I get so frustrated with them would be the same with most companies you decide to use – not proactive, slow to respond, plus they were slow to find tenants even though when we first spoke to them they told us that we would have no problems renting out the place. They were filled with lots of promises at how easy the process would be, but in truth it was a long and trying road to finding a tenant. 

Right so all of the above took us about a year to research and find jobs etc., we had been planning and talking about the move for a year prior to actually starting the process too. This work can’t be rushed, take your time doing your research and making sure that a move overseas is best for you and your family. 

Once you have decided on the move, and you have a job offer and work permit is being processed… then the checklist to move overseas really kicks into full planning and doing all the things mode! Take a deep breath, and let’s dive in.

3 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR MOVE

  • Book hotels or flights that you might need. If you know when you start date is, then try to arrive a bit before you start work, because you may need some time to find a place to rent. In our case, my husband got a relocation package with his job, which meant that the company paid for him to stay in corporate accommodation for a short time while we looked for a place to rent in Ireland. Not all companies offer this to new employees coming from overseas but it is worth asking about. If that is not something that is available, then you will need to book into a hotel, hostel, or Airbnb when you first move over. Perhaps you have some family or friends you could stay with until you are on your feet. Some people are lucky enough to secure a rental before they arrive overseas but I have found that in Dublin, it is better to be in the country and with a letter from your employer before you start looking for a place to rent.
  • Check your pet relocation requirements. Although there are no quarantine requirements in Ireland, you do need a blood test and certificate that your pet has no rabies. You can only leave 90 days after this blood has been taken, as well as your pet needs to move over with you (either 5 days before or after you arrive). I have heard of people bringing their pets in later once they are settled but I believe there is a different process if you send your pet over at a later date. I wrote a post about how we moved our pet over to Ireland which covers off some other points you will need to consider.
  • Find a moving company you like the look of and ask for quotes. And organise a moving date. If you plan to ship over your belongings then you will need to get an idea on what furniture and number of boxes you think you might send over. We sent over 3 boxes and then just 2 suitcases each when we flew over. The 3 boxes we shipped using a company called Seven Seas. They were the most affordable company we could find at the time, and our stuff arrived in perfect condition, barring a plate I didn’t bubble wrap properly. Just a note that we opted for the boxes to be delivered in 3 months (it worked out cheaper) and another thing to consider is that there will be a customs fee you will need to pay when it arrives in your new country (over and above the fee you pay the couriers. Seven Seas did give us an estimate on what this would be so we weren’t surprised 3 months later). Another point I would like to make about sending over belongings, in hindsight we probably didn’t need to ship those 3 boxes. The stuff we shipped ended up not being so essential when it arrived 3 months later and we hadn’t really missed too much of it. Also most rentals here in Ireland come furnished already, and houses here are a little different in terms of size compared to back home – so your furniture might be costly to send over only to find it doesn’t fit in your new home.
  • Label and pack boxes up with things you won’t need to use until you move. I started this process very eager to pack everything and get rid of the rest; we ended up the last few weeks living with only our camping chairs as seats! Just make sure what you pack away or get rid of, is everything that you won’t actually need for a while. Another good tip is to make a checklist of all packing boxes and what will go in each one. This would have been handy to have on the other side, because when our boxes did arrive, I had forgotten what we had actually sent over!
  • Put your house on the market if you’re selling it or start finding a tenant. We only started looking for tenants a month before we left and we really left it late because we ended up with an empty house for a few months which was less than ideal.

2 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR MOVE

  • Depending on your existing work contract, you will need to choose the right time to resign. For us, we wanted to give our employers enough notice that we were leaving, and in the end this notice period worked in our favour because my company asked me to stay on working remotely for a few months which was helpful to keep me busy while we moved over and looked for a job overseas.
  • Cancel subscriptions and direct debits you won’t carry over with you. If you are leaving the country it is best to cancel these subscriptions while you are still in the country. I had a phone contract that would have costed a lot to cancel, so I just notified them that I want to cancel at the end of the subscription period. We still have our bank accounts open in South Africa, but since we don’t have many debit orders still left (just house stuff), it was easy to see if there was any debit order we forgot to take care of. If you close your accounts, you will need to make sure all your contracts are cancelled beforehand.
  • Sell or give away items you don’t want to take with you. We sold, donated and threw out most of our stuff. We used it as a great way to declutter and let go of all the stuff that served no purpose for us anymore. We sold most of our stuff online too, which was very easy to do.
  • Sell your car. We decided to sell our cars online, you can choose to sell it privately yourself. We just found it easier and less hassle to sell it through an agent who handled all the paperwork for us. We used webuycars.co.za and they even arranged for our cars to be picked up as close to our move date which was convenient for us. Another benefit of using webuycars is that they paid the outstanding cash for our car loan direct to the bank, so we didn’t have to stress about transferring that ourselves.
  • Arrange travel and health insurance for your move. You never know if you might need emergency care when you first arrive, so rather be safe than sorry.
  • Visit the doctor for a final check-up and arrange for vaccinations if you need them. We didn’t need any vaccinations to move to Ireland, but we went to the dentist, doctor, gynae and Rob got his eyes checked. It’s helpful to get these down before you leave because it will take a while to settle and time to find doctors over in your new country.
  • Get copies of your medical records for yourselves, children, as well as your pets. This is especially important if you are on any existing medication, so as to show your new doctor overseas.
  • Get a stock of your prescription medication. Find out what the local names and equivalents are for any prescription medication you or your family are on. Make sure that it will be available in your destination country. If not you will need to arrange to take a supply with you, together with proof of your need for the medication in case you are stopped at customs. I carried 6 months of my own medication with me, together with my script and letter from my doctor. I wasn’t stopped at customs, and just went through without any problems.

1 MONTH BEFORE YOUR MOVE

  • Begin packing up your home. Normal people can wait till one month before to pack their home, I guess I am not like most people because like I said I started this as soon as we decided we were moving – absolutely zero chill! But really, one month is more than enough time. Especially considering you hopefully won’t need to send over too much stuff. 
  • Make sure your house insurance is due to be cancelled on moving day. This is something some people forget to cancel, or cancel too soon – but if you have household insurance, remember to cancel it on the same day everything is getting picked up to be shipped off.
  • Contact utility companies and cancel. Or you can change the names on the bill if you’re renting out. We actually kept it in our name, as it is through the body corporate of the complex we lived in. It just made it easier for us to manage this direct with body corporate as we still handle levies etc. with them. These are accounts that you don’t necessarily think about, but it’s good to cancel/ settle before you leave the country.
  • Pay any bills you have outstanding. The last month before you leave is when we really felt like money was coming off left right and center. We settled all our outstanding bills; we also treated ourselves to dinners out at our favourite restaurants, and met up with friends for last drinks etc… This month really flew by.

1-2 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR MOVE

  • Get currency for your new country. Because we didn’t close our bank accounts we didn’t have to worry about getting Euros before we left. We took a few over but not too much, the rest we used our SA bank cards in Ireland when we first arrived. It was quick for Rob to open up a bank account in Ireland, because he had a job and needed a place for his salary to be paid into. For me, it took a while longer, so I used my SA card a lot more.
  • Start packing suitcases. Make sure you have the essentials in your suitcase. You will be living out of these cases for the immediate future until your shipment arrives. I packed extra toiletries and make up etc. as I knew money would be tight when we first got over there, so I made sure I went with a stock to keep me going. 
  • Empty your fridge/freezer. Since we lived with family in the last weeks before we left, empty the fridge/freezer happened earlier for us. However this was still a sensitive point for us. About a month or two before we decided to move over to Ireland, our old fridge died. So we went out and splurged on a nice big fancy fridge and then a month later had to put it up for sale – ouch! That really hurt as you never really make your money back on reselling purchases like that. 
  • Moving Day. If you are shipping over some items, confirm the date they will come collect the boxes. We scheduled this for 3 weeks before my husband left, just because we wanted to stay with family and make the most of our time left in South Africa. Make sure you keep an inventory list for yourself of items you intend to ship over. Also, now is a good time to confirm when you expect items to arrive in your new country.

ON THE DAY OF YOUR MOVE

  • Triple check the house to ensure nothing is left over. This was a surreal experience for me, walking through our empty home, not knowing what our new home would look like. 
  • Keep your jewellery and important documents with you. We carried these on us in our carry on. Rob had a set, and I had another set of copies as we were flying at different times. If you are the spouse of someone who has a work permit and you are arriving after them, then it’s best to keep the following documentation on you for when you go through passport control: copy of your Spouses work permit, letter from their employer, your marriage certificate. 
  • Say goodbye to everybody. Tears, all the tears when we were at the airport saying our goodbyes to our family. It’s important to remember to take your time and be kind to yourself today. It’s a big deal; there will be a lot of emotions!

AND THAT’S IT, THE ULTIMATE CHECKLIST TO MOVE OVERSEAS! I HOPE THIS MAKES THE MOVE EASIER FOR YOU!

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

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The Ultimate Checklist of things you need to do before you can move overseas!

Why did we choose to move to Ireland? Choosing a location as an expat

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One of the biggest questions we get is, why did we choose to move to Ireland? How do you choose a location to live in as an expat?Sometimes (read most times) Rob and I just actually wing life. We jump head first, and figure it out as we go. It happened when we decided to buy a house, when we decided to do a huge eurotrip around a friends wedding, and most recently, when we decided to move to Ireland. We base most of decisions on whether it sounds like fun, and I generally get too excited and start planning it before any of us have a chance to back out. One of the biggest questions we get is, why did we choose to move to Ireland? How do you choose a location to live in as an expat?

I have spoken about it before, but on our honeymoon we had a real heart to heart about what we wanted out of life. What was the next big thing we wanted to do, and whether we were happy where we were right then. Putting aside the most amazing honeymoon we had, were we happy with the life we had built together. At the time, we were both unsettled in our jobs, for different reasons. We were looking for a change, sometimes I think Rob and I crave change. We often search for it. We hate to stand still. Rob has the kind of job that is needed in quite a few interesting places, which actually started the whole conversation about whether we saw ourselves living overseas. He threw out a bunch of places that we could both consider moving to. Places like Switzerland, Amsterdam, Canada, even places like Guernsey and Isle of Man. The options seemed endless, until we started looking into them. Come to think of it, maybe we didn’t completely just wing it.

In the beginning we did ask a few questions before we decided on a place to move to. Things like: How easy is it for us to get into the new country? What visas did we need? Could we both work? Were there job opportunities for us both? Would they let Jack in? How long was the quarantine process? What kind of life would we all have? Was there lots to do and see? Could we travel around easily? Could our family visit with or without visas?

Thinking back, we definitely consider a lot different factors actually, but I do think a large part of moving overseas is taking a giant leap of faith. You can do all the planning and research in the world, and things can still fall upside down. Some things you just cannot predict. Like how long it would take to find a job, or how long the process takes to get a work permit, or finding a good rental home that ticks all your boxes. There are other things you don’t consider. Some that you might not even need to consider, only if they actually do happen. Most don’t think of a place as a place to live but rather they think of the place that they have visited whilst on holiday. Living and paying bills in a place is an entirely different thing to visiting tourist spots and traveling. Figuring out how things work and making friends can be a long and tedious process of trying and trying again.

At the end of the day, we chose Ireland because it ticked a lot of boxes for us: firstly, Rob got offered a job. We knew I would be able to get a spousal work permit , but we didn’t know how long it would take to get sorted out. We knew Jack could move over to Ireland without quarantine, but we didn’t know that finding a pet friendly rental in Dublin city would be so tough. There were a lot of things we knew would work out, and others we never fully realised until we were already here. I think for the most part, you need to have a ‘just winging it’, positive attitude. It saves you from all the anxiety and worry of knowing if things will work out. You also need to have patience, do the research and trust the process will work itself out. And then you have to have acceptance, because maybe it doesn’t work out exactly how you planned, and that’s not something you can always control.

HAVE YOU MOVED OVERSEAS? HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON THE PLACE YOU CHOSE TO MOVE TO?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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One of the biggest questions we get is, why did we choose to move to Ireland? How do you choose a location to live in as an expat?

Visiting Kinvara in Ireland and living in a tiny house

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Visiting Kinvara in Ireland and living in a tiny house. Our first time staying on the west coast of Ireland, and our first Airbnb! Since we rented a car specifically for this trip, we thought it would be the best time to explore a smaller town, and really get a feel for Irish countryside. Kinvara did not disappoint.Our first time staying on the west coast of Ireland, and our first Airbnb! Rob and I were keen to see what the west coast had to offer, but were not so keen on staying in a busy city. Since we rented a car specifically for this trip, we thought it would be the best time to explore a smaller town, and really get a feel for Irish countryside. Kinvara did not disappoint.

Because we were traveling in winter, Kinvara as little country town, was very quiet – a lot of the restaurants were closed in the evenings. If you want to travel around Ireland in winter, it is important to remember that a lot of tourist spots are closed or have winter opening times. Read this post I wrote about the benefits of visiting the west coast of Ireland in winter.

Kinvara, County Galway, IrelandWe really just wanted to get away (with our dog) and just road trip around Ireland a little bit. We didn’t have much in the way of a bucket list of things we wanted to see, but rather the main goal was to unwind and relax. For us, Kinvara is the perfect place to just chill out. We did a few walks as a little family (Jack included) and took some time to just sit and read and drink wine too. It was the perfect amount of explore and recharge.

Tiny house living, Minimalism, Off the grid CabinWe found a great little Airbnb that has gone almost 100% off-grid, with a wood burning stove, solar powered lighting, and composting toilet. The cabin is small, 6m x 3m so it really gave us a real taste for tiny living – something both Rob and I are very keen to do long term. The cabin had a little cooker and we cooked our meals at home to save a bit of money, but also it gave us a lot more one on one time. Time to just hang out as a little family.

pet friendly airbnb, kinvarra irelandOne of the best parts of this cabin, apart from the tiny living feel, was that it was pet friendly! Jack absolutely loved his stay here, the cabin shared a little outside area with the cabin next door. There was no one staying in the second cabin which meant Jack had free reign to explore the garden – which he absolutely loved.

The nights were cooler, but the stove inside honestly worked such a treat. Rob accidently put several logs on the stove at one time on the first night we were there, and it ended up bringing the temperature inside the cabin to almost hotter than a summer’s day in South Africa. We were sweating that first night, but it made for a good laugh, and we just hydrated with extra wine. It will always be a fond memory of our time in Kinvara.

kinvara irelandTiny living is definitely something I want for us as a family. Since we have moved overseas to Ireland, we have learnt to scale back what we have in our own home. This tiny cabin experience in Kinvara really brought home the fact that we don’t need a lot to survive. And if organised cleverly, you can have the right amount of storage areas to hide away the things you do need. The cabin was fitted with a lot of cool features like a little kitchen nook where we ate our meals; shelves under the bed for storage; and a drying rack that could be hung up on the wall when we had finished using it.

going off grid, tiny house livingThe only real challenge was the compost toilet. I think this is something you have to wrap your head around if you ever plan on going off the grid (or in this case, renting this particular Airbnb). I won’t go into graphic detail about it, but it did take some getting used to. A composting toilet means that there is no water or drainage to flush things away. It basically stores it, and you then have to remove it once it fills up. The mechanics are a bit like a porta-potty, but it doesn’t smell or stink up the place. We thankfully didn’t have to remove or replace the unit while we were there. I am just not sure that sort of contraption is for me, I could handle visiting there, but not for the long term. So maybe going off grid entirely is not for me, but I do think I would love to live in tiny home.

All in all, our time in Kinvara was lovely, if not for being very low-key. That is part of slow travel that I enjoy the most. You don’t need to always be going to still enjoy being away. We had a great time, all three of us, and it was the perfect time away we all needed.

HAVE YOU BEEN TO KINVARA? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT A WEEKEND AWAY?

Live Simply & Travel Slow,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Visiting Kinvara in Ireland and living in a tiny house. Our first time staying on the west coast of Ireland, and our first Airbnb! Since we rented a car specifically for this trip, we thought it would be the best time to explore a smaller town, and really get a feel for Irish countryside. Kinvara did not disappoint.