British family the Pamley-Liddells travel the world, and spent years without a fixed address, but laid their hats in Bulgaria.
After four years in Australia and a spell in France, the wanderers became “location-independent”.
But after two years without a fixed home address, their children wanted toys, pets and “to slow our travels down”, says Emma, 41, a photographer and former social worker.
Plus, after Brexit, the Pamley-Liddells decided they needed a European base as “it is important to us to have access to the EU”. Bulgaria became their European country of choice after a 2017 visit.
As a result, the following year they bought a house in the Vratsa region of Bulgaria for £9,000 (then 21,000 lev).
The Pamley-Liddells’ property was a two-bedroom house in a small village near Mezdra, bought from a British couple. Although the property itself was small, it had lots of land, including an orchard, with six barns and a large private courtyard.
The ground floor was home to the kitchen, a cloakroom and two “uninhabitable, dark and dank” rooms with mouldy wall cladding and piles of junk. They ripped out the cladding and flooring and put in plasterboard walls, creating a new kitchen, utility room, dining room and bathroom.
The first floor now has three bedrooms and the previous living room has been turned into a small television ‘nook’, allowing for a large balcony.
A Bulgarian home has given the Pamley-Liddells the rhythm they were looking for. “Life is still slow and we can enjoy the peace it brings,” Emma says.
Read more at Expatra, where this story was originally published in August 2020.