Mindanao Advice

My husband and I had a good life in La Herradura. We rented a quiet, centrally located flat close to the beach, and I was happy with it. However, the winter months can be a little cold, and the summers too hot, so why not make it perfect by moving to a place with an eternal spring climate?

The Canary Islands have one of the best climates in the world, with plenty of sunshine. Temperatures between the seasons vary by only about 6ºC, and the islands’ average monthly temperatures range from 18º to 24ºC (64.4 to 75.2ºF).

My husband developed a chronic irritated throat while staying in Davao, and that was the reason for our escape from the Philippines. He became better after a while in La Herradura, but not fully healed. Last winter, we spent three months in El Hierro, the smallest of the Canary Islands, and his throat almost returned to normal. We both found the climate perfect and decided to move to the largest island in the archipelago, Tenerife. El Hierro is too far from everything, but in Tenerife, you have it all within reach. The capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is usually no more than a one-hour drive from the remotest villages, and the roads are good.

My husband had only been to Tenerife once, many years ago, and only in the tourist ghettos of the South. He was more familiar with Gran Canaria and La Palma, but we chose Tenerife after doing good research online. The island seemed to have all the qualities we were looking for. We decided to be bold: to buy one-way tickets, rent a room for one week, rent a car for ten days, and within that timeframe, find and move into a fully furnished and quiet flat for under 500 euros a month in the northern part of the island. The North is greener, the weather a little more varied, and it is here that you will find the best food and the authentic Tenerife lifestyle.

We left La Herradura on my birthday and flew to Barcelona to celebrate. As a Writers’ Guild of Norway member, my husband has access to a central flat in the city, and we could use it for one week. It has always been a dream of mine to visit Barcelona, and we experienced it in the quiet weeks before the storm of protests for an independent Catalonia.

We arrived at Tenerife Norte Airport with our four pieces of luggage, rented a car, and drove to an Airbnb room nearby that we had booked in advance. We had checked out the rental market before we arrived but hadn’t made any appointments. It was a bit of a shock to discover that most of the flats we were interested in were gone, the prices were on their way up, and we cursed our bold optimism. Winter is coming. That means in Tenerife, furnished flats for rent disappear fast, and we had no budget for a long search. We had to find a place within a week without too many compromises, and for a while, it seemed very difficult.

But suddenly, things happened fast. My husband got an email saying that a flat he wanted us to check out in Icod de Los Vinos, a municipality in the northwest of Tenerife, was suddenly available. Someone had reserved it but could not move in before December. We looked at it, liked it, and got a one-year contract with the option for renewal. A big burden was removed, and we were luckily ahead of schedule.

Icod de Los Vinos is still a genuine town full of Latin American vibes, far enough from the tourist ghettos, and it remains a fantastic place to live. We have lived here for a month now and enjoy our new life.  I will write more soon about our new hometown and the fantastic nature surrounding us. Adiós y de buena fe!